Hello and welcome to Montana's family.  Much great advice here already so I just wanted to share my good wishes for a speedy and uneventful recovery.  From Montana's perspective, he's past the worst part and the pain will soon be just a bad memory; lots of spoiling to come!  The second-guessing is normal and we've all done it, but this is Montana's best chance for a healthy life and you've given him that chance!  Check in here with any/all questions; be sure you have clear instructions from the vet, and call the vet when you're not sure what's going on as the days go by - it can be a real roller-coaster. 

I have a special love for GSD's; we have a 3 1/2-year old now.  It was his older sis, Roxie, who was the dog with bone cancer who led us here. 

Prayers and good thoughts to you all, Liz and Angel Roxie.

Good morning

I "second" all the great advice you have gotten here!

If you have any questions or just need some support words, post them on the discussion board or come into the chat room .

Celebrate all of the new "firsts" with Montana - standing up on three legs, walking - and know that he is free of pain and still the happy pup he was with four legs.

Linda and Tucker

king said
Hello my name is Stephen.

My Dog Montana is a 6 year old German Shepard. We have been Fighting a Cist and Cancer and Infection in his right rear paw for 3 months now. I have taken him to the University of Wisconsin Vet School and two other Vets. the all agree that taking the leg is our only option. I took him to the third Vet today and he will do the surgery but was booked for 2 months out. He told me that we need to get this taken care of a.s.a.p. so he is dong the surgery tonight after hours to squeeze us in. I am scared of the unknown. and Second guessing that I have mad the right decision for him. The Vet also told us he should be ready to come home tomorrow afternoon, Is that to soon? Any advise ? I got a new dog bed and a gate so I can separate him from our other dogs. is there anything else we need to get for him? Thank you for any help you might give.

Hi Stephen and Montana - It sounds like you are literally one day ahead of us!  My Maggie is at the vet right now, awaiting the amputation of her rear right leg, also.  Maggie is an 8-year-old Cairn Terrier and all I've learned from the wonderful people here at Tripawds helped me make the difficult decision.  I lost my Molly to cancer of the spleen (diagnosed 2 hours before she died in my arms!) just last May.  The surgeon could not remove the entire growth and I just couldn't even think of leaving that cancer in there, so I made the difficult decision and I am trying not to second guess it.

Best wishes to you and Montana.  You get to bring him home today!  Soon you will be able to give me all kinds of advice!!!  Best wishes for an easy road to a speedy recovery!  Judi and Maggie 

Hi!  Welcome!  I'm SO excited for Montana's new freedom.  He's going to love not having that pesky infection to hold him back.  He'll amaze you.

...in a few weeks.  Until then, take it slow.  Good days and bad days.  Watch those pain meds.  If you think something isn't right, call the vet!  Come here and talk to us.  Keep us posted.  Be prepared, too, for new food needs.  He may not like or want his current diet, so sometimes we resort to McDonalds, steaks, rice and chicken, hot dogs, etc.  This change in diet may be because he's depressed, drugged up (oh, yeah!), or his tummy is upset with new meds, etc.  We like to celebrate first pee, first poo, first time back on his bed (um, your bed), etc!  Expect lots of bruising and maybe a LITTLE leakage, but it shouldn't be much.  Keep him quiet.

YEY Montana!

~ Katy & Jackson

You might be surprised when he comes home at all he can do after he recovers . . . or even before.  Today is Boomer's six week ampuversary of his right rear leg.  He is kind of different from a lot of dogs - when he gets nervous (which happens a lot) he tends to just bolt, maybe only a few feet but he will get even more frantic if you try to stop him.  The night I brought him home after his surgery, he was resting in the living room (upstairs) most of the evening until it was bed time.  My room is downstairs and he couldn't stay upstairs, so I had planned to carry him down the stairs. As soon as he saw me getting my glass of water and book, he knew it was time for bed.  He (still VERY drugged at this point) got off his bed, trotted over to the steps, ran down the stairs, ran down the hall into my bed room, and jumped up on my bed - my heart was racing, my head about exploded, and I ran down the hall certain that his incision would be torn open and it would be horrifying and terrible and he'd have to go back into emergency surgery and I get to my room and he's all "What's your deal?!?!" laying on my bed waiting for me to open his crate like I do every night.  I felt like the worst tripawd parent ever, "letting" my 24-hour post-op guy run down a flight of steps and jump on the bed but he was fine.  I had to make some changes so he didn't do that again, but he was fine.  And now he hops on and off the bed all the time without the aid of stairs or a ramp - I thought about getting some, but he'd probably look at them, go around and jump on the bed anyway.  The whole point of that story was to just say, in the coming days and weeks, focus on three things 1. Making sure Montana's needs are met, 2. Making sure the rest of the family's needs are met, 3. Sleep whenever you can.  It's gonna be emotional, exhausting, and very rewarding in the end but don't stress yourself out about a bunch of extra projects right now.  Let Montana tell you what he needs - at his age, once he recovers, I am guessing he's gonna say "Stairs, ha! I don't need no stinkin' stairs!" and fly up on that bed just like he always has.

Like Katy said, food might be a little different for a while.  White rice is great to have on hand, it is gentle on the tummy which can be upset from all the surgery drugs, and it can help a lot with any "runny poo" issues (for this particular application, white rice is actually better than brown rice).  Eggs are one of the easiest to digest protein sources you can give a dog and boiled chicken is another great option for something gentle, appealing, and highly digestible.  Multiple small meals for a few days is a good idea too, it is easier for his system to manage and won't tire him out as much as one or two big meals per day.  Boomer had a good appetite when he got home (he wouldn't eat at the vet hospital, so he was probably starving) but he would get really tired and need to rest.  I would just spoon feed him so he could lay down to eat and he would tell me when he was done.  I basically gave him a small meal each time he needed more meds for the first two or three days.

We're sending you good energy and can't wait to hear how he's doing when you bring him home!