Zeus, the world’s tallest dog, has front leg amputated due to cancer

Zeus, the great Dane who set the Guinness World Record last year for the tallest male dog alive, had his front leg amputated Friday to save his life, according to his owners.

The 3-foot-5-inch-tall dog — who stands over 7 feet on his hind legs — is recovering after undergoing the successful surgery that removed his entire front right leg due to cancer, big-dog mom Brittany Davis said.

His leg weighed 11 pounds.

“The doctor said it couldn’t have gone better. He did so well!” she wrote on a GoFundMe page update. “He’s awake from the anesthesia and on a bunch of pain medicine. He will stay for the weekend but he’s doing very well and everyone loves him already!

“After surgery they put a T-shirt on patients, but they didn’t have one big enough for Zeus. So his oncologist literally gave Zeus her shirt,” she added.

Davis said that the 3-year-old gentle giant was diangosed with bone cancer in the leg and was dealing with pain. He was given three months to live if he didn’t have the leg amputated, she said.

“It was very upsetting, very overwhelming,” Davis, of Bedford, Texas,  told WFAA. “I was a mess.”

Davis received Zeus, whom she calls her “dog-child,” as a gift and he quickly ballooned into his massive body. 

He was awarded “top dog” by Guinness World Records in 2022 after Davis reached out to the company.

“When he actually won, it was pretty shocking,” Davis told the outlet. “He’s part of our family.”

Zeus eats a whopping 12 cups of dog food each day, with an occasional fried egg. His favorite snack to munch on is ice cubes — and he’s tall enough that he demands to drink water only from the kitchen sink.

Without his front leg, he may miss out on some of his favorite activities — like roaming around the neighborhood and going to the farmers’ market, where he is a local celebrity — but he’ll be surrounded by his loving family and three other dog siblings.

Davis has launched a fundraiser to help cover Zeus’ veterinary expenses and keep him alive as long as possible.

In a strange coincidence, the former tallest dog male dog ever was also a great Dane named Zeus from Michigan. That Zeus died at the age of 5 in 2014, according to Guinness World Records.