Veterinary AI
Feb 22, 2026
AI for Veterinarians: A Practical Guide (2026)
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AI in veterinary medicine isn't a future thing anymore. A 2024 survey of nearly 4,000 veterinary professionals found that 39% already use AI in clinical practice, and almost 70% use it for professional or administrative tasks. Among those familiar with AI, nearly a third use it daily or weekly.
The technology has crossed from early-adopter territory into the mainstream. But the landscape is noisy — there are now 50+ AI tools marketed at vets, and it's hard to tell what's genuinely useful from what's just riding the AI hype wave.
This guide breaks down the major categories of AI tools available to veterinarians in 2026, what's mature enough to use today, and where to start if you're considering bringing AI into your practice.
The numbers tell the story. The 2024 Merck/AVMA Wellbeing Survey found that 87% of veterinary staff report medium-to-very-high burnout levels. Over 60% of vets report high levels of exhaustion.
A huge chunk of that burnout is admin-driven. Vets spend roughly 10 minutes per consult on clinical notes. At 20 consults a day, that's over 3 hours of documentation — time that comes out of lunch breaks, family evenings, or just gets skipped entirely.
When asked what benefit AI could bring, 56% of vets named "reduced administrative workload" as the top answer. Not better diagnoses. Not fancier imaging. Less admin.
That's where AI is making the most tangible difference right now.
Maturity: High. Useful today.
This is the biggest, most competitive, and most validated category. There are now 50+ AI scribe tools targeting veterinarians, and for good reason — documentation is the single biggest admin pain point in vet practice.
AI scribes record or listen to a consultation, transcribe the conversation, and generate structured clinical notes (typically SOAP format) without the vet needing to type or dictate anything. The best tools go beyond basic transcription — they extract medications, flag dosages, generate client letters, and sync notes directly to your PMS.
What's changed since traditional dictation:
Old-school veterinary dictation software like Dragon or Talkatoo replaced your fingers — you still had to speak structured notes in the right format. Modern AI scribes replace the cognitive work too. You just have the consult, and the notes write themselves.
Key players: - Standalone AI scribes — tools like Whippet Notes, Scribenote, VetRec, CoVet, and others operate independently of your PMS. You record from a mobile app or browser, and the AI generates your notes. - PMS-integrated scribes — platforms like Shepherd (TranscribeAI), Digitail (Tails AI), ezyVet, and Provet Cloud have built AI note generation directly into their practice management software. - Cross-industry tools — HeidiHealth, originally built for human medicine, has expanded into veterinary with significant funding ($96M+) and deployments across large AU veterinary chains.
What to look for: - Veterinary-specific vocabulary — general-purpose medical AI gets drug names, breeds, and procedures wrong - SOAP formatting — the tool should output in the format your practice already uses - PMS integration — notes that sync directly to your patient record save a copy-paste step. Some tools include this free; others charge extra - Medication accuracy — look for tools that validate drug names and dosages against a veterinary database - Data residency — where is the audio and data processed and stored? This matters for AU compliance
ROI: Most vets report saving 1-2 hours per day. At even $80/month, the time savings pay for the tool many times over.
"Note taking has always been one of my lowest priorities... And now, they actually get done." — Dr Will Gartrell, Frankston Heights Veterinary Centre
Maturity: High for radiology. Emerging for other diagnostics.
AI-powered radiograph analysis is the second most mature category in veterinary AI. The tools are production-ready, widely deployed, and backed by serious clinical validation.
Key players: - SignalPET — used in 2,300+ clinics, processes 50,000+ X-ray films per week. Their SignalPET 360 platform (launched 2025) combines instant AI triage, complete AI reports, and 24/7 radiologist-signed reports. Trained on 20M+ annotated radiographs. - Vetology AI — image bank of 6.6M+ images with 89+ classifiers. In early 2026, became the first vet imaging AI company to publicly release comprehensive performance metrics, covering 300,000 test cases. - Antech/IDEXX RapidRead — blends AI interpretation with board-certified radiologists. Launched RapidRead Dental in 2025 for tooth-by-tooth dental radiograph analysis.
Beyond radiology: - ImpriMed — AI-powered cancer treatment prediction for canine lymphoma and leukaemia. Tests live cancer cells and uses AI to predict drug response. Studies show dogs with relapsed B-cell lymphoma saw 160-187 day extended median survival. - Academic research is actively comparing AI vs. radiologist interpretations, with studies published in Frontiers in Veterinary Science in 2025.
What it means for practice: AI radiology isn't replacing radiologists — it's giving general practitioners confidence for in-house reads, catching findings that might be missed on a busy day, and reducing turnaround times when specialist reports take days.
Maturity: Early-to-mid. Useful for specific workflows.
Client-facing AI tools handle two main jobs: answering routine questions (opening hours, vaccination schedules, repeat prescriptions) and triaging symptoms before an appointment.
Key players: - Petriage — the most established AI triage tool. Rates symptoms on a 4-point scale (non-threatening to emergency) with 97% accuracy on triage assessments. Patented technology, PMS integration, and an optional 24/7 nurse helpline. - Anolla — handles up to 79% of routine client queries automatically. Combines scheduling with AI-powered client communication. - ClinicWise — booking automation with AI reminders and follow-ups. Focused on keeping schedules full.
The trend to watch: The "AI front desk agent" — an AI system that answers phone calls, handles chat queries, books appointments, and sends digital forms — is one of the biggest operational trends in 2025-2026. Most implementations use general-purpose AI configured with clinic-specific information rather than purpose-built veterinary tools.
Honest assessment: Symptom triage works well. Booking automation works. But most chatbot solutions in this space are still generic platforms adapted for vet, not purpose-built. Set expectations accordingly.
Maturity: Early-to-mid. Mostly embedded in PMS platforms.
True AI-native scheduling — predicting demand, optimising appointment blocks, auto-triaging urgency — is still nascent. What exists today is mostly automation layered on top of existing PMS platforms.
Where AI helps operations today: - Automated appointment reminders and rebooking - AI-powered phone answering and after-hours triage - Workflow automation within modern PMS platforms (Shepherd, Digitail) - Predictive no-show detection (emerging)
What's still hype: Fully autonomous practice management driven by AI. The tools are useful for specific workflows, but they're not replacing practice managers anytime soon.
Maturity: Early. The market is growing, but AI is a feature, not the core product.
The veterinary telemedicine market is projected to reach $3.3 billion by 2034, but AI's role within telehealth is still peripheral. Most platforms use AI for pre-visit triage (symptom checkers before a video call), post-visit summaries, and matching clients to available vets.
Where AI adds value today: - Pre-visit questionnaires analysed by AI to help vets prepare - Automated post-visit care plan generation - Integration with wearable devices (like PetPace collars) for remote health monitoring
Honest assessment: If you're interested in telehealth, evaluate the platform on its own merits. AI is a nice-to-have feature in this space, not a differentiator.
Maturity: Mature for reference databases. Early for AI-native tools.
Plumb's Veterinary Drugs remains the dominant player — a 30-year-old digital reference covering 25,000+ drug interactions with animal-specific information. It works. It's trusted. It's the standard.
What doesn't exist yet is AI-native drug interaction checking integrated into the clinical workflow — imagine your AI scribe flagging a potential drug interaction in real time as you prescribe during a consult. This is an obvious next step that nobody has built yet.
Here's the honest breakdown:
| Category | Useful today? | Worth investing in? |
|---|---|---|
| AI scribes / documentation | Yes — clear, immediate ROI | Yes — the most proven category |
| AI imaging / radiology | Yes — production-ready | Yes, if you do in-house reads |
| Client chatbots / triage | Partially — triage works, rest is generic | Maybe — evaluate carefully |
| Scheduling / operations | Partially — mostly PMS add-ons | Wait — not mature enough |
| Telehealth AI | Limited standalone value | Only if you already want telehealth |
| Drug interaction checking | Reference tools yes, AI-native no | Keep using Plumb's for now |
The clearest wins are in documentation and imaging — both have proven ROI, production-ready tools, and enough competition to drive quality up and prices down.
If you're considering AI for your practice, start with the pain point, not the technology.
If your biggest problem is admin and note-taking (it is for most vets), start with an AI scribe. The ROI is immediate — 1-2 hours saved per vet per day — and most tools offer free trials so you can test with zero risk. Look for one that integrates with your PMS, handles veterinary terminology properly, and stores data in a region that meets your compliance needs.
"Whippet Notes allows me to focus on my patient and client, knowing the details of our conversation are locked away." — Dr Alana Dowdell, Pets And Their People
If you're doing a lot of in-house X-rays, AI radiology tools are worth evaluating. They won't replace specialist reads for complex cases, but they give you a solid second opinion on routine films and flag findings you might miss when it's 6pm on a Friday.
If your reception team is overwhelmed, look at AI-powered client communication tools — but be realistic about what they can and can't do. Start with after-hours triage or automated reminders before trying to replace your front desk.
For everything else, keep watching. The AI veterinary market is moving fast — the number of tools has more than doubled in the past year. What's experimental today could be essential in 12 months.
The most common concern vets raise about AI isn't cost or complexity — it's reliability. In surveys, 70% of vets name accuracy and reliability as their top concern with AI tools.
This is a healthy instinct. Here's how to think about it:
The tools that work best are the ones that augment your workflow rather than trying to replace your judgement. You're still the vet. AI just handles the parts you didn't want to do anyway.
AI in veterinary practice in 2026 isn't about replacing veterinarians. It's about taking the 3+ hours of daily admin, the inconsistent records, the notes that never get written, and the phone calls that go unanswered — and solving those problems with tools that actually work.
Start where the pain is greatest. For most vets, that's documentation. Try a tool. See if it sticks. The best AI tools for vets are the ones that disappear into your workflow — you just have the consult, and the admin takes care of itself.
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