Surgery or Conservative Treatment for my Cat?

My 3 year old cat has something called "Left Stifle Injury," or more to the point, "Cranial Cruciate Ligament Rupture."

Has anybody had a cat with the same injury? If you have, did you do the surgery, and if so, what was the outcome and how is your cat walking today.

Has anyone gone the other route and done the "Conservative Treatment" instead of the surgery. If you are not sure, here is a description:

Conservative treatment usually entails rest and nonsteroidal antiinflammatory medication for 6-8 weeks. Once the majority of pain and inflammation is resolved, then a conservative regime of exercise and weight loss (if necessary) should be initiated. Conservative therapy of CCL is best tolerated in patients weighing less than 15 kg. Results are more unpredictable in the larger animals. Given enough time, the lameness and pain often resolves within small patients managed conservatively. These animals appear to function normally on the injured leg; however, instability from the CCL injury persists and secondary degenerative joint disease inevitably develops.

I am strapped for cash and the surgery is going to cost upwards of $2500.00. I have applied to Care Credit in order to apply for financial aid at IMOM.com. Still need to see if my vet will be on board with that.

I am trying to exhaust all my options because Albert wants to live, and I don't want to give him up.

Any ideas, and if you can shed some light on the Conservative Treatment, I will remain hopeful that Albert will get the best treatment possible.

Thank you, Jessica for your very helpful feedback.

I found something for you I'd tucked away for just such an occasion. It's down there at the bottom of my post.
Conservative Treatment is usually done in conjunction with surgery, not as an alternative. What does bother me is the price you're being quoted and whether or not your cat has been diagnosed with Acute vs. Chronic CCL. If your cat is suffering from the chronic variety, then surgery is only going to offer temporary relief at best....until it happens again. Conservative Treatment, to me, seems to imply "you'll just suffer until you get better...if you get better" know what I'm saying?
I'd strongly recommend a second opinion. Many afflictions closely mimic the symptoms of CCL and it's my opinion that the price you're being quoted is entirely too high.
I'm certain of only one thing. You'll make the right decision. Your post oozes with your concern for this cat. I don't know exactly how it's going to happen but my guess is Albert is gonna come out of this thing good as new. You're doing your research. That's the sign of a dedicated pet owner. Good for Albert! He owns himself a fine human!

Have you spoken with your vet about conservative treatment? They may be able to give you some good advice/facts.

I work at an animal hospital and have seen a lot of cruciate ligament repairs. The animals I've seen have recovered very well. In one case, (a slightly larger dog) the animal compensated for the hurt leg by straining the opposite leg, and ended up rupturing that ligament as well. If you decide to go with surgery, be sure to follow your vet's advice and have your cat rest a lot after the surgery to make sure this doesn't happen. Also, having your cat at a healthy weight (not overweight) puts less strain on its legs when recovering.

Over time and with the right post-op care, I've seen great outcomes with cruciate repair surgery. I don't know too much about conservative treatment, but maybe it's good too. This is just what I've experienced from the surgeries. Hope this helped a little?