What to
expect.

Dogs and cats only at this time. Please leave your rhinoceros at home!

Whenever you have a concern about your dog or cat you can come see us! Most pet-related issues need to be evaluated in person; nothing can replace a veterinarian interacting with your pet and assessing its needs. We don’t provide routine wellness exams or vaccines and we don’t treat life-threatening emergencies, but for anything else, come see us!

We also strongly encourage “happy visits.” You never know when your pet might have an urgent need, and we hate the thought of its first experience with us being one where they’re painful or scared. So stop by any time to meet the team, see our facility, and enjoy a free Truss Treat!

Have you ever been to a human urgent care clinic? Well veterinary urgent care is just like that, except for your dog or cat. You probably have a primary care physician and you’re familiar with where your local ER hospital is, but you may use an urgent care for minor issues that pop up in the interim. The same is true for your pet, and we’re pioneering one of the only truly independent veterinary urgent care companies in the country.

At Truss Vet, we see a better way to serve pets, their owners, and the greater animal healthcare community, so we’re defining veterinary urgent care a little differently. We see ourselves as a crucial intermediate care partner for non-life-threatening problems that, ideally, should be addressed in 48 hours or less. We’re bridging the gap in care between your primary care veterinarian and the ER while supporting both equally. We’re equipped to thoroughly work-up cases on-site with the most sophisticated point-of-care diagnostic technologies and with the ability to communicate information back to the rest of your pet’s care team quickly. We benefit from the efficiencies of being a completely dedicated facility and we’re independently and locally owned and operated so you can trust that we always have your pet’s best interest at heart, providing the same quality of care and attention you would expect from your primary veterinarian.

10am to 10pm Sunday through Friday (Closed Saturdays)

At Truss Vet, we practice with diligence to make the best possible recommendations for your pet. We will never apologize for the high quality of care we provide, but we do appreciate that veterinary care can be expensive. We aim to be as transparent with costs and offer multiple treatment options whenever reasonably possible. An office visit is $125 – about twice the cost of a visit to your primary care vet but half the cost of a visit to the ER – and it covers the time spent obtaining a complete medical history from you while the veterinarian performs a thorough physical exam to assess your pet. That assessment informs our treatment recommendations, and we will always provide you with an estimate on request. We realize costs are always a consideration, so we offer multiple, flexible payment options too.

We’ve designed Truss Vet from the ground up with your entire care experience in mind. We think you’ll appreciate our:

Elite Team: We boast a diverse team of passionate, values-aligned professionals who hail from all different corners of the veterinary profession. From veterinary emergency hospitals to specialty centers to general practices, veterinary colleges, and beyond, our people bring the creativity, talent, commitment, and expertise that are at the heart of everything we do.

Convenient Location: We’ve strategically located ourselves centrally in the Triangle at the new Fenton development. We are less than a 30-minute drive from more than 90% of the Triangle. You’ll see us right off the road as you pull into Fenton, right next to One Medical.

Ample Parking: We’ve reserved short-term, drop-off parking directly in front of our clinic for pets who need it, and there is abundant parking throughout Fenton, including directly next to our building. You will never have an issue finding parking.

Modern Technology: Innovation begets innovation, so we’ve adopted new, cloud-based technologies to optimize every part of our operations. Data, analytics, and improved workflows allow us to create a better environment for our staff, a better service experience for you, and improved health outcomes for your pet. Our on-site, point-of-care diagnostic technologies generally allow us to get answers at the time of your appointment or very shortly thereafter, and our practice management software allows us to get patient records to your veterinarian (or to the ER) quickly.

Reimagined Design Building a clinic from scratch, we had the benefit of getting to creatively rethink every aspect of our practice, from the architecture and interior design to our equipment and workflow.
High Standard of Care: At our core we are a veterinary clinic, and nothing matters more to us than providing the best possible recommendations and care for your pet. We strive constantly to improve our practice standards and stay at the very forefront of veterinary medicine.

Trusting Relationship: It’s not the only reason for our name, but we like that you can’t hear ‘Truss’ without almost hearing “trust.” We think trust is the foundation of any relationship, whether it’s the one we share with our employees or our care partners, or the one we share with you in the context of the veterinarian-patient-client relationship (VPCR). When you visit Truss Vet, we become a part of your care team for life. We care about you and your pet, and if anything ever happens, you can trust we’re here to support you.

We do not. We’re here for sick visits, one-off questions you have about your pet, minor injuries, and anything else that isn’t a life-threatening emergency.

We care deeply about our relationships with our veterinary care partners, which is why we don’t offer wellness, nor true emergency veterinary services. Our mission is to support them, something that becomes more complicated if we’re competing with them directly. We’re building care partnerships with most of the animal hospitals in the Triangle, and we share medical notes within 24 hours or less of your visit. In some cases, your primary veterinarian will refer you to us when they’re too busy, and we will provide the same standard of care that you would experience with that trusted provider. We’re the only independent veterinary urgent care in North Carolina, which means we work hand-in-hand with other veterinary hospitals to ensure your pet receives the best care.

We accept almost all forms of payment including debit cards, credit cards, Apple Pay, Scratch Pay, Care Credit, Venmo, and cash. We do not accept checks.

Yes, we offer walk-in visits. You can view our current wait times and join the waitlist at any time. Note that walk-in patients are seen on a first come, first served basis, so reviewing the waitlist ahead of time is encouraged. If your pet’s needs are so severe you think they need to jump the line, this is an emergency by definition, and an ER veterinary hospital will be a better fit for your pet’s care. If in doubt, someone from our team is always happy to help triage your pet’s needs.

Since we’re an urgent care clinic, we do not maintain a traditional schedule or book appointments. However, you can plan ahead by saving your spot on our waitlist. By scheduling in advance, you’re able to wait at home and come into the clinic at your desired time. We will often see you at your reservation time but prefer you plan for a 30-minute buffer in case the complexity of our cases has us running a little behind schedule. So if you saved your spot in line for 2pm, you would show up at the clinic at 2pm, and we would text you when your care team was ready.

Yes! We accept all forms of pet insurance. In most cases, you will pay Truss Vet directly, and we will provide you with the necessary documentation to obtain reimbursement from your pet insurance provider. We encourage all pet owners to get pet insurance since it allows you to focus on providing the best care for your pet without concern for the cost.

Just like in human medicine, the emergency room is for life-threatening issues or extremely serious concerns. If your dog or cat can’t breathe, is bleeding significantly, has a broken limb, etc. you should go directly to the ER. At Truss Vet, we’re focused on non-life-threatening problems. All of the facepalm issues that pop up as a result of your dog being a dog or your cat being a cat, we’re here for you.

We also recognize that you may not be able to determine whether or not your pet has a life-threatening problem or not. In those cases, we still encourage you to come into Truss Vet where we can help triage the case, stabilize the situation (if necessary), and help you transfer to the facility best-suited to meet your pet’s needs.

We encourage our patients to maintain a relationship with their primary care veterinarian and to work with them for annual wellness and preventive care, as well as elective surgeries. At Truss Vet, we’re focused on much of the same types of sick visits (e.g. diarrhea, vomiting, itchy skin, ear infections, minor injuries and pain, accidental ingestions, and much more) but with the ability to see you same-day or after hours when your primary veterinarian is unavailable.

We also have longer hours than a typical general practice. We want to be here for you when you and your pet have a concern, whether that’s in the morning, at lunchtime, when you get off of work, or on the weekend. Click here for an overview of our services.

We have one of the best teams in the veterinary industry, and we reserve this one day per week for them to unplug and recharge. Many primary care veterinarians have Saturday availability, and of course, ER hospitals are available too. If you need Truss Vet when we are not open, we encourage you to seek care from your primary vet or the ER as appropriate. If we’re closed, we will be open within 24 hours or less and would love to see you. If your pet cannot wait 24 hours to be seen, this is an emergency and an ER would be more appropriate for your pet’s care.

Our number one goal is to help you and your pet during your time of need, no matter how great or small. If we can’t resolve the issue or we need to refer you to an emergency or specialty hospital, we will be your advocate in getting your pet the care they need. We will quickly document any initial work we perform at Truss Vet in your medical record and send it to the closest and/or most available emergency hospital. We maintain strong relationships with every ER in the Triangle and can work to advocate on your behalf to ensure you are seen as quickly as reasonably possible.

We strongly advise against trying home treatments and remedies before seeking veterinary care. Many serious, life-threatening problems come with vague symptoms like hiding, not eating, or subtle behavior changes, and time may be of the essence to give those patients the best chance at a positive outcome. We would rather have the chance to evaluate those patients sooner rather than later. Additionally, many over-the-counter medications that are safe for humans are generally ineffective (e.g. Benadryl) or sometimes downright toxic (e.g. Tylenol) to pets. As an owner, you know best what’s abnormal for your pet; leave the medicine to your veterinary care team, and if in doubt feel free to give us a call!

More than 23 million households adopted pets during the COVID-19 pandemic, and this surge in demand for veterinary services created an entirely different and stressful care landscape that both pet owners and established veterinary practices have been struggling to navigate. People are drawn to the veterinary profession fueled by a deep passion and desire to help, and we’re no different. There felt like no bigger opportunity to make a difference in the lives of pets (and the people who care for them!) than by breaking the mold and building something new that helped support every stakeholder in a pet’s care team. We expect to expand to support other communities outside the Triangle, and long-term, we aim to be among the most trusted veterinary care facilities and respected veterinary employers. As pet owners ourselves, we sincerely appreciate the trust you place in us and our teams, and we appreciate your feedback which will help us get there. We envision a more compassionate world where quality of life is elevated, where there is joy in the human-animal bond unencumbered by poor health, limited resources, or inadequate access to care. And we sincerely appreciate your support in realizing that vision.

In design terms, a truss is a simple, triangular support structure that boasts immense structural integrity, which is why it’s a near universal feature in large buildings and bridges. It’s a perfect visual and a constant reminder of our mission – to bridge gaps in care and support our community – with a hat tip to the Triangle of NC where we got our start too. We also like that you can’t hear “truss” without also sort of hearing the word “trust,” which we think should be the foundation of every relationship we build.