Vet Scene Down Under: A veterinary-focused AI scribe and a mobile wildlife hospital

Veterinary-focused AI scribe VetNotes

During Mitch Sigley’s childhood, he noticed that his parents—both veterinarians—would frequently arrive home late because they had to stay back at the veterinary clinic to write up their consultation notes. So he decided to do something to help, founding veterinary artificial intelligence (AI) scribe VetNotes.

“We'd miss dinners and weekends because of the heavy administrative burden all vets deal with. Solving that problem felt personal, and that experience planted the seed for VetNotes,” Sigley said to dvm360. “I started my career as an actuary, working across consulting firms and insurance companies, and became deeply interested in AI soon after ChatGPT launched in late 2022. VetNotes’ flagship feature is an AI scribe that listens to veterinary consultations and automatically turns them into clinical notes.”

Saving time and creating efficiencies in the daily schedule of busy veterinary clinics, VetNotes involves veterinarians recording their consultations on their phone, tablet, or computer. “The AI filters out the chitchat, pulls the clinically relevant details, and sends the finished notes straight into the vet's practice management software. It saves them hours every day by automating their note-taking, so they don't have to catch up after work. That means they can focus on patient care and actually leave on time,” Sigley said.

“What VetNotes does well is being simple, accurate, and purpose-built for vets. There are countless ways to make amazing software, but our strategy is to focus on 1 thing, for 1 type of professional, and deliver a best-in-class product. When you build exclusively for 1 profession, you can go much deeper on the things that actually matter to them,” Sigley added.

VetNotes integrates directly with all major practice management systems so that the clinical notes flow straight into the patient record without the need for copying and pasting. “Our templates are veterinary-curated, built around how vets actually document cases, and we've focused heavily on accuracy and conciseness, so the output is genuinely useful, not just a wall of text. We also have compliance tools to help vets stay on the right side of veterinary-specific AI scribing regulations, and automatic billable detection so they're not leaving revenue on the table,” Sigley said.

“Vets love it. We're now used by thousands of vets across the world—small animal, large animal, general practitioner, emergency, referral—from new graduates to senior clinicians. It works for everyone because the problem is universal: too much time spent on notes,” Sigley added.

Sigley said it’s also been exciting to see how veterinarians are using VetNotes beyond the consult room. “They're dictating surgical write-ups and procedure notes after a surgery, recording ultrasounds and talking through findings as they go, and even recording staff meetings to get simple summaries. Once vets realize they can turn any spoken word into structured documentation, they start finding uses we never anticipated,” Sigley said. “Every week my team receives emails from customers saying that VetNotes has fundamentally changed their professional and personal lives by freeing up their time.”

Matilda, the mobile wildlife hospital, hits the road

Matilda, the custom-built mobile wildlife hospital operated by Wildlife Recovery Australia, recently departed on a national tour to support wildlife care organizations, engage regional communities in wildlife-rich areas, and advocate for a coordinated national wildlife care framework for Australia. The tour will combine direct clinical service delivery involving the treatment of sick, injured, and orphaned native animals, together with community engagement.

“Australia’s wildlife rescue system remains largely volunteer-run, underresourced, and fragmented across jurisdictions, despite increasing pressure from climate-driven disasters and habitat loss,” Ken Henry AC, chair for Wildlife Recovery Australia, said in a statement. “Matilda shows what’s possible when wildlife care is treated as essential infrastructure, not an afterthought.”

Matilda is equipped with x-ray, anesthesia, endoscopy, and hematology units; a sterile surgical suite; critical care cages; pop-out slide walls; solar panels; a satellite dish; deep cell batteries; and a generator. Along with Matilda, Wildlife Recovery Australia operates Byron Bay Wildlife Hospital and Byron Bay Raptor Recovery Centre.