---
title: "Veterinary prescription (ordonnance vétérinaire) · Treats"
description: "A French veterinary prescription is the document a vet issues, after a clinical examination or proper assessment of the animal, for a veterinary medicine or a human medicine given to animals (articles 4 and 105 of Regulation (EU) 2019/6)."
url: https://www.treats.vet/en/glossary/ordonnance-veterinaire/
lang: en-GB
updated: 2026-11-07
---

[Glossary](https://www.treats.vet/en/glossary/)

# Veterinary prescriptionordonnance vétérinaire

A French veterinary prescription is the document a vet issues, after a clinical examination or proper assessment of the animal, for a veterinary medicine or a human medicine given to animals (articles 4 and 105 of Regulation (EU) 2019/6).

Its required content combines article R5141-111 of the French Public Health Code and article 105 of the EU regulation: active substances, form and strength, warnings on prudent antimicrobial use, and a [cascade](https://www.treats.vet/en/glossary/cascade/) mention where relevant.

An antimicrobial prescription is valid for **5 days**. There is no national e-prescription system specific to vets yet; the regulation accepts an equivalent electronic form of identification of the vet.

## Sources

* [French Public Health Code, article R5141-111 (Légifrance)](https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/article%5Flc/LEGIARTI000032256759)
* [Ordre des vétérinaires, the new veterinary prescription](https://www.veterinaire.fr/je-suis-veterinaire/mon-exercice-professionnel/les-fiches-professionnelles/une-nouvelle-ordonnance-veterinaire)

 Checked on 7 November 2026 · by [Amir Davies](https://www.treats.vet/en/about/amir-davies/)

## See also

* [Dispensing register](https://www.treats.vet/en/glossary/registre-des-delivrances/) The dispensing register is the paper or electronic record in which a French vet who supplies prescription-only medicines enters every supply (article R5141-112 of the French Public Health Code).
* [Cascade](https://www.treats.vet/en/glossary/cascade/) The cascade is the derogation that lets a vet, exceptionally and on their own responsibility, prescribe a medicine outside its marketing authorisation when no authorised product exists for the species and condition (articles 112 to 114 of Regulation (EU) 2019/6).
* [Critically important antibiotics](https://www.treats.vet/en/glossary/antibiotiques-critiques/) Critically important antibiotics are substances, mainly third and fourth-generation cephalosporins and fluoroquinolones, whose veterinary use France restricts because they are essential in human medicine (article L5144-1-1 of the French Public Health Code).