Who We Are

 

Dr. Fern Crist, DVM has been in practice for more than two decades, with more than 17 years as a dedicated feline-only practitioner in Fairfax, Virginia. She is a graduate of the University of Georgia and has served on the Board of Directors of the American Association of Feline Practitioners. Fern brings her wealth of experience to the Society as a Veterinary Science Specialist, and is involved in all things medical.

 

Margaret Gates founded the Feline Nutrition Education Society after transitioning her own cats to a raw diet. Her previous generation had died, some from diseases caused by or exacerbated by grain-based diets. She witnessed the dramatic, positive changes in her own cats' health and well-being after switching to a raw diet. She decided she would help to bring about change.

 

Finding that most people she met had never heard of or thought about a raw diet for their cats, did not think of them as being like all other cats and did not understand their obligate carnivore nature, she created FNES and the RawFedKitty Campaign. With a background in design, she has provided graphic design for Feline Nutrition in addition to research, writing and her role as Executive Director.

 

Glenn Lewis is an independent management consultant based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Glenn began feeding his cats a raw diet in 2007 when he was confronted with feline diabetes, and has been a raw diet advocate ever since. With an MBA, experience living in the United States, South Africa and the Netherlands, he brings an international perspective to his work as an Education and Outreach Specialist for the Society. Glenn founded the Diabetic Cat Care group on Facebook.

 

Ashley Stephen Root has been instrumental in the development of the Society from the outset. He was the first person Margaret spoke to about her ideas. A fellow feline enthusiast, he understood what had gone wrong in his own critical thinking process, and became an advocate. With an M.A. in Communications and decades of experience in associations and membership organizations, he brings the know-how as Communications Director to keep the organization on track with consistent, effective, moderate and approachable messaging. Ashley introduced the attribution-footnote protocol for which Feline Nutrition is so well known. In addition, he created the Society's website and serves as its editor-in-chief.

 

April Auerbach Zeidan has a degree in psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University and lives outside Richmond, Virginia. Having come to feeding a raw diet after her 16 year old cat was diagnosed with feline diabetes, she has become a passionate advocate of proper nutrition for cats. She is a proponent of the Tight Regulation protocols for feline diabetes and serves as a Dosing Advisor for DiabeticCatCare.com. Working as an Education and Outreach Specialist for the Society, she brings practical and first-hand experience in using diet as an integral part of managing diabetes in cats.