[capt_noonie]

I would highly advise to NOT get surgery for grade 2, totally unnecessary. Esp your pup doesn't even have grade2 and the vet is already talking surgery. Grade 1 is so mild, usually from an injury, and nothing to get worried about. Uni has grade 3 and has been doing very well on cosequin. In the past year since she was diagnosed, she had not lifted her leg even once after I put her on the supplement.

Now, putting BB on supplements is not going to make the problem go away, but it will help keep her joints healthy. That, and keeping her at a healthy weight will put less stress on the joints. Keep jumping to a minimum, or use stairs, etc.

If you do think about surgery, I would first get a 2nd opinion and only go to a board certified ortho specialist. I am very weary of vets who jump to say surgery at the first moment. $350 for the less invasive grade 2 surgery imo would be a waste of money, and I don't believe for a second recovery time is 2 weeks. Most lp surgery is between 6-8 weeks, if not more.

Also, whenever I go to the vet, they always check knees, even with my new vet I just found, I didn't say anything about lp, he felt Uni's knees and asked me if I knew. I said gr3 and he agreed. Why did your vet not check BB's knees the first time you went in? My first horrible vet at Banfield told me Uni had lp at 6 months, but didn't explain further, so i didn't really know about it until I came on here.