[cheryl]

Annie, we had the exact same situation with our bassett, Angel, when she was one year old. My vet recommended the surgery (it cost $1500.00) and that was 9 years ago. They told me that if I did not get the surgery, she would possibly not be able to walk when she got older. Now that we look back, we wished we would have gotten a second opinion before the surgery, because I just don't think it was as bad as they were saying it was. They wanted to do both legs (they felt one was worse than the other) They did the right leg. This was a really bad surgery and my dog was in a lot of pain after. We did NOT get the other leg done. Today, she is almost 10 years old. She walks around fine....sometimes she does trip a little. She has some arthritis, but I think she has more arthritis in the leg that she had the surgery on. I would NOT do anything right now. We cried after we had the surgery, because it was so painful for her. I wish I would have known about a website back then to check into. I think you are making the right decision for now. Good luck with your little baby!