Thanks for the replies. When Sophie first hurt her knee, we "rested" her for 3 weeks, and she had no more trouble for about 8 months. For the past week, her knee now goes out for seemingly no reason and she seems quite painful--stops what she's doing, cries, etc, and overall she is less playful and happy, so I think we need to get it taken care of.

The estimate for the surgery and associated hospital fees is in the neighborhood of $1600 (one leg). This is with a specialty orthopedic surgeon. I have read that some general vets do the surgery (or some version of the surgery), that is probably less expensive but I think its important to have someone who has lots of experience doing the operation, especially since she is very active.

I had very good luck with glucosamine for my golden, Jake, who has arthritis and back (disk) disease, but this seems to be a real mechanical issue rather than just pain/degenerative changes. Probably starting it will help with recovery and preventing arthritic changes though.

I'm sure keeping her quiet for 6 weeks will be a challenge, especially since we have 3 floors and she thinks the couch and bed are hers! But, she loves to run and jump and I'm hoping this surgery will get back to it.

jakesmom