Raised Around Veterinary Medicine.
Growing up with two veterinarians for parents meant Karen and Katie had a pretty unique childhood.
Veterinary medicine wasn't simply something Mom and Dad did for work—it was part of everyday life. There were animals, interesting cases, long days, phone calls, stories around the dinner table, and an early understanding that caring for animals often means caring just as much for the people who love them.
As they grew up, the sisters took very different paths—but both eventually found their way back to the world they had grown up around.
Karen followed directly in her parents' footsteps, attending the same veterinary school where their story began. She graduated from the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine in 2022, becoming Dr. Karen Robbins and carrying the family's veterinary legacy into its next generation. Today, Dr. Karen has the opportunity to practice alongside her mother, Dr. Sandy, combining decades of experience with a new generation of veterinary medicine and a shared commitment to providing thoughtful, personal care.
Katie's path looked a little different. Rather than pursuing veterinary medicine, she built a professional background in leadership, operations, public service, and emergency response—experience that ultimately brought an entirely different set of skills back to the family business. Today, Katie serves as Director of Hospital Operations, leading the business and operational side of FVC. She oversees the many moving pieces behind the scenes, including financial management, staffing and hospital operations, internal systems and technology, marketing, client experience, community outreach, and long-term planning.
She also helps lead the clinic's continued growth and development—identifying opportunities to improve how we operate, expand what we can provide, strengthen our community partnerships, and build the infrastructure FVC needs for the future.
Two sisters. Two very different paths.
One shared investment in the community that raised them.
Family Beyond the Exam Room.
The next generation of FVC also includes Dr. Karen's husband, Braxton Hartshorn, our Kennel & Facility Manager, whose role reaches far beyond maintaining the property.
Braxton oversees our kennel and animal care team and helps establish and maintain the standards for the quality, safety, cleanliness, and consistency of care provided to the animals entrusted to us. From boarding and day care operations to staff training and the everyday details that keep pets comfortable and well cared for, he helps ensure that our expectations for excellent patient care extend throughout every area of FVC.
Braxton also oversees facility maintenance, improvement projects, and upgrades throughout the property. As FVC continues to grow, he plays an important role in improving the spaces where our patients receive care, our boarding guests stay, our clients visit, and our team works every day.
Together, each member of the family brings something different to FVC.
Building the Next Chapter.
Folsom Veterinary Clinic & Boarding is growing, but we never want to outgrow the reason we're here.
We're investing in our clinic, expanding what we can provide, improving our facilities, and working to bring more veterinary care and resources closer to home. But our goal isn't to become the biggest veterinary hospital.
It's to become an even better resource for the community that has given our family so much.
We want FVC to be the kind of place where you know who's caring for your pet. Where questions are welcome. Where familiar faces greet you at the door. Where generations of families can bring generations of pets. And where modern veterinary medicine can still feel like hometown care. Because at the end of the day, we're not just doing business in Folsom.
We built our life here.
We raised our family here.
We live here.
This is our community. This is our home.
