Ivy's Story

13/07/2024

PACS is very good to our rescue. If you can, please help them in return.

02/07/2024

I haven't posted very much on this page lately, as I've been dealing with a lot of things going on in my work and personal life. I moved my store to a new location. Then I fell and broke my hip...which has caused ongoing problems. But we've also had a new cat come to our rescue recently too.

A farmer contacted me looking for help with a cat. The cat had been abandoned on his farm, where he has some very cat-reactive dogs. He was worried that the dogs would harm the cat, and he wanted to get the cat to safety. I agreed to take the cat.

While getting the cat vetted, we discovered that he has some chronic medical issues, so he's going to be staying with us for the foreseeable future. I named him Rowan.

Everybody, meet Rowan...Rowan, meet everybody!

20/06/2024

If you've been following us for a while, you may remember that our rescue took in a male calico cat named Gus about 10 years ago. Gus required a lot of care...he ended up having 4 surgeries in the first 8 months he was with us...and while he was recovering from all of his procedures, we discovered that he LOVED kittens; so he became our rescue's "Nanny cat". Nanny Gussy retired from "the Nanny biz" a few years ago, but he continued to "Nanny" many of our other adult cats, some of whom would position themselves near Gussy knowing Gus would wash and groom them. Gus was 21 years old, was diagnosed with cancer last year, developed seizures several months ago, and was diagnosed with another tumor just last week. Gus had been dealing well with his medical issues...we took him in for regular assessments with our Vets, to ensure he wasn't suffering...but Gus had become thin and frail, and started having more difficulties, so we took him for his final Vet visit last night. Nanny Gussy had more than earned his peaceful rest.

I love you, Gus, and I am honoured to have spent nearly half of your life with you!

Miss Ivy, please show Nanny Gussy around at the Rainbow Bridge, and help him find the kittens who need a Nanny.

19/06/2024

Heat warnings are in effect, please remember:

‼️🔆 DO NOT LEAVE YOUR PETS IN VEHICLES 🔆‼️

Even with windows down, it gets TO HOT. Just a few moments is too long and can be life threatening.

Temperatures rise alarmingly fast inside a parked vehicle and our pets don't sweat; they must rely on panting to remove heat from their body, it becomes difficult for pets to cool themselves down and heatstroke can be fatal.

If you can’t take them in wherever you go, leave them home.

10/05/2024

Dan and I took the day off from work yesterday because we made plans to meet someone in Halifax. The person we met with is one of Cher's fans; she's from out west, but she and her son were going to be in Halifax, and had a gift for us.

This is the gift. A stained glass memorial portrait of Cher.

It's a perfect likeness! She made it from a photo we took of Cher on one of her many trips to the market. How perfect!

These are the photos of the "glass Cher" she sent me, when she asked if we could meet. I'll take some photos of my own, to show it off, once I find the perfect spot to display it. I'm thinking of having a clear shadow box/display frame made for it. It's quite large...about the size of a dinner plate...and I want to protect it.

Dan and I both cried when we saw it! I'm crying again now!

We miss Cher so much!!

Thank you, Nancy!! We will treasure this gift always!

22/03/2024

With Easter being next week, we thought it would be a good reminder for the cat lovers in our life:

EASTER LILIES KILL CATS.

⚠️ Every single part of the lily is toxic, even the water in the vase.

⚠️ Even by just handling the lilies, getting the pollen on your hands, petting your cat, and they groom themselves is enough to be toxic causing kidney failure.

💥 If you believe your cat has ingested any part of a lily it is an emergency, your cat requires immediate intervention.💥

If caught early, supportive care with IV fluids and monitoring kidney values gives your cat the best chance at a positive outcome, but there are no promises.

If you have cats in your household, do not risk bringing lilies into your home. It's absolutely not worth the risk.

07/03/2024

UPDATE: We just approved an application for the two orange boys, Angus and Fergus!!

27/02/2024

UPDATE: Someone found this same bed online and sent me a link. Thank you all for your suggestions. I ordered two of the beds this morning!
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If anyone anywhere finds a blue fuzzy pet bed like this one, please let me know. It's rectangular in shape, medium blue and velvety on the outside, light blue and fuzzy on the inside. It's rescue cat Bella's bed; she will not accept any bed other than this one, and she gets VERY upset when we have to wash it!!

13/02/2024

ANOTHER UPDATE: We just approved an application for the two orange boys, Angus and Fergus!!

UPDATE: Miss Moira is going on a foster-to-adopt trial this weekend!!

26/01/2024

To reiterate:
1.) We will not be responding to questions that are already answered in this post (we're not trying to be difficult; we're just busy!).
2.) Applications are available at Our Mother's Keepers - Local and Imported Goods (during business hours).

18/01/2024

18/01/2024

Rescue updates:

Pumpkin, one of Ms. Elizabeth's kittens, is going on a foster-to-adopt trial. If all goes well, Pumpkin will be adopted into the same home as his Mom, Elizabeth! Good luck, Pumpkin! Be a good boy!

Daphne has been adopted! I'd briefly thought of keeping her as a second store cat, since I'm sure Hazel (the current store cat) misses Sammie (the previous store cat, who passed away last spring), and I know Hazel has enjoyed having Daphne at the store to play with. But the perfect application came along for Daphne, and I knew she would have a great home.

Bella. Oh my dear Bella! Bella is not making much, if any, progress with her very aggressive attitude. Removing her broken tooth didn't help, medication doesn't help...so now we're going to be referred to a behavioural specialist at AVC. I truly do believe that Bella is not feral, but a victim of abuse, and if there is anything we can do to help her overcome her aggression, we'll certainly try. If there's nothing we can do to help her, we'll find her a good barn home, but we don't want to go there just yet. There is something we sometimes see in Bella...if only just a glimpse...that makes us believe she can be helped. The good news is that I'm just as stubborn as she is, so I'm not ready to give up!

16/01/2024

ANOTHER UPDATE: We just approved an application for the two orange boys, Angus and Fergus!!

UPDATE: Miss Moira is going on a foster-to-adopt trial!!

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Our rescue has been fostering this litter since October. The two orange boys are Angus and Fergus, and the tortie girl is Moira.

Important Notes (Please read these notes, as we will not be responding to questions that are already answered in this post...we're not trying to be difficult; we're just busy!):

1. The kittens are about 4 months old, have been combo-tested, vaccinated, boostered, neutered, flea-treated, and we're ready to accept adoption applications for them.

2. Applications will be available at Our Mother's Keepers - Local and Imported Goods when they reopen at the end of January.

3. The kittens are NOT at Our Mother's Keepers; they are being fostered in a home. Do not show up at OMK to see the kittens; they are not there.

4. Interested parties MUST fill out an adoption application and their application has to be APPROVED first BEFORE we arrange a visit with the cats. Otherwise, we often end up spending all day doing visits with people who either don't fill out an application or their application doesn't get approved. We're not trying to be rude and we certainly don't have anything to hide; we simply cannot fit in numerous visits a day when we all work full-time, so we reserve visits for people we have already approved. That way we're not wasting anyone's time.

5. IF you ARE approved, you CAN decide to withdraw your application after meeting the cat. You are not obligated to follow through with the adoption simply because your application was approved.

6. There is no fee to fill out an application. IF you are the successful applicant, you will be contacted via phone, using the phone number provided in your application. Please do not fall for any scams by someone commenting or messaging you asking for money to apply for any of our foster cats. Our adoption fee is 200 dollars each, payable when you pick up your new cat. Again, do not fall for any scams by someone commenting/messaging you asking for money in advance to adopt any of our foster cats. If in doubt, contact us.

Thank you for understanding our necessary protocols.

03/12/2023

I just wanted to say a huge "THANK YOU!!!" to everyone who donated toward Bella's dental surgery for her broken fang. Between the gofundme, emailed donations, and money put into the fundraiser jar at my store, we raised 780 dollars for Bella's surgery cost (which came to 819.73). Thank you all!!

28/11/2023

Bella had her dental surgery today. She was finished earlier than I expected, so I closed my shop for about an hour to go pick her up just after lunch. I brought Bella back to my store and just put her transfer kennel (with the door open) into the large store kennel; she's sleeping off her sedation and I didn't want to bother her too much. Bella came out of the transfer kennel to use the litter, then went back in for another nap. I'll take her home tonight when I close. Bella did very well with the surgery, and the bill was even a little less than I expected...that's always good news!

28/11/2023

Bella has been sedated and is ready to go for her dental surgery! The Vet just called to check in before they proceed.

28/11/2023

Thank you to everyone who has been donating online, via GFM or email, or in person at the store. Tomorrow (Tuesday) is the BIG day, and I'll post as soon as I know how it went.

Hi, my name is Leesa, and I'm the main intake coordinator for Ivy's Memorial Rescue. We were rec… Leesa White needs your support for Help Bella feel better!

21/11/2023

Bella's surgery is next week, so we're sharing her fundraiser again. Thank you to all who are donating!

Hi, my name is Leesa, and I'm the main intake coordinator for Ivy's Memorial Rescue. We were rec… Leesa White needs your support for Help Bella feel better!

20/11/2023

If you've been hanging around this page for a while, you might remember Cappy. He's a cat who was found in the woods in 2014 with a grievous leg injury from being shot! Cappy was taken to another rescue, who needed a foster for him. We didn't have any cats in our foster room at the time, so we agreed to foster Cappy, but then decided to adopt him ourselves.

Cappy had a cancerous tumour removed from his head this past May. We were warned that this type of cancer might return, so we've kept a close eye on him. Cappy started having breathing issues a few weeks ago, so we took him to one of our Vets, who suggested that Cappy have some x-rays, since he was a previous cancer patient.

We got Cappy's report from the Radiologist this morning. As we feared, it's NOT good news.

As often happens with his type of tumour, Cappy's cancer is back. It's in his lymphatic system, and is not a localized tumour that we can have removed...similar to the cancer that Cher recently had.

There's not really any way to tell how much time we have left with Cappy. Our Gus also has cancer and has far outlived his prognosis, but we lost Cher to cancer sooner than we'd expected. Once Cappy starts to show signs that the cancer is more negatively affecting his quality of life, we will "do the right thing"...as we always do...despite the fact that it will break our hearts...yet again.

Give all of your pets some extra love...'cuz you just never know what the future holds.

16/11/2023

Queen Cher has come home.

11/11/2023

Again, the spammers and scammers are commenting on my posts (about the loss of Cher!) with their garbage ads!! I find this not only irritating, but crass and rude!! Please do not click on any of their links. And please tag or message me or this page about their comments. I'm deleting and banning when I see them, but they keep coming.

10/11/2023

Thank you all for your comments and condolences on Cher's passing. I read them all last night. I tried to "like" each one to show that I saw the comment, but there were lots of tears, so my vision was blurry and I may have missed liking a comment or two...rest assured that I did read them all. Thanks again.

09/11/2023

Re: Cher's passing.

I'm sure you can understand how heartbroken we are, and how I simply can't spend the entire day wallowing in my grief by reading sad comments and answering questions. Thank you all for your condolences, and for those of you asking what happened and/or who missed our announcement that Cher had cancer, I'm going to copy the explanation I gave to someone's comment:

"We've known the end was near since Cher's cancer diagnosis in September and especially her ultrasound appointment in early October...Cher didn't even have the ultrasound on that day, because there was concern that Cher wouldn't survive the sedation, but we had a long talk with the Vet, and knew then that we were rapidly coming to the end. We put it off as long as we could, but when Cher stopped responding to the medications for her cancer in early November, we knew we only had days left. Cher didn't want to eat, she didn't want to be out "scooting", she just wanted to hide in her kennel, and she growled most of the time. We didn't announce Cher's final Vet appointment because we were willing and able to postpone it, if Cher somehow miraculously started to improve. She didn't. It was the kindest thing we could do, despite how difficult it was for us."

Please allow us some time to catch our breath before we're able to answer any more questions. Again, thank you for your comments of condolence.

09/11/2023

The Queen is gone.

Her Royal Highness, Queen Cher, of Louisiana and Nova Scotia, ascended to The Rainbow Bridge last night at approximately 6:30 pm.

One of my dear friends said this, and I think it's so very fitting, "you took in a broken baby and made her a queen...you gave her wheels and then wings." - Amy Jones.

06/11/2023

Sharing Bella's fundraiser again. I know times are hard for everyone, and I hate asking, but I do it for the kitties who need help. Please share. Thank you!

Hi, my name is Leesa, and I'm the main intake coordinator for Ivy's Memorial Rescue. We were rec… Leesa White needs your support for Help Bella feel better!

01/11/2023

The foster fund is a little low these days, so we've made a GoFundMe for Bella's dental surgery! Please share! Thank you!

Hi, my name is Leesa, and I'm the main intake coordinator for Ivy's Memorial Rescue. We were rec… Leesa White needs your support for Help Bella feel better!

30/10/2023

Queen Cher had a great time at the Halloween market!!

29/10/2023

Queen Cher is at the market!!

29/10/2023

This is it! This is the day for the Halloween market! And Cher is going to be there selling Dockyard Cats calendars!

14/04/2022

A friendly reminder as we approach Easter weekend when gifting flowers to your feline owning friends!
*ALL PARTS OF EASTER LILLIES ARE TOXIC TO CATS*

Always do your research to ensure the plants you bring into your home are safe or be aware if you need to keep your beautiful bouquets/house plants in responsible areas to keep your pets safe. 🌷 This applies for curious dogs too, not just kitties!

Some other popular spring-time flowers to be cautious of...