Leadership

The Coalition Leadership

Our team has decades of hands-on experience as veterinary professionals, shelter employees, rescue volunteers and kitten foster parents and we bring this expertise with us when we educate and train others on up-to-date, proven information on how to save kitten lives – a labor of love we have committed to for more than 15 years.

We believe:

• Kittens should be given a chance to grow and thrive.
• Our strong and well-researched educational programs save kitten lives and reduce euthanasia.
• Those on the front lines at animal shelters, rescues organizations and in the veterinary community work tirelessly to save lives, and we stand with them in their efforts.
• Together, we can save more lives!

Visit our Programs page for more information.

Emily Coleman DVM: Executive Director

Dr. Emily A. Coleman grew up in Baltimore, Maryland and acquired a Bachelor of Science at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia in 2005. She then attended the Virginia Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, graduating and receiving her DVM in 2009. After over ten years in private practice and shelter medicine, Dr. Coleman decided to think outside of the box and to start her own mobile feline spay/neuter/TNR and preventative care practice dedicated to supporting 501c3 nonprofit rescue organizations in Central Virginia. The Celtic Cat, LLC opened in November 2021 and has since assisted over twenty organizations with their veterinary care of cats and kittens. Dr. Coleman’s veterinary interests include neonatal kitten care, preventative surgery and medicine, as well as geriatric care. Dr. Coleman serves as the IACUC veterinarian at the University of Mary Washington and has served on the Board of Directors for The National Kitten Coalition since 2023. Dr. Coleman has spoken on behalf of the NKC at national veterinary conferences, and she regularly hosts NKC webinars.  She currently lives in Spotsylvania, Virginia with her husband, cats, dogs and chickens and fosters the most vulnerable neonatal kittens from surrounding counties each year, typically receiving them at just a few days old. When not busy with her foster kittens she enjoys attending live music events, reading, gardening and practicing yoga.

Rosemarie Crawford: Director of Educational Programs

Rosemarie Crawford is a licensed veterinary technician who has worked in animal welfare for more than 15 years. She has experience in public and private shelters and in veterinary practices. As a medical staff member in a high-volume, open-access shelter in Illinois, Rosemarie worked closely with the shelter veterinarian to provide for the animals’ medical and surgical needs. She assisted in developing and implementing progressive, proactive protocols for the care and treatment of kittens in the shelter’s kitten nursery room as well as for those in foster care. Additionally, Rosemarie served in two shelters as the foster coordinator and understands the challenges of creating, expanding and maintaining a foster program as well as the rewards such a program can reap via the involvement of volunteers. During times of disaster, she serves as an emergency responder with several national organizations to provide rescue, shelter, veterinary care and transport for affected animals. For many years, she also served as a volunteer instructor for Humane Society University, teaching extended workshops in the United States and Canada on Emergency Animal Sheltering, Disaster Animal Response and Animal First Aid. Prior to focusing her efforts on animal welfare, Rosemarie taught high school and college English for 10 years, and her passion for teaching comes through in the workshop presentations. Currently, she also works at a large, six-doctor veterinary practice in the greater Washington D.C. area and fosters neonatal, injured or debilitated kittens for several local shelters and rescue groups.

Susan Spaulding: Director of Neonatal Programs

Growing up on a small farm, Susan has been surrounded by animals her entire life. Though she began fostering dogs in Northern California, her passion for kittens began in South Texas in 1994 when a box of 13 underage kittens was brought to the thrift shop where she volunteered for Hill Country Animal League. Upon learning that they would immediately be euthanized at the shelter, she took them home to foster and never looked back. After moving to Northern Virginia she was fostering 200-300 kittens annually; her frustration grew as she realized that even many veterinarians did not have the training or hands-on experience with these tiny babies, and most of the information available was incomplete at best. She began doing research and contacting veterinarians nationally. Today, she is known as the “kitten mom” and is widely celebrated for her expertise in caring for neonatal orphans and special needs kittens that others have given up on. Working with veterinarians, Susan has developed cutting edge protocols for successfully treating upper respiratory infections and Panleukopenia. She has advised national organizations as well as dozens of local shelters and rescue organizations on neonatal issues and received numerous awards for her work from the shelter, rescue and veterinary communities. She lives in North Carolina with her husband, six special needs cats, two dogs and a feral colony. When not caring for kittens, she loves spending time with her grandchildren and enjoys gardening, cooking, reading science fiction, playing in her crafts studio and any type of needlework.