Ideas for a column topic don't always come easily, and with my wedding coming up soon, it shouldn't surprise you that my mind hasn't been as focused on writing these days. (Which is one reason your ideas are so important to me.)

But visiting Barnes & Noble on Thursday, flipping through Bark magazine, left little doubt about what to share with you this week.

Have you ever heard of birth control for pets?

Or, more technically, non-surgical permanent or long-term sterilization for companion animals? Let's stick with a familiar term: the pill.

The concept had never crossed my mind, but it does makes sense. Rounding up millions of stray animals in this country — according to the American Humane Society, one female cat can lead to 420,000 offspring (I know, right?) — is an impossible task.

But what if you used the pill in, say, food, to prevent unwanted pet pregnancies?

The thought is enough to create the Alliance for Contraception in Cats and Dogs, a small, Portland, Ore.-based nonprofit.

The ACC&D dreams of one-time non-surgical options that could affect thousands of stray populations, cutting unwanted births with nearly magical ease.

And it's finally at the forefront of companion animal science, according to the article I read.

The ACC&D doesn't conduct its own research, but keeps tabs on development of this concept, which is being tried in labs and universities throughout the country.

Meanwhile, Found Animals Foundation has spent $50 million in grants and promised $25 million to any scientist who can create such a method.

As far as a solution for pet owners, well it seems that even if such a pill were invented, dogs and cats would continue their reproductive cycles, staying in heat and spraying. But the technology is moving forward.

Texas A&M University's College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences is developing the pill for animals like coyotes and wild pigs that can be a nuisance to farmers and land owners. Through baited food, the researchers say, the animal would ingest the oral contraceptive the same way humans do.

Duane Kraemer, a professor in veterinary physiology at A&M, said if this were successful in predatory animals like cougars, domestic pets could be next.

“The need for such an animal contraceptive is certainly here,” he said in a university article.

Kraemer stresses that sort of development is still in the future, though.