About Crossroads Veterinary Hospice
Crossroads is a mobile veterinary hospice practice providing compassionate at-home care for canine and feline patients.
If you would like support while you focus on making your pet’s last days as comfortable and happy as possible, please contact us to make an appointment.
Dr. Ellen LaFramboise
Dr. Ellen LaFramboise graduated from Michigan State University, CVM in 2001. After years of helping families with difficult and often painful decisions in the ER, she decided to start Crossroads Veterinary Hospice in 2014.
Dr. Ellen’s personal path to hospice occurred over several years. Personal experiences with her kitty, Jasmine, who had a metastatic nasal tumor and her beloved Golden, Austin, who had a brain tumor, deeply influenced her. It was her experience with human hospice and the passing of her father-in-law in his own home, surrounded by his family that cemented her desire to provide the animal hospice option to her clients.
Dr. Ellen is a member of the International Association of Animal Hospice and Palliative Care and the International Veterinary Academy of Pain Management. In October 2017, she became one of the first veterinarians in the world to become certified in animal hospice and palliative care as a CHPV.
Her pet family currently consists of a loveable goofball Labradoodle named Rosebud, 2 Shih-Tzus named Barry and Wally, and a frisky 3-legged kitty named Luna.
Dr. Kristin Kender
Dr. Kristin Kender attended Michigan State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. During her senior year, she integrated her passion for traveling with her veterinary studies and completed an oncology externship at Murdoch University in Perth, Australia.
After graduating with honors from MSU CVM in 2004, Dr. Kender completed a small animal medicine and surgery internship at the Veterinary Referral and Emergency Center in Norwalk, Connecticut. Since then, Dr. Kender has practiced in different fields of veterinary medicine including emergency medicine, general practice, and education. She is most honored in helping families give their beloved animals a peaceful good-bye.
Dr. Kender’s pet family currently includes a quirky cat named Rocky, an energetic & mischievous kitty named Cheeto, and a scruffy little pup named Jasper.
Dr. Kristen Mitchell
After a childhood spending weekends at her grandparents’ dairy farm and after countless hours showing horses as a teen, Dr. Kristen Mitchell turned her passion for animals toward a career in veterinary medicine. She graduated from Michigan State University’s College of Veterinary in 2004, alongside Crossroads’ own Dr. Kender.
Following graduation, she practiced small animal general medicine in Colorado for over a decade before returning to Michigan in 2016 to be closer to family. She took a temporary break from veterinary medicine, and during that time, she had two very personal experiences with human hospice. It gave her a new perspective on grief, loss, and the gift of easing a loved one’s passing.
She was excited to join the Crossroads team in the spring of 2022. She never anticipated her career would lead in this direction, but it is some of the most rewarding work she has ever done.
Dr. Mitchell’s own pet family includes two of the best cats ever, Pikachu (the bossy one) and Tigger (the gentleman).
