Highland Park Animal Hospital is just over the hill and one zip code away from my Eagle Rock home, and while it is not the only veterinary clinic our cats visit, all three of them have been here at one point or another. It’s where my Somali Sparkle got microchipped.

The vet that I saw the most frequently was Dr. Kate Creighton. Coincidentally, I was just looking at the Fixnation website (Fixnation does free and low cost spay and neutering for feral colonies and low income families) and discovered that she is the nonprofit organization’s Chief Medical Officer. So I thought this would be a good opportunity to mention that today is Free Feral Cat Spay Day, begun in 2010 by Alley Cat Rescue to encourage vets across the nation to provide free spay and neuter surgery to homeless cats. TNR (Trap, Neuter, Return) has proven to be an effective method of controlling feral populations. The reasons why are beyond the scope of discussion on a photo blog, but maybe one of these days Sparkle will offer details on her blog!