Downtown Knoxville Veterinary Opens at 27 Emory Place

Downtown Knoxville in 2025 has lots of things: Lots of bars, restaurants, hotels, condos and more. But amid all of that, a simple walk around the downtown or neighboring areas is sure to reveal the obvious: We love our pets and we have lots of them. Dogs rule the surveyed landscape, for sure, but there are plenty of cats and I’ve seen pythons, a fox, and even a pig on the street.

So, where do our furry (or slimy or scaley?) friends go when they don’t feel so well? There haven’t been a lot of nearby options, but veterinarian Erika Wolf and her husband and business partner Ryan Estabrooks has come to the rescue with the opening of Downtown Knoxville Veterinary at 27 Emory Place. They opened the last Monday in June and Erika said, “We had a good, busy week. Everyone was so excited. They have been watching the facility grow and this is such a dog-friendly community.”

Ryan added that the location allows people to walk their dogs to the clinic and leave them here if they need to stay awhile, offering time for the humans to enjoy any of several great restaurants nearby or coffee shops. They have some dog runs coming where the pets can happily wait. While they await additional equipment, some services, like surgery, may have to hold a bit, but all should be ready very soon.

Erika is a Knoxville native, while Ryan moved here from middle Tennessee to attend UTK to study engineering and never left. The two met at the Candy Factory, where they both lived. As the years passed and they married, and Erika worked her way through Veterinary school, downtown was always on their mind. “People who live downtown have to put their pets in a car and drive for care. They can walk their pets here.”

Erika graduated from the University of Tennessee in 2009 with her undergraduate degree. She got her Veterinary Science Degree from the University of Granada, studying there for two years and back home for another, graduating in 2013. She’s worked locally at a couple of different practices, the most recent for seven years.

The couple purchased the 100-year-old building, which you might remember for its long run as A-1 arts (it was originally a commercial laundry space for hotels and such) and began construction under the guidance of Veterinary Architect Brian King of King Architects out of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Local architectural support was provided by architect Daryl Gibson, with TDH, who also did the construction. She said everyone was great to work with. TDH has experience with older buildings (The Cal Johnson Building) and new construction (Regas Square).

From purchase to opening took about three years. Along the way, the family unexpectedly grew to include a beautiful baby boy who was just finding his lungs when I did this interview. Erika said that with the birth of their child in January and opening the business in June, it’s been a challenging, but rewarding year. If you get lucky, you may get to meet him when you visit.

The beautiful new facility opens to a segregated lobby—purry friends on one side, canine friends on the other—just to increase the chances of tranquility for all. Pets and their people will be greeted upon entry, but you’ll not find a standard receptionist station with a ringing phone, just to add another element to the tranquil. Cat pheromone diffusers also operate in the cat examination rooms (there are two) to lower the stress level just a bit more. On the opposite corridor, four dog examination rooms line the hallway, along with an additional room to serve as a quiet space for families, or a consultation room. There is also a restroom (and a pretty one! Erika is proud of that room!).

But that’s all front of the house. There’s a lot going on here outside of client’s view. An in-house pharmacy offers a wide range of medications, a surgical room (all with state-of-the-art equipment) allows for a clean open spot for necessary procedures. “We’ve got (multiple) oxygen hook-ups, centralized oxygen.

A dental suite is partially furnished with equipment pretty much like what you’d see on your dental visit, including x-ray equipment. Once fully equipped (they are waiting on shipments), pets will have a dedicated room for dental procedures, which Erika said is crucial for pet health. “Just like us, dental disease can spread to their kidneys.” There are offices for up to four vets (she’ll start with herself and add others as the need presents itself). A cat ward and a dog ward are accompanied by x-ray and ultrasound rooms. “It’s four-thousand square feet.”

A small lab facility is also included, allowing for fast results when that is critical. They will still send samples to larger labs at times, but it’s good to have a quick-response option when needed. “We typically send our labs to national labs, but if you have really sick pets and need answers right away, we can run them in-house and typically get results in twenty-to-thirty minutes.”

They are excited to have you visit the new space, of which they are rightfully proud. More importantly, Erika said,

What I want people to know when they walk in the door is that they are going to be treated differently. Our philosophy is based on the Japanese concept of ikigai which means a reason for being or your purpose, finding joy and meaning in what you do, identifying what you love, what you’re good at, what people need. This is our ikigai.

You can contact them via their webpage (which is mostly a splash page, for now) and follow them on Instagram. The clinic is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm and Saturday from 8:00 am to Noon.