Pet Health & Emergencies in France
Finding a vet, insurance, tick and heat safety, and a genuinely dangerous French-specific hazard: processionary caterpillars.
- No single national pet-emergency number — save a local vet or regional on-call number on arrival.
- Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse and Bordeaux all have reliable 24-hour clinics.
- Pine processionary caterpillars are a genuine veterinary emergency: mouth contact can cause tissue necrosis.
Guides in this topic
5 guides · updated October 2026
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Finding an Emergency Vet
No single national emergency number, but out-of-hours cover runs through a regional on-call rota — save a local number as soon as you arrive.
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24-Hour Clinics
France's largest cities have round-the-clock veterinary emergency options; smaller towns rely on the regional on-call rota instead.
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Pet Insurance for the Trip
Routine care is comparatively affordable, but a real emergency can still run high — check your existing policy actually covers EU travel.
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The Processionary Caterpillar: A Real Hazard
This isn't a scare story — contact with the stinging hairs of a processionary caterpillar is a genuine veterinary emergency, especially for curious puppies.
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Heat & Tick Safety
Mediterranean summer heat in the south and ticks in rural, wooded areas nationwide both call for the same routine precautions as elsewhere in Europe.