Alternatives to surgery? Luxating Patella

Meep had her followup appointment today. If you read my last post,
you'll know that Meep was diagnosed with a luxating patella last week.
Didn't seem too bad, was given an antiinflammatory. The hope was that
this was an ongoing, minor problem that had been exacerbated somehow
and would clear up.

Indeed, though she seemed occassionally sore, she didn't limp or hiss
for days. Then, today, her leg locked and I caught her limping two or
three times.

So, the vet thinks surgery is necessary. Meep's booked for some
x-rays next week to see if there's any arthritic changes. I've
purchased some glucosamine joint supplements via mailorder (Drs.
Fosters and Smith, their brand-name supplement).

I'm aware the operation would be very expensive, but that's not my
concern as much as her mental well-being. She'll be confined to a
cage for a month, and it'll be 2 months before she's completely
healed. She gets upset if I simply close her off from one room of the
house, she'd go nuts in a cage - she's one of those "I need attention
24/7" cats, and follows me around.

For now, I thought to try to confine her to the downstairs part of the
house as much as I can - I'd confine her upstairs, but there's only a
door at the bottom of the stairs, so she'd be going down the stairs
anyway to see if *maybe* the door was open. It'll be hard for her,
because she does like to sleep with us, but we'll only do that for
about two weeks, then she'll be in a cattery for a week while we go on
vacation (we don't take her with us in the summertime). If she's not
better upon our return, I'll likely book the surgery.

If you've had a cat (or dog, since it's much more common in dogs than
cats!) that has had the operation to correct a luxating patella, I
need to hear your experience. Was it worth all the pain your pet went
through? Did it completely correct the problem? Were there any
complications?

Better yet, if your cat or dog had a luxating patella and it was
corrected or maintained WITHOUT surgery, I *really* want to hear from
you!

jmc,
who is really concerned about Meep the TravelCat.