About Carla

I grew up in Cobourg and moved to St. Catharines in 1994 to attend Brock University taking Earth Science/Chemistry.  In 1997, I got my first ferret, Joven, and then soon afterwards, my second ferret, Mercury.  I grew up with the usual family pets, but ferrets just looked like so much fun, I needed to have some.  I graduated from Brock in 1998, but lacked the excitement and passion to pursue the career I trained for.  As my grandmother said, “An uneducated man can dig ditches, an educated man can dig ditches if he has to”, so I don’t consider the time wasted.  I worked a few jobs, until I realized my passion for my ferrets, my love to talk about them and the excitement to meet a new furry friend on a walk.  I was at a bit of a loss of how to make my passion into a career, so on a whim, I applied to work as a receptionist at a veterinary clinic.  It was 2001 when I found a career path I really wanted to walk.  Thirteen years later, I left the job that I loved for a much needed break.  5 months later, Pawsitivity started to take shape.

I currently live in St. Catharines with my husband Mike and my cats, Norris and Leela, plus a betta, and 3axolotls named Pinky, Fry and Zoidberg. I've had many pets over my lifetime, but taking care of them as an adult was a whole different story. My past fur babies included the ferrets Joven, Mercury, Orion, Harley Quinn, Hagrid and Sprout, as well as my cats Dock and Mace. I won't go into to many details, but they each hold a special place for their big personalities. Joven was peppy, Mercury was simple minded but lovable. Orion was my stuffed animal thief, taking things twice his size to his hidey hole behind the tv. Harley liked leather and was known to steal Mike's wallet. Hagrid was just like his namesake, big, burly and the most gentle creature you could imagine, and finally Sprout was strong willed and bull headed. If you want to know more about having ferrets as pets, follow this link.  They are not as easy as they look. 

Dock was my first cat ever.  Loved her immensely.  She was adopted at 6 years old and lived a great cat life until we said goodbye just after her 16^th birthday (she had a meningioma).  She was a bit of a princess, a typical cat.  I'll do what I want, on my terms.  You want to pet me, you want me to lay with you, you want a lap cat, never.  As she aged, she started to enjoy these more and became an amazingly sweet girl.   Mace was our crazy sphynx.  He was 11 years old when we had to make a sudden, heartbreaking decision, he had a mass in his abdomen.  He had a rough start in life. He contracted the feline herpes virus when he was a baby that caused him to have a horrible ulcer on his right eye.  His eye needed to be sutured shut for about 6 weeks (I think) so the ulcer could heal.  He had to wear his cone for a number of months.  I don’t know how many times Mike and I got hit with it as he flew around the house chasing Dock.  He has such a big personality, I swear he is part human.  He was 6 when Dock passed away, and I knew he needed a friend, so Norris was lucky enough to find us at the right time.  He had been hit by a car as a stray, and the local shelter was not able to care for him as the vet costs were beyond their budget.  I decided to adopt him and after 6 weeks of cage rest for a broken pelvis, he should have be ready to come home.  He did not improve as expected so an x-ray found a second fracture (not found initially because of all the swelling from the other injuries) and orthopedic surgery was needed.  He walks with a slight limp, but runs around the house like a crazed animal.  We were lucky to have a kitten in need of help enter our lives and while Mira was tiny and only with us a short time, she showed us that Norris needed another cat to be a big brother to.  Mira accomplished her life goal before losing her fight at 14 weeks of age.  A very sad story I will gladly share if asked.  Just after Mira left us, Leela looked at me from an adoption center and I knew she was meant to be ours and that Mace made sure she come to our home.  Her and Norris are best buddies and love each other.  She is a bit odd, but those eyes make up for any calico craziness she has.

The axolotls started thanks to a friend who posted on a video on Facebook.  I didn't think that it was real, but sure enough, it was a real life animal and I was in love.  I started my research (as pet ownership is never to be taken lightly) and about 6 months later, Pinky came home.  His tank mate Brain came about 6 months later and they loved each other, until we found out how much they loved each other. A batch of eggs was laid, Brain was a girl!  From that first batch, we kept babies, Slappy and Skippy, but Skippy was not very strong and died at about a month of age.  By then a second batch of eggs were laid, and I thought, let's raise a few to spread the love to new families.  One of these guys was born with a bent tail, so we called him Bender, and once he was named, we knew he was staying, so Slappy's name was changed to Fry. Bender had an unfortunate run in with Norris one day when I left his bowl in a bad spot, and Brain was rehomed so that she could have a friend so father and son were left on their own.  We wanted some diversity and Zoidberg joined the tank. They are very neat, unique critters with their own personalities.  

In my spare time, I love to knit, crochet, read, snuggle with cats and hubby and enjoying a movie, and play online computer games.  I've also become interested in crystals and their healing properties, and reading tarot/oracle cards and animal communication to help make my fur clients feel more secure.

I also like to change up my hair quite often, so do not be surprised if I show up with hair a different style or colour (such as blue, purple, or any other colour of the rainbow, including rainbow colour)