About Us

About Tropical Queensland Cat Clinic Servicing Townsville and North Queensland

We pour our attention and dedication to your feline friend.

About Us

Tropical Queensland Cat Clinic is a boutique veterinary practice dedicated solely to cats. It is committed to being the first choice for cat owners in the region, offering a full range of general veterinary and feline medicine services. Our highly trained staff are motivated by feline welfare and provide a compassionate service tailored specifically to the needs of cats and their owners.


Tropical Queensland Cat Clinic is also dedicated to improving feline welfare at local, national and international levels through involvement in education, neutering programs and clinical research (to improve our understanding of cat diseases).

The Clinic

Tropical Queensland Cat Clinic operates out of an extensively renovated Victorian building on Jones Street in Townsville City.


Cat clinics exist in most of the major cities of Australia. They are designed to make a veterinary visit less stressful for cats and offer a range of specialised care solutions for complex feline patients.

The Staff

Dr. Melissa Barbuto

BVSc MANCVS (Medicine of Cats) ISFMAdvCertFB – Veterinarian Surgeon

Dr. Melissa graduated from the University of QLD in 2002 and has spent time working at various clinics in Townsville and overseas in the UK. She has been feline focused her whole career and joined Tropical QLD Cat Clinic in 2016. Since then, she has attained her Memberships in Feline Medicine with the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists and has also completed the ISFM Advanced Certificate in Feline Behaviour. Dr Melissa is also Fear Free Accredited.

Dr. Melissa is a slave to 6 cats ranging in age from 15 years to 7 months old- Alice, Minx, Supercat, Tipsy, Seven and Priscilla. She also shares her home with her dog, Polar Bear, and somewhere in there you will also find her husband and son!

Jodie-Lee Mills

Practice Manager/Veterinary Nurse

Jodie-Lee has lived up and down the East Coast of Australia, however has called Townsville home for the last 30 years after her family fell in love with the tropical weather.

After 18 years in the human nursing industry she joined the team in early 2021. She has loved animals for as long as she can remember and would happily spend an hour rescuing a cat from the streets.

On her days off you can find Jodie-Lee tinkering away on her home renovations or trying to tame the garden and enjoying time with her fiancé and his two beautiful kids.

Jodie-Lee’s fur family comprises of dogs Cookie, Ralphy and Millie and cats Mischa, Esmay and Frankie.

Nia Beckett

Veterinary Nurse

Nia is originally from Wales in the UK and has lived in Townsville for the last 15 years. She has been with the team for the last 6 years and is a cert IV qualified Vet Nurse. Nia’s favourite part of the job is nursing patients back to health and being able to send them home after illness or injury. When Nia is not at work she spends time with her family, both human and animal. Her fur family includes 2 cats Huey and Sage, 2 dogs – Oscar and Gretchen, an antisocial conure and a small army of fish.

Liz Cummings

Veterinary Nurse

Liz is originally from England and moved to Townsville with her fiancé in 2020. She started studying to be a vet nurse the moment she arrived in Australia. Liz has her cert III in Vet Nursing and is currently working her way through her cert IV. Liz has a passion for cats and is keen to further her qualifications by studying for a diploma in cat nursing through the ISFM.

Liz’s fur family consists of 4 cats – Whiskey, Archie, Oscar and Ricket and a cattle dog named Daisy.

Catherine Ireland

Veterinary Nurse

Cat is our newest team member starting with the clinic a few months ago. While she is still in her training days she is soaking up her learning experience and loving every single kitty cat cuddle she can get!

As well as being cat crazy (with the exception of her Border Collie puppy, Benji), Cat is truly passionate about the feline species and feels incredibly lucky to have landed her dream job.

On weekends, Cat is mum to her active 7 year old and spends time with her partner and daughter swimming up at Rollingstone or playing board games.

Cat’s fur family includes cats Denzel, Asher, Eli and Milah and new puppy Benji.

The Clinic Cats

Resident cats Andy, Archie,  Skimby and Lord Arnott "Chip" McVittie live at the clinic provide emotional support to staff in return for food and shelter. Andy is our senior gentleman at 15 years old. Archie needs insulin twice a day as he is diabetic. Skimby is aloof, svelte and well, Skimby. And Chip will soon be employed as our in-house blood donor.

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