She had us at 'meow'!

What a special day....... we have a new addition to the family. No name as of yet, but that will come soon. Probably stick with the Lord of the Rings theme as with our other two cats, Frodo and Sam! This is a female, of course, given she's a calico. I have to recall the names of female characters in the Lord of the Rings and see if any suit her. She was 'dumped' at our local little league fields just as my husband and I were riding our bikes past on our local recreation trail. My husband noticed a car off by itself in the parking lot- no games were playing at the time- then it drove off and as we biked by the area the car had been parked at, we heard these terrible cries. Of course we had to investigate! Lo and behold, a tiny calico kitten came running our from under an evergreen meowing hysterically while simultaneously purring like crazy. Needless to say, we had to take her home... walking our bikes the rest of the way. As I type this she is purring and resting on my lap. She's got a full tummy (she was soooooo hungry and thirsty!), had Frontline applied and has been wormed with Drontal. (I'm a veterinarian, so new additions get the 'works'! I thought I'd wait a couple days for ear mite treatments and first vaccinations.

The other thing I wanted to share today was a picture of a milkweed (Asclepias) plant in bloom in a bed in my front yard. I know it is considered a noxious weed by farmers, but I know butterfly caterpillars love it, so I do, too. Plus, I think it really has a great smell when in bloom. I hope I can attach additional photos later in the season documenting visits by Monarch butterflies with lots of Monarch butterfly eggs left attached to the undersides of the milkweed leaves. Subsequently, I hope to see & photograph plenty of monarch caterpillars munching away on the milkweed's leaves, the beginning of pupation and, finally, the Monarch's future hanging, literally, by a thread from the plant- its chrysalis.


Well, that's all for today. Time to chase after our new four-legged wonder. Not sure if she's mastered the litter box yet, so she needs constant supervision!