Jessie Saunders ’08

Almost nothing about Dr. Jessie Saunders’ veterinary practice is what you would expect. She makes daily house calls, she’s constantly damp, and her patients are difficult to handle. That’s because she is one of the nation’s few veterinarians to specialize in caring for fish kept in home aquariums and ornamental ponds.

Most of her patients are koi, large Japanese goldfish, but she says she “treats everything that swims,” including turtles and frogs.

The primary problems her patients face can often be resolved by improving water quality, so Saunders spends much of her time instructing fish owners on how to properly maintain their tanks and ponds. But she also conducts surgeries, administers medication, and diagnoses a wide range of diseases.

She started her practice, Aquatic Veterinary Services, near Santa Cruz, California, in 2013, spending every day on the road visiting her patients. She opened a fish hospital last January where she now cares for saltwater and freshwater fish of all sizes and varieties.

“It’s always neat to work with new owners who have bonded with their fish,” she said. “You can’t take them out and snuggle with them, but they have a deep-seated attachment.”

While earning a marine biology degree at URI, Saunders completed an honors thesis at Mystic Aquarium, where she received her introduction to caring for marine species.

“Everybody else wanted to work with the big guys, the whales and seals,” she said, “but I moved on to the fish, which have a broad spectrum of personalities. They’re much more fun.”

By Todd McLeish

Photo: Courtesy Jerilyn Mearns ’72, M.B.A. ’78