Terry Marie Curtis, DVM, MS

Diplomate ACVB

Veterinary Behaviorist 

I 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, I 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. I graduated with honors from the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine in 1997. 

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

I am a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists and do house calls in Northeast Florida [primarily]. I have been a regular contributor to the annual NAVC-VMX conference in Orlando, the coordinator of a day-long Behavior Symposium there. I have 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. I am a member of the Editorial Review Board for Today’s Veterinary Practice magazine, a former editorial member of the Journal of Feline Medicine & Surgery, and currently serve on the Advisory Boards for BluCare and Vet Candy. I was also a panel contributor to the 2014 AAFP & ISFM Guidelines for Diagnosing and Solving House Soiling Behavior in Cats. I have lectured to veterinarians and veterinary students worldwide – the first veterinarian to lecture about behavioral medicine in India.  

One of my favorite projects was working with the Hemingway House cats in Key West – discussing the subject on ABC’s Nightline (July, 2007).

I also was fortunate enough to be interviewed on the NBC Today show (July, 2008) where I spoke about fears and phobias in dogs. Most humbly, I was honored with the Keuka College Alumni Association Professional Achievement Award in 2018. Currently I am working on writing a practical textbook on behavior: Principles of Canine and Feline Behavior Medicine [Wiley Press, 2024].