Zip’s bio
Zip, is a female border collie that came into our life over 13 years ago. She was 5 weeks old when Rachel picked her out of a litter in Rogers,TX and took her off to Texas A&M to go to school. I will now let Zip tell her own story.
Yes, I went off with Rachel who was about to be a junior at college and boy did things get fun then. I learned about all kinds of things from how to get in a laundry basket to not getting in one after I had been “gardening” and had muddy paws. We had a fine time and sometimes we would go to Austin and I got to see the rest of the family and swim in a pool which I love!
Rachel and I did all sorts of things from agility to obedience to Search and Rescue plus when she went to vet school, I became a demo dog, though some of that, well, getting my temperature taken over and over again was not too much fun. We also went to the stables a lot and I soon learned not to chase the horses, they kick but I could move the cows around and that was fine.
After vet school we went to Florida for a year so she could practice on horses but I think I finally nudged her away from big animals and got her to go back to Texas and work on my size animals. While I was in Florida I got cancer and had a month of radiation on my leg then I was fine but that leg never felt quite the same afterward.
We came back to Austin and I love it here! Lots of squirrels and lakes and swimming pools and my best friend Ace who is a border collie too. I also became a therapy pet over at the local hospital, I love all the people I get to meet!
One day I broke that same leg that had the cancer and had to have a plate put in it 2 years ago and also somehow messed up my kidneys a little but with the right diet that has been okay. Well, I started limping on that same right rear leg and Rachel got worried and had a picture of it taken and really got scared when she saw it. After two biopsies, the first one didn’t have enough stuff, we got the news that I had osteosarcoma and we all went into meltdown for awhile. I went to San Antonio for a bone scan and except for some ribs I looked pretty good and they were very nice but I had to spend the night and that wasn’t any fun.
I had more pictures taken and a MRI and rib biopsies done twice, wrong ribs the first time, so about a month after I started limping I had an ampawtation.I also got a thermal burn which is uncomfortable on my other side so I don’t know which way to lie down.
I wasn’t sad I just didn’t understand except that leg that hurt and wouldn’t work right was gone. Rachel had me stay at her parents house but she stayed with me. She still had to go to work and her parents, whom I love, her mom makes me good stuff to eat, have been helping me. I now go to work again with Rachel, I am the shelter mascot, I even got to dig at the groundbreaking for the new shelter. I love being with everyone and if Rachel takes a lunch, we sometimes go down by the lake so I can watch the squirrels and I really like that even if I can’t chase them.
Now I’ll turn it back to Susan, Rachel’s mom and she can tell you all the stuff they worry about while I go take a nap and maybe watch my squirrelavision.
We do worry, she seemed depressed today and had more falling down time on that back leg last night and we don’t know if it is all normal and if others do this too. Heard the first two weeks were the worse and we are on day 15 since surgery and day 8 since chemo. She is taking little walks and having some massages but wonder if we should be doing more to help strengthen that leg. Any suggestions are great!