Above: Michele Graham with kittens at Pet Helpers animal shelter. (Photo by Catie Cleveland)
By Kennedy Robinson
Ideas can spark from anywhere. Just ask rising junior Michele Graham. A compelling notion hit her late one night while volunteering at a local animal shelter a few years ago.
After observing how abandoned kittens struggle to eat without a nursing mother โ and how challenging it is to bottle-feed multiple kittens at a time โ Graham dreamed up a solution. Itโs part soothing surrogate, part milk-delivery device. This spring, she submitted her invention to the 2023 College of Charleston Student Entrepreneur of the Year pitch contest and ended up with top honors, including a $1,000 prize.
Kittens feed using Surro-Kitty.
Since she was a young girl, Graham has had a deep-seated love of animals. Her time volunteering at a local animal shelter was a means of giving back to the thing that brings her so much joy. During that time, Graham learned that young kittens need to be fed every two hours, either from a nursing mother or from a bottle. And she was heartbroken to learn that many kittens are euthanized because a foster family, surrogate mother or suitable volunteer isnโt available.
“Thatโs the scenario that led me to create the Surro-Kittyยฎ,” Graham explains. โOne night, two kittens were brought into the shelter while I was volunteering. No one was available to care for them because it was so late, so I decided to step up.
“While bottle-feeding the kittens, I realized that they didnโt understand how to nurse from a bottle,” continues Graham, who is majoring in biology. “Theyโre accustomed to nursing naturally.โ
Given that, she began conjuring a design for the Surro-Kittyยฎ to simulate a nursing mother cat. The goal was to provide the kittens with a lifelike feeding process.
Grahamโs inspiration succeeded. The device is available for sale in multiple models that can hold anywhere from four to eight bottles of milk at a time. The Surro-Kittyยฎ also comes with customizable elements, including a built-in purring sound, the option of heat and different color fabrics to offer a more realistic experience for the kittens.
For the time being, this native Charlestonian plans to continue promoting Surro-Kittyยฎ and expanding her companyโs reach while completing her undergraduate work. Ultimately, she hopes to enroll in veterinary school to make working with animals her profession. Meanwhile, Surro-Kittyยฎ will continue to be used in and sold to veterinarian offices, animal shelters and foster homes.
Since the device has been on the market, Graham calculates that sales have surpassed $50,000. As impressive as that is, sheโs really just getting started.
