Reading nook 📖

We first met Ivy when she and her sister Fern were just a few months old, two little barn kittens who needed a second chance. When Ivy was spayed, the veterinarian found one ovary… but could not find the second. She searched as long as it was safely possible, but eventually had to stop. Maybe Ivy had only been born with one. Or maybe the other was hiding somewhere it absolutely did not belong. Spoiler: it was hiding. Ivy stayed with us for a year and a half before she was finally adopted. And for years, she had a home. A person who loved her. A place where she belonged. A couple of months ago, Ivy’s person moved and couldn’t take her along. So at seven years old, Ivy came back to the rescue. And she is not doing well here. Since returning, Ivy has gone into heat twice. We know because Ivy *sings the song of her people* at a volume that could probably be heard from the parking lot. We can live with that. Our phone conversations may be a little interesting, but that isn’t the problem. The problem is the other cats. Our neutered males are thoroughly confused by Ivy’s hormones. The females are territorial. Ivy has become a target from both directions, and now she spends most of her time hiding. She doesn’t understand why the home she had is gone. She doesn’t understand why the other cats won’t leave her alone. She just knows that the safest place is somewhere no one can see her. Our only way to completely protect her here would be to keep her alone in a kennel, and we desperately do not want that for her. Ivy needs an only-cat home as soon as possible. Yes, she will occasionally go into heat. She cannot become pregnant, but because that elusive ovarian tissue remains, she may still have heat cycles. With no other cats around and the stress of shelter life gone, we expect those periods to be much easier for her to manage. The hardest part is that Ivy is now so frightened that she usually won’t even come out to meet visitors. And it is incredibly hard to get adopted when no one ever gets the chance to see you. So we need you to see her here. Please share Ivy’s story. Somewhere out there is a quiet home with no other cats and a person who won’t mind the occasional dramatic serenade. Ivy waited a year and a half for her first home. We really, really don’t want her to have to wait that long again. sheridancatrescue.org/adopt