My yorkie is 8 months and he just got diagnosed with the same disease. I talked with a vet friend of mine and she said to def. have the surgery. if you dont it can progress to the other leg and possibly cause the dog to have his leg amputated. I am scared too but i reaserched this a lot and the percentage of complication is very low. I know that there is a lot of thearpy after the math but the surgery has a very high success rate. I know it is expensive but so worth it. Our dog is currently on the rimidayl and it helps him but he still is miserable. what is the dosage of rimidayl and the weight of your dog. Let me know if you would like to chat and since we are having our surgery this week i will inform you on the details so you know what to be prepared for. Also go to mydogmanny.com and she has bloged about her westie going through the surgery..hope this helps..