Can a vet prescribe remotely in veterinary telemedicine?

Only as part of follow-up care, with prior clinical knowledge of the animal. Not for a first remote diagnosis.

What is VPT training?

The "Vétérinaire Praticien Télémédecine" (telemedicine practitioner) scheme, renewed by the Ordre, which frames the practice of telemedicine.

Is veterinary teleconsultation legal in France in 2026?

Q: Is veterinary teleconsultation legal in France in 2026?

No formal legal framework, but a tolerance from the Ordre within the framework of the former Decree no. 2020-526. An organised grey area.

This article covers the French veterinary market; figures, prices and regulations are those of France.

Strictly speaking, no: no text formally authorises veterinary telemedicine acts in France since the trial ended on 6 November 2021. But in practice, yes: the National Council of the Ordre des vétérinaires (the French veterinary regulator) has stated that it would not act against practitioners who practise telemedicine within the framework defined by the former Decree no. 2020-526, and in 2026 it renewed its VPT training scheme (Vétérinaire Praticien Télémédecine, “telemedicine practitioner vet”).

In other words, veterinary teleconsultation lives in an organised grey area. I am a practising vet, and I am going to explain what this vagueness allows, what it forbids, and what should change by the end of 2026.

What happened with the 2020 decree?

Decree no. 2020-526 of 5 May 2020 authorised, for the first time in France, vets registered with the Ordre to perform telemedicine acts. It was an 18-month trial, launched in the middle of the health crisis and welcomed at the time by the Ministry of Agriculture.

The trial ended on 6 November 2021. The report submitted to the minister recommended authorising veterinary telemedicine permanently. The final text never appeared. As a result, in the Ordre’s own words: “currently no text allows veterinary telemedicine acts to be performed”.

Since then, the question has regularly come back to Parliament, notably through a written question in the Senate in 2024. Five years after the trial decree, the matter is still unresolved.

Why do we speak of tolerance by the Ordre?

The National Council of the Ordre has taken a clear public position: it will not bring disciplinary proceedings against a vet who practises telemedicine under the conditions that had been set by the 2020 decree. It is a tolerance, not an authorisation.

The nuance has concrete consequences. If a client files a complaint against a vet over a telemedicine act, the Ordre specifies that the case will be judged under the law as it stands, i.e. on the basis of the texts in force, which make no provision for telemedicine. Then there is the question of professional liability insurance: does your insurer cover an act performed outside any regulatory framework? Before invoicing your first teleconsultation, put the question to your insurer in writing, and keep the answer.

In parallel, the Ordre is structuring the practice through training. The VPT pathway (Vétérinaire Praticien Télémédecine) trains practitioners in good practice for remote medicine. It has been renewed for 2026: the profession is preparing for a permanent framework rather than waiting with folded arms.

What exactly does veterinary telemedicine cover?

The nomenclature that came out of the trial distinguishes five acts. It remains the reference used by the Ordre and by the Ministry of Agriculture in its analysis no. 194.

Teleconsultation: a remote consultation between a vet and the animal’s keeper, by video or telephone.
Telemonitoring: remote follow-up of medical parameters of an animal already under care (weight curve, blood glucose, wound healing).
Tele-expertise: a vet seeks a colleague’s opinion remotely, for example a dermatology specialist on photos of lesions.
Tele-assistance: a vet assists a colleague remotely during a procedure.
Tele-triage: telephone sorting of requests, typically at night, to direct towards an immediate or deferred consultation.

Remember the major distinction: tele-expertise and tele-assistance take place between vets and raise virtually no ethical problem. Teleconsultation involves the client, and that is where the framework matters.

What can a vet do remotely without putting themselves at risk?

The cardinal principle has not moved: a physical clinical examination of the animal remains required to establish a diagnosis and prescribe. All safe telemedicine practice is built around this rule.

The most solid ground is the follow-up of an animal you have already examined. Post-operative check by video, adjustment of a documented chronic treatment, monitoring of a dermatitis already diagnosed: you know the animal, the record exists, the care relationship is established. That was exactly the scope of the 2020 trial, and it is the one the Ordre tolerates today.

Let me give you a real example. A Tuesday evening, 21:30, a client calls me about her cat that has been vomiting since the morning. Three episodes, a 4-year-old cat I have followed since its first vaccinations, neutered, clean record. She sends me two videos on WhatsApp. The cat is moving normally, comes asking for food, the abdomen is not painful on the palpation she does under my instructions. I can triage: no life-threatening emergency tonight, water only, consultation the next morning if it persists. I do this remote triage because I know the animal and I prescribe nothing. If she had described a prostrate cat or a tense abdomen, the answer would have been one sentence: come in right now.

What is workable today, within the tolerated framework:

triage and referral (tele-triage), including for an unknown animal, as long as it involves neither a diagnosis nor a prescription;
follow-up teleconsultation for an animal physically examined, with an up-to-date patient record;
supervised renewal of a chronic treatment for an animal seen recently in consultation;
tele-expertise between colleagues;
general advice (nutrition, behaviour, prevention), which does not constitute a telemedicine act.

What remains prohibited or frankly risky?

Three situations concentrate most of the ethical and legal risk.

Prescribing without ever having examined the animal. This is the red line. A prescription presupposes a diagnosis, and a diagnosis presupposes a clinical examination. A vet who issues a prescription for an animal they have never physically seen exposes themselves to disciplinary action, even in the current climate of tolerance, because they step outside the framework the 2020 decree had defined.

Platforms with no treating vet. Some services offer to connect owners with “an available vet” within minutes, with no link to the practitioner who follows the animal. As long as they limit themselves to advice and triage, they stay within the lines. As soon as they slide towards remote diagnosis or prescription for animals never examined, they operate outside the framework.

Doing without the physical examination for good. A video call does not replace palpation, auscultation, taking a temperature. Our patients do not describe their symptoms: in animals, the clinical examination carries a share of the history that the human patient provides in words. Veterinary telemedicine will remain a complement to the physical consultation, never a substitute.

What does this change for you as an owner?

In concrete terms, in 2026, you are perfectly entitled to ask your vet for remote follow-up: a scar check by photo, a video catch-up on your old dog’s osteoarthritis, a question about a current treatment. If they know your animal, they can answer with peace of mind, and many colleagues already do so, often free of charge for lack of a billing framework.

What you cannot demand: an online prescription for an animal no vet has examined. A practitioner who refuses is not being overzealous; they are applying the rule that protects your animal. A failed remote diagnosis on an acute abdomen is paid for in lost hours, and sometimes in lives.

My practical advice: keep a regular vet. All the telemedicine tolerated today, and probably the whole future legal framework, rests on that relationship. An animal seen regularly in consultation is entitled to real remote follow-up. An animal with no patient record is entitled to advice only.

How do human medicine and other countries do it?

The comparison highlights France’s lag. In human medicine, teleconsultation has been defined in the Public Health Code since 2009 and reimbursed by the national health insurance since September 2018. The doctor can prescribe in teleconsultation, within a precise framework (care pathway, alternation with in-person visits).

On the veterinary side, the United Kingdom has taken the step: since 2023, the RCVS has allowed remote prescribing under strict conditions, with safeguards, notably on antibiotics. In the United States, the rule varies by state, but most require a veterinarian-client-patient relationship established by a prior physical examination before any prescription. France has a favourable report and a documented trial, but still no text.

Is a real legal framework coming at the end of 2026?

That is the direction. The Ordre has publicly asked the Ministry of Agriculture to publish the regulatory basis for veterinary telemedicine as soon as possible. The AFVAC reports that the file is with the ministry and a text is rumoured for the end of 2026. I remain cautious: it has been announced to us since 2022.

What can be anticipated of the future framework, in the light of the trial: telemedicine reserved for vets registered with the Ordre, anchored in the relationship with a regular vet, with a prior physical examination as the condition for remote prescribing. If you are a practitioner, taking the VPT training now will put you in line with the coming framework. If you are an owner, nothing will change in your daily life, except teleconsultations that are finally acknowledged and billed normally.

FAQ

Is veterinary teleconsultation prohibited in France? No. No text has formally authorised it since November 2021, but the Ordre tolerates the practice within the framework defined by the former Decree no. 2020-526: vet registered with the Ordre, animal already known, no prescription without a prior examination.

Can I get a prescription through teleconsultation? Only if the vet has already physically examined your animal and has an up-to-date record, typically to renew a chronic treatment. No vet can legitimately prescribe for an animal they have never seen.

Does a veterinary teleconsultation cost the same as a consultation? Prices are unregulated. In practice, billed teleconsultations often sit between €20 and €40, and much remote follow-up remains free, for lack of a clear billing framework.

Are veterinary tele-advice platforms legal? Yes for advice and triage, which are not telemedicine acts. They step outside the framework if they offer remote diagnosis or prescription for animals never examined.

When will veterinary telemedicine be officially authorised? The report submitted to the minister after the 2020-2021 trial recommended authorising it. The file is with the Ministry of Agriculture and a text is mentioned for the end of 2026, with no official date to this day.

Sources

Maxime Lachérade, veterinary surgeon (ENVA), co-founder of Treats.

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