From Jamie Damato Migdal, CPDT-KA and CEO of Canine Link –
I have known Dr. Curtis since 1995. She has always been someone who demonstrates the utmost compassion and professionalism as a veterinarian. Her approach is kind, thoughtful and she constantly goes beyond the normal scope of what is expected. My dogs have greatly benefited from her perspective and her uncanny ability to know exactly what they need at each stage of their life. I consider Dr. Curtis one of the greatest animal medical professionals on the planet and recommend her services wholeheartedly.
From Dr. Adam Levin –
Dr. Curtis has taken care of my cats for over 10 years. She is warm, knowledgeable, trustworthy, and nice to be with. I appreciate her combination of western and holistic treatments. I know that my cats are in great hands with Dr. Curtis. Thank you, Dr Curtis.
From – Bobbye Middendorf –
Dr. Kim Curtis was our home visit vet for our beloved shelter adoptees, a cocker spaniel and cat, for 12 years. Her integrative, holistic medical approach for pets was gentle, loving, and thorough. If you love your pets enough to give them the best, then I urge you to connect with Dr. Curtis. She was a joy to have in our lives and in our pets’ lives.
From Katie Rodosky –
Dr. Curtis came to our home and took great care of our beagle Lucy when she was suffering from back issues. Having the accupuncture done at home was such a blessing. Dr. Curtis is kind and compassionate, Lucy loved her right away, and I’m sure that having the care at home eased so much of the typical vet anxiety that our pets face. Lucy had several treatments and that, along with holistic care and advice from Dr. Curtis helped her recover from back pain without invasive surgery, medications or excessive stress.
From Nancy Levy, LCSW –
Dr. Curtis saved two of our cats lives.
When I met her almost eight years ago, we had inherited a family member’s cat who had been given 2 weeks to live given his renal failure. Dr. Curtis recommended a home-made meat loaf and some herbs in addition to his fluids. We enjoyed him for 18 more MONTHS because of her. Then, 7 years later, our 18 year-old cat was diagnosed by our traditional vet with either IBD or Lymphoma. That vet looked terribly sad when she told me and her eyes told me, he would not live long. I was a mess. Again, I called Dr. Curtis to intervene and happily, almost a year later, we have our precious cat and he looks great. I never dreamed he would live this long and feel this good. It is a miracle that we still get to be with him.
I cannot recommend Dr. Curtis enough. She is so knowledgeable about both traditional and alternative medicine and has a wonderful manner with animals and humans! She is passionate about healing animals and so calming and reassuring. If she worked on humans, both my husband and myself would become her patients.
From Bonnie –
I have known Dr. Curtis since 1999. She has always been someone very special to my Furry Family and me. Dr. Curtis is compassionate, gentle, and knowledgeable and her visits to my home have been a blessing. Dr. Curtis always responds very quickly to phone calls and all emergency situations. Bennett always looks forward to her monthly visits, as Dr. Curtis provides a relaxing and enjoyable experience. She is extremely trustworthy and through a combination of holistic and Western medicine, I am confident that my furry kids have always been in good hands. We are more than grateful to have Dr. Curtis in our lives.
From Janice B. Terry –
Dr. Kimberly Curtis is to animal health care what we all would hope for in our Human health care system. Compassion is the key word that first comes to my mind, gentleness, and an enormous Knowledge of integrative healthcare practice and solutions for our 4 legged family members. Dr. Curtis came to my house every other week for 2 years to administer acupuncture, and other integrative medicine to my aging, aching,10 year old Labrador retriever Coltrane.
He was unable to comfortably make vet visits so when I found out about Dr. Curtis’s home visits it was a blessing. Coltrane was so comfy at home and Dr. Curtis’s gentle touch and caring treatments made all the difference in the world. He showed signs of improvement and I was able to manage his discomfort thanks to Dr. Curtis. Again , we humans should be so lucky to have a health care provider as caring and nurturing as Dr. Curtis.
From Diane Krueger –
Dr. Kimberly Curtis of Handle With Care Home Veterinary Service has been our very special vet for 12 or so years. She has rendered tender, loving care to our 4 Labradors. All the Labs — Moon, Tobe, Chance and Buffy have benefited greatly from her knowledgeable and talented ministrations. She has addressed a variety of ailments from allergies, cancer, cardiac conditions and structural issues to inoculations in a professional and competent manner. My husband and I wholeheartedly recommend her (as well as Chance & Buffy). You can put your trust in her ability to treat your fur kids skillfully and with kindness.
From Jennifer Kotylo –
I am a firm believer in holistic medicine and was relieved to find a licensed veterinarian who was also open to and educated in alternative methodologies. A much added bonus was the fact that Dr. Curtis did house-calls in Chicago. My easily car-sick cat was very much appreciative of the fact that her doctor came to her instead of the other way around. Dr. Curtis has a wonderful bedside manner (or should I say counter-top manner). She took her time, handling my cat, Chloe, with confidence and patience. She listened to what I had to say and asked pertinent questions.
Although her recommendation was to treat Chloe with Chinese herbs for depleted spleen chi and add probiotics and digestive enzymes to her diet (my cat has chronic loose stools), she also performed blood tests just to make sure that nothing specifically physical or chemical was out of balance. I will say that my cat hated the taste of the herbs, but tolerated everything else. (She is a cat after all.) And for the most part her digestive upsets are much less severe and without long term drugs. I would highly recommend Dr. Curtis. She is a caring, intelligent and intuitive doctor and healer.
From Jean Lachowicz –
Our sheltie, Freddie, was diagnosed with an inoperable bladder tumor and the emergency/specialist vet gave us absolutely no hope. Dr. Curtis, while not trivializing the seriousness of his situation, did an amazing job making Fred happy and comfortable through acupuncture, herbs, dietary changes, and even a prescription medicine. We were joyous to have our Freddie nearly five months after that diagnosis, and those five months were a wonderful time together. He was happy and active and so relieved to be able to have his treatments in the comfort of his own home (he would get very carsick!). Dr. Curtis was with us the day before Freddie passed away, and helped us to not second guess ourselves whether there was more we could or should be doing to help him. Our other two boys, Tyler and Gypsy, are enthusiastic patients of Dr. Curtis too! She is kind and gentle, and extremely knowledgeable about Eastern and Western modalities. We are beyond grateful to have her in our lives.
From Mary Duggan, for the Duggan Family, including Seamus, Peeps, Joey, Pancho and Chester:
Dr. Kim Curtis came into our lives and the lives of our pets at a time of extreme frustration. We as fur-less individuals were enjoying all the benefits of Integrative Medicine: chiropractic adjustments, acupuncture, herbal remedies, Traditional Chinese Medicine, as well as the occasional need for allopathic intervention. The same could not be said for our pets, and they were suffering. Our cat, Seamus, in particular was dealing with a seizure disorder brought on by an evil landlord who fed him rat poisoning and a well-meaning vet who used an out-of-date remedy for the poisoning. Both events left him very sick, seizing many times each day. All he was being offered was a prescription for the wretched drug Phenobarbitol. I knew I had to find a solution. With a resounding referral from friends at a Yoga class, Dr. Kim Curtis came into our collective lives (fur and non-fur alike) and hopefully she will never leave.
And that is how it works with Dr. Kim. She comes to your home, she“sees” your pets in context, she helps you to understand how your own challenges can be creating challenges both emotionally and physically in the lives of your pets and she brings healing to one and all. But brace yourself – there is no going back. This petite, soft-spoken, and all together unassuming Doctor of Veterinary Medicine is a powerhouse. And she is going to change forever how you see your pets, how you hear your pets, how you communicate with your pets and how you provide for their wellbeing.
So now our four cats and one dog receive chiropractic adjustments, sophisticated regimens of herbal tinctures, traditional medications, acupuncture, as needed, Tellington Touch massages, the list goes on: this Mary Poppins of Animal Medicine pulls lots of surprises from her traveling veterinary valise. And that is well and good and as it should be. Dr. Kim’s style of animal doctoring has given our family lots of satisfaction over the years. We have weathered lots of health crises and had beloved pets live many years longer and happier lives than they would have without her skillful intervention. And when their lives came to an end we had the peace of mind of knowing that we had done our absolute best for them. And we had Kim to grieve with us as she consoled and guided.
We feel blessed that our local vet is a huge fan of Dr. Kim and makes a team approach so desirable and successful. That’s right, Dr. Kim is not our only vet. We also have a superb local vet and we have used a weekend emergency clinic on more than one occasion when tragedy and trauma prevailed. This combination of providers is the winning formula. We see Dr. Kim about once every month or every other month when we are experiencing the rare healthy run with our menagerie. The rest of the time we are in and out of the local vet, as needed. But because of Dr. Kim we made the switch from a wonderful local vet to an equally wonderful but more holistic practice just a few minutes further away. And here’s the added value: Dr. Kim continues to monitor the health lives of our pets and weigh in as needed with recommendations on treatment and medications between appointments. We have always been impressed that her reputation precedes her and the staff of our local facility most commonly defers to Dr. Kim for the final say. It’s standard practice at the end of an appointment that all test results and reports are faxed to Dr. Kim for review.
I hope with this intended to be glowing testimonial that I have not inadvertently dissuaded others from making the call to Handle with Care for that is surely not my desire. If it all sounds a bit too much, it isn’t. I find that the entire family looks forward to Dr. Kim Day and unlike stress-filled trips to the vet our pets line up to be seen by Kim. I’m not kidding. A cat we considered healthy but a pain in the butt would sit atop Kim’s traveling veterinary tool box watching other more needy members of the team get their time with the good doctor. One day Kim said, you know that little guy is asking for an appointment. And boy was she right. Our superficially healthy but behaviorally impossible cat was a mess. Regular massage and chiropractic and an herbal regimen for his distressed kidneys gave our little guy a new lease on life and our family a cat that is at times impossible, but 50-60% less often. That’s a good return in my book.
So there you have it. Make a pot of herbal tea and set out some gluten free cookies as you prepare for your first appointment. But don’t forget to have the pen and notepad there as well. You are entering a new reality with your pets receiving medically sound, energetically subtle, highly effective, and supremely loving care. You will want to observe and take notes.