Cats Celebrating Thanksgiving...?

Having lived in the United States for close to 10 years, Thanksgiving has become tradition for me, too. While the origins of the holiday may not mean as much to an Egyptian as an American, we all can find something we are thankful for and therefore have reason to celebrate this holiday. In fact, that thought came to me the other day as I was watching a street cat. Since I've been in Cairo - being a pet owner and animal lover - I've been feeling very bad for the stray cats and dogs roaming the streets here. With issues controlling the human population of this country, it might be too much to ask to have people spay and neuter their pets to control the feline and canine population. Add to that the smaller amount of people that actually care for animals and the "bigger issues" at hand here, it makes it an issue too high on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs for people to even consider discussing. All you can do are isolated incidents of rescue or feeding or cleaning of these animals and hope they don't find their end under the wheels of a car. But alas, back to my cat story: the other day I found this street cat walking off with a plastic bag. Naturally, I was worried about what's in the bag and felt bad for the cat for having to dig for food. Upon closer inspection though, I found the bag full of meat trimmings, skin, bits of fat...the kind of stuff that looks disgusting to me but probably tastes wonderful to a cat! Of course my next thought was to be mad at the people that were throwing their garbage all over the place, intoxicating us with waste and not caring about their neighborhood, let alone their environment! But then I began to watch the cat more closely. The cat was walking head up, proud and with a menacing eye to all the other cats watching it. Her coat was shiny and clean - and that's a street cat! She walked over to a corner between two cars and started to tear open the bag, reveling in the huge meal, the prey, she has gotten herself. For a moment, I was glad these trash-throwing people had managed to make this meal possible for the cat. The circle was complete! Stray cats and dogs would be LOST without the trash people discard in the street!! Everything has a purpose!!! Even a stray cat will find it's nourishment where it is unwanted. Although WE still have to educate people about trash control, population control, animal control...everything control (!!), one cat can at least be thankful this Thanksgiving! ; - )