We had the good fortune of connecting with Caroline Grace and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Caroline, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I started Baby Kitten Rescue in 2021 after fostering for other organizations and realizing there was a huge need for animal rescues that were willing and able to care for the most vulnerable population: neonatal, critical care, and special needs kittens. I also wanted to create a rescue that made the fostering experience more supportive and empowering for the fosters.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I started Baby Kitten Rescue in 2021 for 2 main reasons: to focus on neonatal, critical care, and special needs kittens and to make the fostering experience better, more supportive, and more empowering for the people fostering. I had fostered for other rescues and had friends who fostered for other rescues, and the most common experience people had fostering was feeling very unprepared and unsupported by the rescue. So I wanted Baby Kitten Rescue to be different by focusing on extensively training all fosters and giving them all the supplies they need before they ever take in kittens. This way, the experience would be better for the people fostering by giving them the knowledge, supplies, and support needed to handle problems when they arise, and it would also be better for the kittens since they would receive prompt and proper care.

This was a lofty goal, because it took time and effort to raise the funds needed to equip all the fosters with the supplies. It also took a lot of time and effort to train each foster and support them with 1:1 mentoring throughout their fostering experience. But hard work and dedication paid off and I was able to run Baby Kitten Rescue the way I dreamed of, supporting and empowering fosters! And the survival rate of our kittens was higher than I even thought possible, thanks to the prompt and proper care even the most medically fragile kittens received! It has been far from easy, even once everything was up and running. But it was so worth it to see the most vulnerable kittens survive and thrive, and to see the fosters learning, growing, and feeling empowered and passionate about rescuing kittens!

What really sets Baby Kitten Rescue apart, is that we take in the most vulnerable kittens in need. We’ve taken in paralyzed kittens, kittens with hydrocephalus, blind kittens, kittens missing limbs, kittens with twisted limbs, kittens with cleft palates, kittens with cerebellar hypoplasia, kittens with broken limbs, kittens missing eyes, kittens with Swimmer’s Syndrome, newborn orphaned kittens, critically ill kittens, and kittens with rare and complex medical conditions. And we’ve found forever homes for almost all of our kittens! We believe that these kittens’ lives matter, and that they are worth the extra time, energy, and expense it takes to help them survive and thrive. It has also been really special to see how the lives of our kittens have impacted our followers and supporters! These kittens become an inspiration as they overcome their obstacles and live full and happy lives. We hope that by celebrating the uniqueness of our kittens, we will help spread compassion and hope.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to shoutout my first ever fosters of Baby Kitten Rescue, Pei Chiu and Jamie Horgan. They helped me grow, refine, and improve Baby Kitten Rescue over the years. I could not have done what we’ve accomplished without them!

I also want to acknowledge Megan Mannarelli Martin, Founder of Wonky Hearts Animal Haven, who taught us everything we needed to know about caring for paralyzed and incontinent cats.

Website: https://www.babykittenrescue.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/babykittenrescue

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebabykittenrescue

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@babykittenrescue

Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thebabykittenrescue

Image Credits
All photos are mine.

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