Give Dwight Schrute a Pain-Free Future

This is my sweet boy, Dwight Schrute. He is a 7-year-old black lab, German Shepherd mix. I've had him since he was about 4 months old. As someone who won't ever have children, he is the closest thing I'll ever have to a child. Around Christmas time, he slipped on a wet dock and hurt his knee. He got a bit too excited, as he sometimes does, and took the corner a bit too fast for it being wet. We went to the vet about a week later as he was limping and it wasn't seeming to be getting better. They prescribed him the dog version of ibuprofen and said to come back if he isn't better in a month or so. We went back around the beginning of February because he was still limping. They said he likely needs surgery and referred us to a surgeon for another opinion. Today, February 24th, we saw the surgeon and he agreed he needs surgery. He has a doggy equivalent of an ACL tear in his right back leg. Being an 80 lbs dog, it's putting a lot of strain on his knee. They said we can wait to do surgery, but it likely will never heal on its own and will cause more muscle loss (he has noted that he already has muscle loss on that leg) and will cause arthritis that has already started to form, to worsen. Likely with how things will continue, he won't be able to use his leg if we do nothing.

I originally wasn't worried about affording the surgery because I've had Nationwide pet insurance for him since he was a baby. They reimburse me for his vet bills and it wouldn't be much of a struggle to manage the payment since I would get it back. I called them today to confirm that they will be able to cover it, and apparently Nationwide no longer offers the plan I've had with them for over 5 years and dropped his coverage. Supposedly they mailed me something letting me know, but I've had a lot of life changes in the last 6 months so I never received it. Now we are stuck trying to figure out how to afford a $6,000 surgery without insurance. I do have some savings, but I'm moving across the country in a couple of months to get a house, where he will have a yard and I can give him a better life. That said, all of my savings are going to moving. So, without help, there is no way I can afford this surgery any time in the next year or more.

Anything helps. I just want my baby boy to be happy and healthy. I want him to be pain-free and able to run in his new yard he is getting in a couple of months. He has a baby sister (a 10-month-old kitten) that he loves to play with, and I know he wants to run around with her. He wants to chase squirrels out of the backyard. I want to be able to give him that life, but sadly I can't without help. Thank you for reading this far. I appreciate you more than I can express.