Interview! Dr. Caitlyn Neal, HVHQSN Veterinarian, Washington D.C. and Maryland

"We have enormous community support through our foster network and feeders who really want to go the distance for their cats"

Just two years out of veterinary school, Dr. Neal has been drawn to shelter medicine for quite some time. This spay/neuter "dynamo" has been involved with a number of high quality, high volume spay/neuter programs and today leads the medical efforts at CATNIPP, the Cat Neighborhood Partnership program in Washington, DC, which supports local efforts to reduce overpopulation, and keep free-roaming cats healthy, as well asi improve relationships between community cats and the people who coexist with them. Dr. Neal notes that community felines are living longer, and now just as subject to geriatric diseases as environmental challenges. She also discusses ways for veterinary students to start making a difference before they're even in practice.