so very sorry that your little Harley is going thru this. We went thru this last year with Hot Rod. He went from a grade 1 to a grade 4 in a matter of 5 months. In his case his ligament was off to the side of his leg which made it bow out. He got the point that he did not want to go for walks which he absolutely loved and loves to do. He would skip and pick his leg up but once his leg was bowed out, it was apparent something was wrong. I also had always noticed that he would run stiff legged at times too.
Our surgeron brought the ligament back into place and deepened the groove. He also told us that Hot Rod should not have issues with arithis as a result from this.
Yorkiemalt had very good suggestions for you to ask the vet I would recommend writing down your questions and answers. There is just so much emotion going on that it is a lot to hear and take in. Writing it down will alleviate any confusion.
One other question that I would ask is how versed is the surgeon with small dogs.
In our case, our surgeon recommended no activity other than pottying and we were to carry him out to do so. The area that he recommended was a 3x3 area other than that, we were to confine him.
Not trying to scare you but the aftercare if very stressful. You feel more terrible that they are in pain and they have no idea of why they are going thru this. IMO, the first 2 weeks were the worst. He was not feeling very well and then he did start to feel better and wanted to start moving around. It was a good thing but at the same time, we were supposed to keep him still. Our surgeon gave the okay for water therapy after 5 weeks (for about 5 min at a time). Hot Rod wasn't too crazy about it but he did it. We have a hot tub that we turned way down.
Our surgery ran just under $2000.00 and we were able to get in litterally within a day. The fortunate thing for us, we knew of several people who had used this surgeon and he had great credentials and he has a rescue yorkie himself.
Here is the link to his thread after surgery. Read it with an open mind and just remember the end result--a better quality of life for little Harley.
http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...picture-b.html
Best of luck to you and do not be afraid to ask any and all questions and make sure that you understand everything. Also, ask about supplements. Hot Rod and Maggie May--just diagnosed with a low grade 2 lp) are on Dasuquin now. I can see results in Hot Rod. Maggie has never exhibited any problems from hers, we had no idea until her diagnosis last month.
Feel free to pm with any questions.