Vet Approved

Our Bodysuits are Designed with Your Pup in Mind

We’re committed to providing the best bodysuit to support your dog’s health, wellness and quality of life. While our Supra Bodysuit provides a number of solutions to common pet problems, we went the extra mile to ensure their safety and well-being as well.

We Put our Supra Bodysuit to the Test

Overheating was our biggest concern when we introduced our Supra Bodysuit. In 2004, we had a study conducted by the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine to determine if our Supra Bodysuit was safe to wear and wouldn’t cause overheating.

The bodysuit was tested under normal and rigorous conditions to yield a statistically valid and supportable study which concluded that our Supra Bodysuit would not overheat dogs - even at temperatures of up to 95 degrees.

Here are the full findings from the study:

Effects of a whole-body spandex garment on rectal temperature and oxygen consumption in healthy dogs

S. Brent Reimer, DVM; Kurt S. Schulz, DVM, MS, DACVS; David R. Mason, BVet Med; James H. Jones, PhD, DVM

K9 Top Coat
January 1, 2004 (Vol. 224, No. 1)

Objective: To determine whether a full-body spandex garment would alter rectal temperatures of healthy dogs at rest in cool and warm environments.

Design: Prospective study. | Animals: 10 healthy dogs.

Procedures: Each dog was evaluated at a low (20 to 25C [68 to 77F]) or high (30 to 35C [86 to 95F]) ambient temperature while wearing or not wearing a commercially available whole-body spandex garment designed for dogs. Oxygen consumption was measured by placing dogs in a flow-through indirect calorimeter for 90 to 120 minutes. Rectal temperature was measured before dogs were placed in the calorimeter and after they were removed.

Results: Rectal temperature increased significantly more at the higher ambient temperature than at the lower temperature and when dogs were not wearing the garment than when they were wearing it. The specific rate of oxygen consumption was significantly higher at the lower ambient temperature than at the higher temperature.

Conclusions and Clinical Relevance: Results suggest that wearing a snug spandex body garment does not increase the possibility that dogs will overheat while in moderate ambient temperatures. Instead, wearing such a garment may enable dogs to better maintain body temperature during moderate heat loading. These results suggest that such garments might be used for purposes such as wound or suture protection without causing dogs to overheat. (J Am Vet Med Assoc 2004;224:7174)

From the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital (Reimer) and the Department of Surgical and Radiological Sciences (Schulz, Mason, Jones), School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA 95616. Dr. Reimer’s present address is Michigan State University, Veterinary Teaching Hospital, East Lansing, MI 48824. Dr. Mason’s present address is the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011.
Presented at the 30th Annual Conference of the Veterinary Orthopedic Society, Steamboat Springs, Colorado, March 2003.
Supported by the K-9 Top Coat Company.
The authors thank Drs. Lyn Smith and Jarred Lyons for technical assistance and John Doval for assistance with the illustration.
Address correspondence to Dr. Jones.

1999-2004
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