During another busy “kitten season” in Louisiana, a foster worker described as “adoptive mother of kittens” Heather quit her job and started adopting kittens. Kittens with the cute name “Crispy Noodles”. A good Samaritan found kittens named pasta that looked cold and lifeless. It was in such bad shape that rescuers weren’t sure if they could make it through the night.
Because there were too many kittens in need of rescue and not enough people to feed them, they were weaned with wet food first but were not ready and got sick. Heather had to feed them overnight, keeping them warm in an incubator and dryer. Soon, the kittens learned to latch on to the bottle slowly.
The fate of cranky, cute kittens is common to those in overcrowded shelters, where there is always a need for more experienced foster caretakers.
“I think they were weaned too quickly, and because of the stress of moving between the shelter and some of the foster homes, they got sick and got some sort of respiratory infection,” Heather said.
At the same time, Heather adopted struggling kittens named after birds such as: Ducky and the very cranky Steve-O, whom she later adopted after falling in love with the scruffy kitten. He is her 100th adopted child without a previous so-called “failed adoption”.
The crispy noodles are almost starving and need to be separated because they are sucking up nutrients from each other, which can be deadly. So they stay in their own habitat with stuffed animal friends to cling to along with supervised visits until they are older.
Unfortunately, one of the Ziti Noodles failed to make it, despite all efforts, warm incubator, B12, fluids, antibiotics and veterinary care. It was heartbreaking after so much trying but his adoptive mother did everything to save him. Despite the occasional loss, she continues to save the kittens and give them a chance to live a happier and longer life. Heather and Ziti as a cat have sadly passed away.
After that, the adoptive mother found herself in the “Mushroom Forest”, because the rest of the Noodles all needed treatment for ringworm. That means isolating and repeating the “deep cleaning” of the fur garden. However, as an experienced foster parent Heather says “it’s really not that scary.”
Fighting ringworm was another level of intensity, but she managed, giving the kittens a lime water bath, topical treatments, and prescriptions for oral medications. Now the Crispy Noodles have become wet and pretty noodles, but they will recover. By the next day, the noodle shop was doing much better. This is a strong Macaroni that demands more food. Later, Heather discovered that Coccidia Noodles, a single-celled organism, also started to feel better a day after starting the medication for that illness. The “Crispy Noodles” overcame the strange things despite everything that happened, Ba Mi overcame the obstacle and started to gain weight. At the same time, their pursuit began to emerge.
“Fettuccine has two modes: screaming and not screaming. She just makes two faces when she’s not screaming,” Heather said. Meowing Kitten, Heather, New Orleans, Louisiana,
“Rigatoni is just a good boy. Funny, always doing something cute and most importantly pooping on solid logs.”
“Macaroni pasta is just trying hard isn’t that what we’re all doing? But seriously, this sweet little kitty is a lot brighter and more alert today, even more so today. I even caught him throwing toys around the last time I looked at it. Love you all so much my little Noodles, so happy to be a part of your journey.”
Now that the crispy noodles are so much better, another foster mother has taken over the rest of their care. When they are ready, they will be housed in permanent homes. All of this is thanks to foster people and donations from kind people who care.