ambular29 said
Welcome. Sorry to meet under these circumstances but you are in the best place possible. Your golden is adorable. I also have a golden who had her right front leg amputated. It is so rough that 2 out of 3 golden will get cancer. I lost my other golden to a burst heart tumor. A front leg on a bigger dog like a golden is rough but it is doable. What is your home situation? What type of floors? Any steps? How is his mobility prior to surgery? Is he a proper weight? I know it is so hard to keep goldens thin, especially when they are older and become couch potatos. I was a vet tech and i am a registered nurse and i still was so upset when i saw my golden immediately after surgery. They shave a very large area for a front amputation and it is hard to see your furry teddy bear missig all that fur. Try not to focus on it. I put t-shirts on my golden after surgery so i didnt look at it. I didnt buy expensive dog clothes. I just used short sleeve shirts i had. Usually a womens small or a kids extra large will fit an average size golden. You can cut the part above his back and tie it in a knot if it is hanging too low on his belly. You dont want him peeing on it. Fromt leg amputees cant usually get to their incision to mess with it so my girl didnt wear a cone amd the t-shirt help ed her not to rub it on the carpet. She did lick at the shaved part on ther other leg from the iv site. Just keep an eye on it. How many days is he staying in the hospital? I took my girl home the same night because the hospital i had it done at didnt have overnight care and i have the experience and background to care for her at home. I would not recommend that to anyone else. Pain control once he comes home is the most important thing. Eating and peeing/pooping comes with time. All the advice you are getting her is so great. I found this site the day before my golden had her surgery. It was a life saver. My girl had a complete fracture and that is how i found out about her bone tumor. I really had no indication it was there prior to the break. Dogs are very stoic and hide their pain so well. I wasnt sure i was making the best decision for her by putting her thru surgery and recovery but she looked at me and said she wanted to fight. I didnt have the tumor typed but the vet was pretty sure it was Osteosarcoma or fibrosarcoma. I chose not to do any radiation or chemo. This is her second cancer. She also has nasal Osteosarcoma. I put her on a holistic regimen after her nasal cancer diagnosis. She is 21 months nasal cancer diagnosis and 8 months post amputation. The first few weeks are rough. I am not going to lie, there will come a point that you wonder if you made the right decision. But come to the site and we will get you thru it. Looking at my golden now i cant imagine not giving her a chance to fight. She is thriving and still has such a great quality of life. She basically does all the same things she did with four legs but now she is pain free. I will be thinking of yoir golden and the other two babies having their surgery on Thursday. Is so great that you will all be going thru it togeather. Support is what you need right now.   

Hello! Thank you for the info! Luckily, Kurt is a great weight according to the vet and surgeon. He was moving around well and not using the leg too much which they said was helpful for a faster recovery.

We do have hardwood all through our home and live in a split level so stairs are pretty much required. I've already purchased rugs to create a path to all his favorite spots. And we've figured out how to get through the first week or so without the stairs but we are hopeful he'll be able to do stairs after he recovers from the surgery. 

I'm nervous about the incision (I have a weak stomach) but I've been looking up pictures as suggested! The vet said they will probably use staples. But he'll be in a T-shirt as soon as he gets home so I'm not too worried. 

Lastly, he is going to stay at least 1 night and then depending on how he's doing, he'll either come home tomorrow or Saturday. 

Thanks again for insight and well wishes