Layla's Surgery

(To the tune of 'Layla' by Derek and the Dominoes)
 "Layyyyy-laaaa.... she's got-a broken knee!"

Yes, my Great Dane Layla, whom yes, is named after the song "Layla", snapped her cruciate ligament in her left knee in November 2012. After the X-Rays showed it was snapped, we had the option of surgery right then or to see if it would possibly heal on it's own. Yesterday, February 5, 2013, the Vet suggested TPLO surgery as the best option for her.

The tibial plateau leveling osteotomy (TPLO) surgery levels the slope of the tibial plateau so that the femur no longer slides down the plateau. This stabilizes the joint even when no cruciate ligament is present- which is the ligament that snapped in Layla. In other words, Layla needs a full leveling reconstruction of her knee so that the tibia and femur no longer rub directly on each other when she steps. I will be doing the physical therapy on her afterwards which will take 4-6 weeks before she is actively walking using all four of her legs again.

So why not just let her walk on 3 legs and have a funky, leggy, 3-legged Great Dane? Sure, I'm not opposed to it, except, what happens if/when the other leg goes out? A Great Dane's quality of life is dramatically reduced when they cannot walk, and being 100 lbs, it makes it very difficult for me or anyone to assist her.  I want to avoid this at all costs!

So this is my wish, to be able to offer Layla this surgery to be able to have her live her life through.

A little about me: My name is Nikki Stautzenberger from Central Texas. I got Layla at 8 weeks of age in August 2009. I am 32 years old, engaged and the 'Momma' to 2 Great Danes- Layla(3) and Zoe(2), a dachshund- Sadee (7.5), and 2 cats- Jayda (11) and Rizzo(6 months). Yes,all my fur-babies. :)