Thanksgiving Apples

We have been waiting for our next feline friend since last summer. My kitty friends have always arrived at just the right time.

The day before Thanksgiving--I was walking through the back hallway at work (Whole Foods Market). My friend Matt--the produce manager--said "Did you see the one-eyed cat in produce?" Naturally I thought that this was the beginning of a joke. Seeing my perplexed look--he told me to come and take a look. We walked down to produce while he explained the cat's appearance.

When they pulled a pallet of apples off of the delivery truck from the orchard, there was a cat huddled on top of the apple. She came right to the receiving team member and was immediately purring. They put her into a very large box until they could figure out what to do with her. This was the when I came along. I took one look at her and told them that I would take her if no one had claimed her. I was told that the produce buyer was calling the orchard to see if they wanted her back. Having grown up with farmers--I already knew the answer to that.

My co-workers were scandilized that the orchard did not want their cat back. I explained to everyone that animals on a farm usually have a purpose or a job. When it comes to farm cats--there is always another 1/2 dozen in training.

During the course of the day about 100 of my coworkers stopped by to visit the kitty. Someone from the seafood depart poached a scrap bit of fish for her lunch. At one point I was walking through the back hallway to the rest room and I looked up to see the kitty coming down the hall to me. Someone had moved the weights on top of the big box. Kitty was quickly put back in the box. When it was time to go home--I found the perfect cat carrier at work. I pulled a green bean crate out of our recycling pile.

Many of my coworkers had great name suggestions for her. My partner named our little surprise "Apple". I think that this is a perfect name for her--she came from the orchard and apples have always been my fave fruit. She also looks just like the torties from my grandfather's farm.

Had to wait until Monday to visit the vet. She was given a clean bill of health and we found out that she is actually about 2 years old and has never had kittens. The vet couldn't determine how she lost her left eye but said that she is not impaired by the loss. Now we begin the integration with our other cat--Ms Kitty. She is a territorial ball of chocolate pudding. Not sure if we can decorate for the holidays during the meet and greet time period. Wish us luck.