Webinar

    1. Understanding Your Kitten or Cat: Recognizing Pain and Knowing When to Seek Veterinary Help

    1. Understanding Your Kitten or Cat: Recognizing Pain and Knowing When to Seek Veterinary Help

    2. Resource Links

    1. Understanding Your Kitten or Cat Webinar. We would love to hear your opinion!

About this webinar

  • Free
  • 2 hours of video content

Presenters

Tracey Deiss

DVM

Dr. Tracey Deiss attended Texas A&M pursuing a BS in Biochemistry and Genetics with a Chemistry minor. She received her DVM from Texas A&M University in 1998. During veterinary school, she worked at MD Anderson Cancer Center, Department of Lab Animal Medicine and Surgery. Dr. Deiss completed an internship in small animal medicine and surgery prior to practicing emergency medicine for 15 years in Grapevine, Texas. She returned to her hometown of Rosenberg, TX joining a large SA practice where her special interests included ultrasonography, soft tissue surgery, feline medicine, and pain management. Dr. Deiss joined Zoetis as the professional services veterinarian for the Houston and surrounding areas in 2018 and is currently serving as the veterinary medical lead for Feline Anxiety and Pain. Knowing that cats are masters at hiding pain and illness, she is passionate about partnering with their humans in providing consistent comprehensive health screens in clinical practice. She shares her life with a couple of adult kiddos and a menagerie of pets including a Doberman named Sapphira, a Schnauzer named Ms. Ives, and a naughty Borzoi named Jezzie. There is seldom a dull moment in the Deiss Family Circus.

Emily A. Coleman

DVM

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 (NKC) since 2023. In 2025, she was appointed Executive Director of NKC, where she continues to advance education and advocacy for kittens and their caregivers nationwide. 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.

Moderators

Rosemarie Crawford

LVT

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. Rosemarie is the Co-founder and Director of Educational Programs at the National Kitten Coalition, where she leads initiatives to improve outcomes for kittens through education and training. 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.

Virginia Rud

CVT

Virginia joined EveryCat Health Foundation in 2019. Her responsibilities include promoting EveryCat and its mission at various cat shows and related events, pet and animal industry trade shows, and veterinary conferences, plus managing EveryCat’s Webinar series, social media, and newsletter. Without a doubt, her favorite part of her job is talking to people about EveryCat Health Foundation and sharing the significance of EveryCat’s mission to improve the lives of every cat, every day, through EveryCat-funded health studies. Virginia studied English at the University of Minnesota, and, after a career in Emergency Communications, she followed her passion into Veterinary Medicine. She received her Veterinary Technology degree in 2001 and over the years, practiced in both rural and urban veterinary hospitals, with both large and small animal patients. Prior to joining EveryCat, she worked for the National Association of Veterinary Technicians in America, taught in several Veterinary Technology Programs, and served as Veterinary Technology Program Director at a community college in Iowa. Virginia considers herself an extroverted introvert, and when she isn’t working, she likes to read, write (yes, she plans to someday write the great American novel), and travel. She shares her home with her partner Jim and her very quirky German Shepherd Dog, Seger. Alas, currently no feline companions.