Scooter, Up and Walking

IF EVERY CAT in the world were spayed or neutered, we'd have a problem, the absence of a beautiful form of life. Yet we seem to have gone a bit too far in the other direction. There may be as many as forty million stray cats in the United States; shouldn't there be far fewer? In town they live out of dumpsters and household garbage ready for collection, in the fields and woods they catch rodents and birds. They eat grasshoppers, so, they can survive. They are our responsibility, whether or not we want it to be. I've taken in four of them, three indoor and one outdoor, and probably shouldn't take in any more. I thought I was pretty special, until I met the lady at my veterinarian's office, an assistant vet who told me she has accepted parenthood for eight. Eight! A hero to me. Someone pointed out that her vet bills are free, and mine aren't. true, but no matter. One of hers is a tiny kitten who cannot use his hind legs, either due to an accident, an act of abuse, or genetics. The vet doesn't know for sure. She named him "Scooter", which might be a bit too clever, but, its the act that counts. Scooter is adorable, full of life, seemingly unaware that he is going through life unfairly. I visit the vet often, just to see and hold Scooter. I began to pray for Scooter, and I repeat my prayer often. I think its going to work. It may well be that Scooter is better off without being able to walk, and that the Lord has plans for him that I can't possibly comprehend, but I pray anyway, and I hope that by so doing I am not engaging in useless conceit. I tell myself that a cat who lives its entire life as a stray or cripple may be blessed in ways I can never comprehend, and I may be fooling myself. but I'll keep praying for Scooter, and keep thanking the Dear Lord for the ability to do so. In the words of a song by Neil Diamond: "touch a man who can't walk upright, and that lame man, he gonna fly!" Someday, some fine day, Scooter is gonna stand up, walk, and purr. I just know it.