Vet costs for Leg Amputation

My beautiful boy kitten Bandit had an accident a month back and totally dislodged his kneecap after a neighbourhood dog scared him and it ended up beside his leg (X-ray not pretty).

He had an operation to put it back in place, but, cats being cats, he has dislodged it again last week while in confinement inside.

I have had 3 quotes from the vet:

One is to insert a prosthetic attachment to his leg to hold the kneecap in place from either side.

The second option is to pull the kneecap in place via the back of the femur. Both of these have no guarantees to last and also he would have arthritis in the coming years.

The third option is to amputate, which I am leaning towards and want to make a decision by the end of the week. The vet told me he would adjust, and there would be no pain as he gets older and torment his sister 'Smokey' as per normal.

I hate the thought of having to ask for financial help in this awful time we are all living in, but my looming redundancy has pretty much forced me to swallow my pride and try this wonderful site.