FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Dogs and cats only at this time, please leave your rhinoceros at home!

You probably have a primary care physician and are familiar with where your local ER hospital is located. But you may use urgent care for minor issues that occur in the interim. Veterinary urgent care is like this, except for your dog or cat. 

At Ally Urgent Veterinary Care, we bridge the gap in care between your primary care veterinarian and the ER, while supporting both equally. Click here to view a more detailed listing of common conditions we do and don’t treat.

Our care team is equipped to thoroughly work-up cases on-site, with the most sophisticated point-of-care diagnostic technologies and the ability to communicate information back to the rest of your pet’s care team quickly. We also benefit from the efficiencies of being a completely dedicated facility. Ally is independently and locally owned and operated, so you can trust us to have your pet’s best interest at heart. We will provide the same quality of care and attention you would expect from your primary veterinarian.

We highly encourage you to join our virtual waitlist instead of coming directly to the clinic with your pet. By joining the waitlist, you can wait in the comfort of your home until it is time for your pet to be seen. Since our waitlist often reaches max capacity quickly, we recommend you check-in online early or call as soon as we open.

If your pet’s needs are so severe you think they need to “jump the line,” this is likely an emergency by definition—and an ER veterinary hospital will be better for your pet’s care. If in doubt, our team is happy to help triage your pet’s condition by phone; call us at 757-900-ALLY (2559) with questions.

Our virtual waitlist opens at 4:30pm on Weekdays and 9:30am on Saturday/Sunday. The waitlist closes at 9:30pm or once we have reached max capacity.

In some instances, pets need more intensive care, and we will recommend that they be seen at an ER. In those cases, we will do our best to stabilize the patient, run any tests that could expedite their time in the ER, and call to help coordinate their visit. 

Ally is available for sick visits, urgent questions / concerns you have about your pet, minor injuries, and anything else that is not a life-threatening emergency. We do not administer vaccines or perform other routine care. Your pet should continue to have regular visits with a local family veterinarian.

For more details on the urgent care conditions we do or don’t treat, please visit this page.

Since Ally is 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. Our waitlist will allow you to see where you are “in line,” and thus can provide an approximate wait time. This will allow you to wait from the comfort of your home until we are available to see your pet. You will get a call from one of our team members approximately 30-45 minutes prior to “your turn.”

Yes! We accept all forms of pet insurance. In most cases, you will pay Ally Urgent Veterinary Care 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 if you are able. It will allow you to focus on providing the best care for your pet, with less concern for the cost.

Now open 7 days a week! Our urgent care hours of operation are Monday through Friday: 5 pm to 10 pm; Saturday and Sunday: 10 am to 10 pm.

Ally will make an attempt to be open for partial shifts during holidays while still honoring the work-life balance of our dedicated team. Please follow our social media page for up-to-date information on any potential abbreviated holiday hours, as well as emergency or weather-related closures.

At Ally Urgent Care, 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 understand that veterinary care can be expensive. We aim to be transparent with costs and offer multiple treatment options whenever reasonably possible. 

An office visit is $150 (roughly twice the cost of a visit to your primary care vet during the day, and half the cost of a late-night ER visit), 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. 

Different health issues may require different diagnostic tests. As a quick point of reference, some of the costs for our most commonly performed diagnostic tests include: 

• Radiograph Study -Minor- 2-3 views with interpretation: $185
• Ultrasound FAST Scan: $75
• IDEXX In House CBC / Chemistry 17 / Electrolytes: $215

We realize costs are always a consideration and we will do our best to work with your budget to provide quality care for your pet. 

Our number one goal is to help you and your pet during your time of need–no matter how great or small. If we cannot resolve the issue, or if 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 Ally Urgent Veterinary Care in your pet’s medical record and send it to the closest and/or most available emergency hospital. We maintain strong relationships with veterinary emergency hospitals across Hampton Roads and can work as your ally to help ensure your pet is seen as quickly as reasonably possible.

The wait time to see a doctor depends on how many patients we are currently seeing, but you can expect the total time in our urgent care clinic to be shorter than your typical pet emergency visit (typically around 1 hour once in the clinic). We also offer pet owners the opportunity to reserve a spot online to shorten wait times and allow you to wait for the majority of the time in the comfort of your home.

We do our best to stay on schedule. However, there are times when a very sick pet comes through our door requiring immediate care. This can impact your visit time. We will do our best to keep you apprised of these delays if they occur.

Whenever you have a concern about your dog or cat after normal business hours—when your family veterinarian is closed—you can come see us! Our hours of operation are weekdays 5pm until 10pm and weekends 10am until 10pm. Please note that we do not provide routine wellness exams or vaccines, and we do not treat life-threatening emergencies. For anything in between, we are here to help! Click here to view a more detailed listing of common conditions we do and don’t treat.

We strongly advise against trying home treatments and remedies before seeking veterinary care. Many serious, life-threatening problems come with vague symptoms such as hiding, not eating or subtle behavior changes. 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 or sometimes downright toxic (e.g. Advil) to pets. As a pet parent, you know best what is abnormal for your pet; leave the medicine to your veterinary care team, and if in doubt feel free to give us a call at 757-900-ALLY (2559)!

Because most of our patients require outpatient care only, we do not provide overnight hospitalization. Patients who require continual care or monitoring overnight are referred to a nearby emergency hospital.

We will give you options and help you with the transfer process to a local ER vet, but you will be responsible for transporting your pet. At this time, Ally does not have the capability to provide ambulatory services.

No. We are a pet urgent care veterinary clinic. We do not administer vaccines or perform other routine care. Your pet should continue to have regular visits with a local family veterinarian. Click here to view a list of conditions we do treat.

We care deeply about our relationships with our veterinary care partners, which is why we do not offer wellness appointments or true emergency veterinary services. Our mission is to support them as an ally in the pet care team, providing an urgent care option for their clients when they are not available or able to get them seen quickly.  

Ally is building care partnerships with animal hospitals across Hampton Roads, and we share medical notes with these providers at the time of your visit with us, so there is no delay in our continuity of care. In some cases, your primary veterinarian will directly refer you to Ally when their schedule is at capacity. You can expect our care team to provide the same standard of care that you have come to expect from them.

We do not. Ally is available for sick visits, urgent questions / concerns you have about your pet, minor injuries, and anything else that is not a life-threatening emergency. Click here to review a list of common conditions we do treat.

Just like in human medicine, the ER is for life-threatening issues or extremely serious concerns. If your dog or cat cannot breathe, is bleeding significantly, has a broken limb, etc. you should go directly to the ER. At Ally Urgent Veterinary Care, we focus on non-life-threatening problems only. Click here to view a list of conditions we do/don’t treat.

We also recognize that you may not be able to determine whether or not your pet has a life-threatening problem. In those cases, we still encourage you to call us at 757-900-ALLY (2559) or come into Ally Urgent Veterinary Care where we can help triage the case, stabilize the situation (if necessary) and facilitate their transfer to the facility best-suited to meet their 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 Ally Urgent Veterinary Care, we focus on much of the same types of sick visits (e.g. diarrhea, vomiting, itchy skin, ear infections, minor injuries and pain, accidental ingestions, ocular concerns and much more) but with the ability to see you same-day or after hours when your primary veterinarian is unavailable.

Ally has different hours than a typical general practice. We want to be here for you when you and your pet have a concern outside of your primary veterinarian’s business hours, whether that is when you get off of work or over the weekend.