Jess Franklin, DVM
Dr. Franklin graduated with her DVM from Cornell University in 1978. She then completed an internship in food animal medicine at MSU and in 2000 started acupuncture with the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society. Dr. Franklin started at Ann Arbor Animal Hospital in 1986 and feels her strength is in managing complex or complicated medical problems. She says, “At Ann Arbor Animal Hospital we put the patient and family first. Vaccine and preventative protocols are tailored to the individual.”
She was focused on becoming a veterinarian from an early age. When speaking of her inspiration she says, “As one of the lucky few who guessed right the first time, I did not ever consider another career choice…I knew I would be a veterinarian at age 14.”
Dr. Franklin has three daughters who have now “moved out into the world.” Her current household includes her partner Karl, her mother Lois, a Belgian Tervuren named Maddie, and several goldfish. Her advice for pet owners is to remind us, “Cats live 15-20 years, and most dogs live 8-13 years. This means we are facing age-related health issues and life quality issues every day. I have a golden rule for cats…each cat has the right to accept or refuse therapy. The cat should get to decide. It’s a balance between treating the physical ailment and allowing the cat to enjoy her life.”
One more piece of guidance from Dr. Franklin: “2018 was the year grain-free diet issues became a hot topic. Something was causing some dogs on grain-free diets to have taurine-related heart disease. Each pet family needs to make decisions about diet choices. What we know changes each month. My current best advice for cats: all commercial cat diets are balanced for taurine; this is not a cat issue. For dogs, if you have a dog that really does better in terms of gastrointestinal or skin issues on a specific food, look at how much of the ingredients come from legumes. We do not want more than 20% of the ingredients, by dry weight, to be legumes (add together pea protein, chickpea, and lentil). Also if you like grain-free food, consider using more than one brand and rotate.”