We’re not afraid to admit when we made a mistake. A couple months ago, we wrote a blog for our website on NOMAD, Inc., a cat-only spay neuter clinic out of Ohio. At the time, we wrote that NOMAD was the only La Boit-built spay/neuter clinic for cats that was run by a private practitioner (most are run by non-profits). Well, we were wrong. And we’re glad we got called out on it! Allow us to introduce The Celtic Cat LLC, a private feline-only spay/neuter clinic covering central Virginia, owned and operated by Emily Coleman, DVM.

How could we forget about Dr. Emily Coleman?! Dr. Coleman took delivery of her 26ft mobile spay/neuter clinic from La Boit just about a year ago in October 2021. Working with Dr. Coleman was such a pleasure. We worked extensively with her to make sure her vehicle met the specific surgical room requirements for Virginia. As we sent her progress photos of the clinic being built, she excitedly shared them on her Facebook page.

“The quality of the hospital is outstanding and very easy to maintain,” Dr. Coleman wrote to us in an email. “We loved receiving the weekly update photos to see the progress of the van. I ended up sharing them on social media while we were waiting for its arrival.”

Dr. Coleman grew up in Baltimore, Maryland and graduated from the Virginia Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech in 2009. In 2020, after over ten years in private practice and shelter medicine, she says that she decided to “think outside the box” and start her own mobile feline spay/neuter/TNR and preventative care practice.

“I liked the idea of being able to support a larger number of rescues in Central Virginia without having to choose a location,” she tells us. “Being mobile also gives me more flexibility.”

The Celtic Cat’s business model is that they provide services exclusively to 501c3 organizations such as rescues and shelters. And ever since they started, Dr. Coleman says that the need has been great. Along with an on-staff veterinary technician and an assistant, Dr. Coleman and her team care for an average of 25-30 patients a day.

“Just in the first year we have struggled at times to be able to meet everyone’s surgical needs!,” she exclaims.

In a post on their Facebook page, she gives a snapshot of their day:

We usually strive for 20-25 cats/day for surgery, wellness visits and/or sick appointments but with other clinics in the area booked out until the end of the year, our little team of one veterinarian, one licensed technician and one assistant have been trying to accommodate all requests as they come in. And so today we ended up doing 32 spay/neuter surgeries, a record for us!

As they mentioned, The Celtic Cat offers a variety of surgical procedures, not just spay/neuter. They also offer neonatal kitten care, preventative medicine, and geriatric care, and are always considering new ways to serve the kitties. For example, after being out in the field with her truck for a while, Dr. Coleman decided to add ultrasound capabilities. The need was there, she explains, so they expanded.

When you talk with Dr. Coleman, the passion and the dedication to help homeless cats really comes through. She herself has eight cats (and two loving geriatric dogs), and fosters many more throughout the year.

We asked her to share an anecdote that demonstrates her passion for animals, and she told us about a couple of temporary mobile clinic mascots, Ducky and Goose.

Recently we had two kittens come in as part of a [trap-neuter-release] project that were covered in fleas and suffering from severe flea anemia. Rather than release them back to where they came from as there was a chance they would not be able to recover, we had temporary passengers in the van for three weeks. Ducky and Goose were two sweet boys and I’m happy to report that both were adopted into wonderful families! It really takes a lot of different groups working together to help the cat population in Virginia and we are proud of the role we play.

Congratulations Dr. Coleman and her team on a successful first year! We wish you many more to come!

About La Boit Specialty Vehicles

La Boit Specialty Vehicles president Gil Blais first started La Boit in his garage in 1981, where he hand-made organizational boxes for traveling veterinarians. Fast forward to today, La Boit Specialty Vehicles is now a leader in specialty vehicle manufacturing for the Veterinary, Spay/Neuter/Adoption, Dental, Medical, Command, and Bloodmobile industries.

La Boit Specialty Vehicles offers a variety of vehicles to suit your needs, from 18ft pull-behind trailers to 40ft drivable coaches, none of which require a CDL to drive. Best of all, our vehicles are commercially-built from the chassis up for your specific needs, and are never converted RVs.

Mission Statement

Helping professionals around the world confidently deliver a higher level of service to their local markets by providing the highest quality custom mobile units in the industry!

We welcome your feedback and questions. Please contact us anytime or leave a comment below.