Hi there! Call me Maddie! :) I am a proud dog lover who happens to only have a kitty at the moment, but I have grown up with dogs my whole life. I have just moved to the great state of Colorado from Phoenix, Arizona and am a newly graduated elementary school teacher looking for extra income during the summer months. I have, and always will be, an animal lover and I take the responsibility for their well-being and safety of animals very seriously. The story of how we got our sweet kitty, Mavis, is actually pretty stinking cute. It was a cold and dusty February day in Yuma, Arizona, and my boyfriend and I were standing outside his work when we were approached by this scrawny and dirty white and grey cat, but at the time she was mostly a muddy brown. She was so sweet the way she came up to us and looked at us with her one good eye (the other was swollen shut from dehydration) and let out the longest and saddest "meoooooow". It was so obvious that had been abandoned. So, we took her home fed her bathed her (and were relieved when her eye went back to normal), but we were brokenhearted because our roommate at the time wasn't okay with us keeping Mavis. So, crying, we took her to the humane society a couple of days later. Lucky for us though, our roommate moved out the following week and we went back to the pound and gleefully took Mavis home for good! I am happy to say she is in perfect health now and has gained a whopping 9 pounds since we took her in off the streets of Yuma 2 years ago. She is very much a princess and is treated like such every day. I honestly never thought I would be a cat person, but here I am talking away about my precious kitty! I have been taking care of animals since I was a little kid. It was my responsibility to clean up, feed, and walk our two dogs (a Queensland heeler and St.Bernard/Boxer). Later in high school, I also had a very lovable Pit Bull-Lab who was so full of energy that walking her was never enough. So, when I was 14, I installed a device on my bike where I could attach her leash and we would go on speedy adventures around the loop in my neighborhood together. Throughout high school and college, I also helped care for an adorable 115 pound Bordeaux Mastiff, named Riley, while nannying for a family in Arizona for 6 years. In addition to my love and experience for your typical house pet, I also have experience raising and caring for all types of farm animals. I am a previous member of the organization Future Farmers of America (FFA), I raised chickens and goats to sell at my local county fair for class credit -and because it was an amazing experience- when I was in high school. One of my first jobs, as a teenager, was working for a mobile petting zoo that went from one event to the next to entertain kids with the fun-loving interaction with farm animals. From a managing guests in a petting zoo pen with chickens, ducks, piglets, adult pigs, goats, a llama, an alpaca, cows and of course ponies and horses. Prior to pursuing my passion for education, I wanted to be a Veterinarian and I studied at East Valley Institute of Technology in Mesa, Arizona and interned at Gilbert Veterinary Hospital. It was during this experience that I learned many useful ways to administer medicine to cats and dogs, take temperatures, and I even learned how to perform CPR or the Heimlich maneuver if necessary. If you choose to entrust me with the care of your beloved and furry family member, know that they are in good and experienced hands.