That's another photo of Lydia, the animal formerly known as The Kitten. Want to know what's special about it? I took it in my backyard about twenty minutes ago. Lydia is home from the vet and back in her natural habitat. She seems a bit skinnier — and not just because she's no longer preggo — but in pretty good shape. I had assumed it might be several days before she got back in her regular routines…if she ever got back to them. But ten minutes after I released her from the cage, she was back in her old favorite location: Right outside the patio door, waiting for me to come out and pet her and feed her. Which I did.
I spoke today to my actor friend — the one who fielded my initial call about what to do about the feral one in my yard. He rattled off some statistics that I didn't catch but the exact numbers don't matter. The quick summary is that a staggering number of cats (more than you imagine) are put to death each week in this country because no one will adopt them, no one will feed them, no one will take them in…and to let them roam free and unspayed is to just ask for more.
One of the many "stray" experts I spoke to the other day said the following; that while it was commendable that Bob Barker spread the word to "spay or neuter your pet," that counsel was missing the bigger problem, which are cats and dogs that are nobody's pet. A pet cat that is kept indoors is not as likely to have kittens as a stray roaming through yards and living under houses. The kittens of a pet cat are more likely to be cared for and adopted than the offspring of a feral feline. More people need to take care of critters like Lydia.