Patent ID: 8439000

Claim:
A pet diaper holder for a four-legged animal with a tail, the diaper holder adapted to hold a human diaper flat against the belly and groin area of the animal, the human diaper having a pair of opposing elongate waistbands and an absorbent pad fastened to and extending between the opposing waistbands, the pet diaper holder comprising: an upper flexible holder portion shaped to overlay the rump of the animal from above including the base of the animal's tail; a lower flexible holder portion attached to the upper flexible holder portion and shaped to overlay the belly and groin area of the animal from below and extending between the animal rear legs to overlay the base of the animal's tail from below, the lower flexible holder portion shaped to receive the diaper in a flat fully open operative orientation between the lower holder portion and the belly and groin area of the animal with one of the waistbands of the diaper located forward on the lower holder portion and with the opposing waistband located rearward on the lower holder portion, the upper and lower holder portions shaped to define when located about the torso of the animal a rearward opening through which the tail of the animal can protrude and openings surrounding the rear legs of the animal, the upper and lower holder portions shaped to meet and to define an openable side of the holder extending along one side of the animal and the rear end of the animal; and, manually-operable fastener means for releasably joining the upper and lower holder portions at the openable side of the holder and at the opening surrounding the base of the tail and for fastening the waistbands of the diaper to the lower holder portion once the diaper is in its operative orientation between the lower holder portion and the belly and groin area of the animal, the fastener means comprising two forward pairs of snap fitting connectors positioned to engage spaced-apart portions of the forward waistband of the diaper and each of the forward pairs of snap fitting connectors comprising a female connector attached to one of the upper and lower holder portions and a male connector attached to the other of the upper and holder portions in general alignment with the female connector such that the forward waistband of the diaper can be pinched between the upper and lower holder portions when each of the forward pairs of snap fitting connectors are manually joined, and the fastener means comprising two rearward pairs of snap fitting connectors positioned to engage spaced-apart portions of the rearward waistband of the diaper and each rearward pair of snap fitting connectors comprising a female connector attached to one of the upper and lower holder portions and a male connector generally aligned with the female connector and attached to the other of the upper and holder portions such that the rearward waistband of the diaper can be pinched between the upper and lower holder portions when each of the rearward pairs of snap fitting connectors are manually joined.