Noah’s Animal House, a safe haven for homeless and abused women’s companion pets, has two new temporary residents. They’re 3-week-old tiny kittens who were found huddled together in the center’s parking lot.
Crystal McIntosh, manager of Noah’s Animal House in North Las Vegas, has the pair in her office, where in between working she takes time out to bottle-feed them. Then, after work she takes them home with her. “They keep me up at night,” she says.
Not that she’s complaining; she’s happy to help the newborns. As long as the kittens are bottle-feeding, Crystal will continue caring for them. “Once I wean them, they’ll go into a foster home with a Noah’s Animal House supporter, who is an experienced foster mom.”
“I’ll do my part, and [the foster mom] will find them wonderful homes where they’ll live happily ever after,” she continues, noting that Noah’s is not an animal rescue facility and they’re not equipped to take in or adopt out pets. Instead, they help care for the pets of women who are living next door at the Shade Tree Women’s Shelter.
Until they go to live with their foster mom, the kittens are getting lots of attention from residents at the Shade Tree. “The kittens cry for attention,” Crystal says.
The boy is already learning to have fun. “He rolls over on my shoulder and bats at my face, so he’s starting to play,” she says.
As for the baby girl, “She’s definitely a purr factory,” Crystal says. “She sounds like a motor for a toy Matchbook car. Immediately when you pick her up, she purrs.”
When the kittens are old enough to be spayed and neutered, Noah’s will take them to the veterinarian who provides low-cost spays and neuters for residents’ pets.
Right now, though, it’s a matter of keeping the kittens healthy. Crystal feeds them with a bottle at least four times a day and has started giving them some wet food. “But I don’t think they’re taking very much of that in. It’s just to get them used to it,” she says.
Crystal hasn’t named the black male and light-tan female kitties. “I don’t really want to name them, because I’ll have to say goodbye when they’re adopted,” she says. For now, she calls them “baby girl” and “baby boy.”
To learn more about Noah’s Animal House or to help, please click here.
Photos by Sarah Ause, Best Friends photographer.