Thanks so much for your reply! I appreciate your suggestions and you make great points. I apologize if my post doesn't fit well here, I am afraid of the asking amount coming off as uncouth which is why I turned to this sub.

Regarding the long-term/short-term insurance coverage: She actually had to terminate her employment and jump through a ton of bureaucratic health insurance hoops to afford the surgery.

She and I are close buds. I asked her permission this morning at work when she told me about everything (I've known about her health issue/surgery for a while but she had just found out last minute that her insurance coverage through work wouldn't cover it) and she said yes. I texted her again this evening to make sure she wouldn't feel uncomfortable and she replied:

"I mostly didn't think you were serious about this! It doesn't make me uncomfortable! I just don't feel like I deserve it lol. Like, it's such a nice thing to do"

I didn't include that in my original post because I didn't want to seem like I was humblebragging about doing a good deed lol. I am somewhat aware of her financial status, enough to know that she she'll be financially hurt by this (among other setbacks, she paid a ton of vet bills over the last year after the senior dog she adopted developed health issues--Nicolette is the sweetest and so deserving).