Dr. Curtis grew up in Niagara Falls, New York and attended Keuka College in the heart of the Finger Lakes. After graduating with a Biology degree in 1980, she worked in a number of jobs before starting veterinary school in 1993: a lab technologist for Exxon Chemical Company in Houston, retail in a wine & cheese shop, and an environmental consultant for the state of Florida and a private company. She graduated with honors from the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine in 1997. 

Dr. Curtis worked as a feline-only practitioner in Florida until the summer of 2000 when she began her residency in Veterinary Behavior at the University of Georgia in Athens. Concurrently, she received a Master of Science in Psychology investigating grooming behavior in the domestic cat. After completing her residency and graduate school in June 2003, she joined the team at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine – where she taught behavior to the freshman and junior veterinary students for 17 years.

Dr. Curtis is one of approximately 100 practicing Diplomates of the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists and does house calls in northeast Florida. She has been a regular contributor to the annual NAVC-VMX conference in Orlando, both as a speaker as well as the coordinator of a day-long Behavior Symposium there. She has authored a number of articles, including book chapters in Veterinary Clinics of North America, the 7th Edition of Blackwell’s Five-Minute Veterinary Consult, and Decoding Your Cat. Dr. Curtis is a former editorial member of the Journal of Feline Medicine & Surgery, and currently serves on the Advisory Boards for BluCare and Vet Candy. She was also a panel contributor to the 2014 AAFP & ISFM Guidelines for Diagnosing and Solving House Soiling Behavior in Cats. She has lectured to veterinarians and veterinary students worldwide – the first veterinarian to lecture about behavioral medicine in India.  Currently, Dr. Curtis is working on authoring a practical behavioral textbook: Principles of Canine and Feline Behavioral Medicine (Wiley Publishing)