Key Takeaways
- AI enhances diagnostic accuracy using algorithms that detect subtle anomalies in imaging and lab results. This enables earlier disease detection and personalised treatment plans.
- AI automates scheduling, record-keeping, and the creation of clinical notes, which frees up veterinary teams to focus on patient care.
- AI revolutionises livestock management using drones, virtual fencing, and AI sensors. These enable remote herd monitoring, early illness detection, and optimised feeding, with reduced labour costs.
- Rapid veterinary industry adoption is underway, with 41% of practices planning system upgrades in 2025. AI scribes and integrated software are becoming standard in clinics.
- AI can forecast disease outbreaks, predict health conditions, and support telemedicine, making veterinary care more proactive and accessible.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) isn’t a futuristic concept in veterinary medicine any longer – it’s transforming practices across Australia and New Zealand right now. From AI-powered diagnostic imaging that detects diseases through to smart collars that monitor companion animals in real-time, the technology is revolutionising how veterinarians deliver care.
As shortages in the veterinary workforce worsen at the same time as pet ownership grows, AI offers practical solutions to industry challenges. Working in synch with your practice management software, AI can streamline administrative tasks, improve diagnostic accuracy, and enable preventive care strategies that save lives and reduce costs.
This guide explores how AI is reshaping veterinary care and what it means for the future of animal health.
How AI Will Transform Veterinary Care
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is permeating almost every part of our lives, and it promises to radically reshape our world. We’re seeing it in many places, such as AI-powered technologies that track our sleep patterns and fitness levels through to self-driving cars. While the early use of AI was mainly in the technology field, the past year has seen its use and influence spread dramatically – including in human and animal health.
The Covetrus 2025 Vet Industry Trends and Challenges survey reported that the use of technology, including artificial intelligence, is on the rise. 41% of practices said they planned to upgrade their software or systems in 2025 to streamline operations, reduce admin workload, make workflows more intuitive, and cut costs. Investing in technology, like AI, was also identified as one of the top opportunities for veterinarians in 2025. This drive for innovation is likely to accelerate into 2026.
Read on to understand the role of AI in veterinary practices and how AI software and other AI tools can transform your practice’s performance and lift your team’s productivity.
AI in Veterinary Practices
The use of AI is becoming increasingly common in veterinary practices in Australia and New Zealand. It lifts operational efficiency, supports better clinical decision-making, helps streamline daily workflows, and improves the quality and speed of patient care.
The New Zealand Veterinary Association (NZVA) AI use in veterinary services and regulation report identifies five key benefits of using AI in a veterinary setting.
1. Greater diagnostic accuracy:
AI algorithms can analyse medical records, lab tests, and imaging results to identify anomalies that could be missed by the human eye. This AI capability, especially when analysing imaging, can spot subtle nuances and improve the speed and accuracy of diagnoses for diseases like cancer or hip dysplasia.
2. Predictive health management:
The ultimate goal of any veterinarian is to prevent disease and – failing that – to predict it and intervene as early as possible. AI can analyse large datasets at speed and predict the likelihood of future health conditions. This supports preventive care by allowing veterinarians to implement early intervention strategies that can save lives and reduce long-term healthcare costs.
3. Personalised treatment plans:
AI can create customised treatment plans based on an animal’s unique health needs, monitor their progress, and give alerts if there are deviations from expected outcomes. This could lead to more effective and efficient treatments, which lifts the overall quality of care.
4. Streamlining clinical workflows:
AI can help veterinary clinics optimise their workflows by automating routine tasks like recording consults, managing patient records, scheduling appointments, predicting no-shows, and assigning work more efficiently. This frees up veterinary professionals to focus more on clinical care and less on administrative tasks.
Find out how Covetrus Ascend provides predictive and streamlined workflows to streamline practice performance.
5. Telemedicine and remote monitoring:
AI-powered telemedicine platforms enable remote consultations and virtual veterinary assistance, which makes veterinary care more accessible – especially in rural or underserved areas. It helps veterinary professionals reach more clients and reduce the load on local clinics.
6. Other benefits:
A white paper by international veterinary radiology firm, VET.CT, suggests that AI can also help address the current veterinary workforce crisis in several ways:
- Triage and symptom analysis: AI chatbots and voice assistants can help pet owners identify the urgency of their pets’ symptoms and recommend appropriate next steps, such as seeking immediate care or waiting for a scheduled appointment. This frees up veterinary professionals’ time to focus on more critical cases.
- Training and education: AI-driven simulation and virtual reality offer immersive and realistic training environments for veterinarians-in-training.
- Research and drug discovery: AI can support research by analysing large amounts of data and helping to identify new treatment options and refine existing ones.
- Collaboration and knowledge sharing: AI-powered platforms can improve collaboration and knowledge sharing among veterinary professionals.
AI in Companion Animal Care
Artificial Intelligence is transforming companion animal care by delivering quicker, smarter, and more personalised solutions. From wearable devices that track health and activity to innovative identification technologies and proactive wellness tools, AI is helping veterinarians move from reactive treatment to more preventative care. Here are some examples:
1. Smart collars for monitoring health and activity:
AI is great for translating the huge amount of data generated by smart collars and turning them into actionable pet health insights. AI algorithms work out an individual pet’s normal baseline, then detect any anomalies and deviations from this – effectively functioning as an early warning system. This data is summarised for veterinarians so they can use it to provide personalised treatment plans.
2. Nose print recognition as a potential alternative to microchips:
Nose print recognition uses AI to provide a non-invasive alternative to microchipping for pet identification, particularly for dogs. Its main benefit is its accessibility; it uses a smartphone camera to capture the pet’s unique nose print pattern, so anyone who finds a lost animal can identify it and contact the owner, unlike microchips which only work with specialised scanners.
3. Apps and tools for proactive pet health management:
AI-driven apps and tools have revolutionised pet health management by shifting the focus from reactive treatment to early detection and prevention. These tools, which include wearable trackers and specialised mobile apps, continuously monitor a pet’s daily metrics, like activity levels, sleep patterns, heart rate, and weight. They then use AI to determine the animal’s healthy baseline and detect even subtle deviations that indicate a potential health issue.
These AI-driven apps and tools often synch with veterinary software like Covetrus Ascend. While software like Ascend focuses on improving clinic efficiency – like using AI to auto-generate clinical (SOAP) notes and streamline workflows – it also drives more proactive care.
It drastically reduces the administrative burden and frees up staff to spend more time on patient care and client communication. It also centralises patient records, diagnostic results, and communication history, so vets and vet nurses can develop and track personalised pet care plans and do more effective follow-ups – making sure patients remain on track with their preventative care, medication, and wellness goals.
AI in Veterinary Livestock and Farm Management
AI is also revolutionising livestock and farm management by making operations smarter, more efficient, and more sustainable. Uses include automated herd monitoring with drones, advanced health tracking, and precision feeding, which help farmers detect issues early on, so they can optimise their animals’ welfare.
Other innovations, like virtual fencing, are transforming how farmers manage their grazing and land use by reducing labour costs and supporting regenerative practices.
1. Automated herd monitoring:
One of the most remarkable uses of AI in veterinary livestock and farm management is in the use of drones. They can independently survey animal populations on farms – even across large areas and in remote areas. The live feeds they provide integrate with AI to alert farmers to missing stock or any other herd issues.
2. Health monitoring and disease detection:
AI-powered sensors and computer vision systems can be used to track livestock behaviour, feeding patterns, and movement, and detect early signs of illness or stress. This lets farmers intervene before problems escalate, which reduces mortality and veterinary costs.
3. Feeding and nutrition:
AI can be used to track feeding rates by identifying when a particular animal bends down to eat, so farmers can closely monitor each animal’s feeding and overall health. A decrease in feeding rates can be a sign of poor health, which prompts the herd manager to intervene. Additionally, smart feeding systems use AI to optimise the nutrition for each animal, based on real-time data about age, weight, health, and production goals.
4. Virtual fencing and pasture management:
AI-connected virtual fencing lets farmers control grazing patterns remotely to improve pasture utilisation and soil health. The use of this technology reduces labour costs and supports regenerative farming practices by preventing overgrazing and optimising land use.
Halter and eShepherd are leading providers of virtual fencing technology in New Zealand and Australia. Farmers use solar-powered smart collars to create GPS-based virtual boundaries and manage cattle remotely via an app. This technology allows virtual herding that lets farmers move animals without needing physical fences.
Population medicine and disease forecasting
AI is revolutionising population medicine by enabling faster, data-driven decision-making and predictive insights on the health of animal groups. This is making it increasingly indispensable for animal disease detection and management.
1. Real-time disease surveillance:
AI systems can constantly monitor clinical records, lab results, and farm data to detect anomalies. By identifying unusual patterns early on, veterinarians can intervene before an outbreak spreads, which reduces the risk of potential economic and animal welfare impacts.
2. Predictive outbreak modelling:
Machine learning algorithms can analyse vast amounts of epidemiological data, climate trends, and animal movement patterns to forecast disease spread. These predictive models can help famers and authorities prepare for potential outbreaks by improving response times and minimising losses.
3. Risk mapping and hotspot identification:
Geospatial AI tools can create real-time maps that highlight regions that might be at higher risk of disease outbreaks. These maps are useful for planning vaccination campaigns and moving resources where they’re needed most.
4. Decision-making for animal management:
AI-driven tools can recommend preventive measures like vaccination schedules and biosecurity protocols based on real-time risk assessments. This helps farmers make better-informed decisions that protect animal health and reduce costs.
5. IoT-driven real-time monitoring:
Wearable sensors and automated farm systems can feed continuous data into AI platforms that detect early signs of illness in animals, like changes in temperature or feeding behaviour. This means veterinarians can intervene more quickly to treat affected animals and reduce the spread of disease.
How the Vet Industry is Adopting AI
The veterinary industry in Australia and New Zealand is rapidly embracing the use of AI to tackle challenges like workforce shortages, the rising demand for pet care, and the need for greater efficiency. It’s no longer a futuristic concept; AI is now embedded in everyday workflows across many clinics and hospitals. Here are some examples:
1. Increasing adoption of AI scribes:
AI-driven medical scribes like VetNotes and Heidi Health integrate with leading veterinary software solutions. Scribes record the conversation between the client and the vet and transcribes it into text. AI then takes the conversation notes, writes them up, and inserts them into patient records in cloud-based PMS like Covetrus Ascend.
“VetNotes is like a little scribe that I can take with me anywhere. Home consults, phone chats and traditional in clinic consults – all I have to do is press record and I know that my notes will be written and saved.” – Dr Anthea Brennan
2. Diagnostics and disease management:
AI-driven radiology and cytology tools are now standard in many clinics – providing fast, accurate interpretations of X-rays and lab samples. This improves diagnostic confidence and reduces the reliance on external labs, which speeds up treatment decisions. AI-powered robotics and machine learning are being used in livestock health to speed up disease detection and monitor antimicrobial resistance.
3. Predictive health management:
Practices across New Zealand and Australia are increasingly adopting tools that can analyse large datasets to predict the likelihood of future health conditions. This helps veterinarians save lives and reduce long-term healthcare costs.
4. Workflow automation:
AI-powered automation that handles appointment scheduling, client communication, and pre-screening within the best veterinary practice management software is becoming essential for veterinary professionals. The focus is shifting from isolated tools to integrated ecosystems and cloud-based practice management systems with embedded AI capabilities that are fast becoming the backbone of modern clinics.
“Being able to send SMS messages was a huge drawcard. So was being able to integrate with our major supplier Provet. It meant our staff didn’t need to spend unnecessary time updating prices and they could focus on other, more important, tasks.” – Danielle Appay, Indooroopilly Vet Clinic
AI Software and Tools for Veterinary Practices
1. Practice management and workflow automation: Covetrus Ascend
Covetrus Ascend offers leading practice management software that helps veterinary practices manage every aspect of their clinic and ease the administrative burden on staff. Here’s how:
- Predictive workflow automation: AI anticipates the next steps in the veterinary workflow, reduces clicks, and streamlines navigation. Smart prompts and slide-in panels help staff complete tasks faster, which saves hours per week in administrative time.
- Business intelligence: Vetlytics is built into Ascend and provides real-time dashboards for KPIs like revenue, compliance, and retention. It helps practices spot trends, track performance, and make data-driven decisions without cumbersome manual reporting.
- Automated scheduling and task management: AI predicts appointment needs and optimises scheduling to reduce bottlenecks. Integrated ToDo boards and Kanban-style task management improve team collaboration and efficiency.
- Smart integrations: Ascend connects with diagnostic tools, payment systems, and inventory management, using AI to automate data flow and reduce errors.
- Enhanced client communication: AI supports personalised reminders and follow-ups to improve client engagement and compliance.
- Predictive stock management: AI prompts timely replenishment based on usage patterns.
Streamline your practice: Book a demo today
2. AI veterinary scribes and documentation
- Auto-generates structured medical records from consultations.
- Generates SOAP notes.
- Creates personalised discharge instructions.
- Automates consult notes and integrates with PMS for structured documentation.
3. Diagnostic imaging and lab analysis
- Processes radiographs and imaging data for rapid, accurate diagnostic insights.
- AI-powered platform for faecal and blood smear diagnostics.
- AI-driven urine sediment analyser for rapid identification of cells, crystals, and casts.
- Hematology analyser that uses AI for precise blood cell identification.
4. Telemedicine and remote monitoring
- AI-enabled telehealth features and client engagement tools for remote consultations.
- AI-powered chatbots for 24/7 client communication and triage.
Harness AI tools today: Book a Covetrus Ascend demo
Challenges and the Future of AI in Veterinary Medicine
While the role of AI in veterinary practices in veterinary medicine is accelerating across Australia and New Zealand, there are some challenges. Data fragmentation is a major hurdle, as clinical, diagnostic, and farm data often sit in siloed systems, which limits the effectiveness of predictive analytics.
The costs of rolling out AI and barriers to training also slow down AI uptake, particularly for smaller practices that don’t have the resources to roll out advanced tools. AI also introduces concerns around data privacy, regulatory compliance, and diagnostic accountability, so veterinary professionals have to balance automation with professional judgement.
The future is promising, however. Cloud-based platforms like Covetrus Ascend and AI-powered diagnostic tools are creating integrated systems that bring practice management, real-time monitoring, and predictive health insights together.
Looking ahead, expect growth in AI scribing, telemedicine, and population health forecasting, supported by IoT and machine learning. As AI adoption grows, we are likely to see it move from administrative support to clinical decision-making, which has the potential to improve efficiency, accuracy, and preventive care.
Simplify and Add Automation to Your Veterinary Practice with Covetrus Ascend
Covetrus Ascend is gaining traction across Australia and New Zealand as a leading cloud-based veterinary AI software solution. Its intuitive interface and integrated AI tools will simplify your practice’s scheduling, billing, and inventory management.
You can save hours per week thanks to automation, seamless integrations with diagnostic imaging and payment systems, and streamlined inventory management. Book your demo today to find out how to simply and automate your veterinary practice.
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