Advancements in Neonatal Kitten Care (On-demand)

Dr. Julie Levy is the Fran Marino Endowed Distinguished Professor of Shelter Medicine Education at the University of Florida, where she focuses on the health and welfare of animals in shelters, feline infectious diseases, and humane alternatives for cat population control. She founded Operation Catnip, a community cat trap-neuter-return program that has spayed, neutered, and vaccinated more than 80,000 cats in Gainesville since 1998. A decade later, she joined Dr. Cynda Crawford to launch Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program at the College of Veterinary Medicine. This educational and discovery initiative has a global impact on the care of homeless animals and served as the academic home for development of the Fear Free Shelters program. She later teamed up with Dr. Kate Hurley to start the Million Cat Challenge, a shelter-based campaign that saved more than 5 million cats in shelters across North America and then Maddie’s Million Pet Challenge to create transformative “communities of practice” that deliver access to care through humane community-centric programming—inside and outside of the shelter—to achieve the right outcome for every pet.

Marnie developed the Kitten College at the Animal Welfare League of Arlington in Arlington, VA.  The first kitten nursery of its kind, Arlington went from saving 92 kittens a year in 2016 to 1547 kittens in 2022 all while maintaining a no kill live release rate. Marnie has been fostering neonatal kittens for over two decades, specializing in critical-care neonates and high-risk nursing/expectant queens.  Marnie is a recognized expert on caring for at-risk kittens. She is co-founder of the National Kitten Coalition and speaks nationally about at-risk neonatal kittens.  Her advice and expertise are sought from shelters and rescues across the country. In 2023, Marnie assisted UC Davis and the University of Wisconsin to update their neonatal kitten guidelines for mass distribution.  

 Marnie sits on multiple Boards for spay/neuter organizations throughout the county including Fox Hollow Animal Project in Montana and Caring Hands Animal Support and Education – International Advocacy.  She annually travels to third world countries assisting in international spay/neuter projects to help impact the lives of street animals in underserved areas.  

Monica Tarant is the Chief Innovation Officer with the Give Them Ten Movement and is helping create cat caring communities across the country.

A decade before anyone had heard of such a thing, she cut her teeth founding a trap-neuter-return organization in rural Illinois and pioneered one of the nation's first and largest working cat programs. In 2012, her move to Texas helped Austin achieve a citywide 98% live release rate for cats. Monica then spent years as an instructor for the Maddie’s Fund Lifesaving Academy, teaching shelters best practices and innovative programs, advancing research in shelter medicine, and progressing public policy as a City of Austin Animal Advisory Commissioner.

Monica is a frequent speaker and advisor on creative solutions for every cat, progressive community cat programming, transformative shelter leadership, and creating strategic visions for impactful, sustainable organizations.