A/Prof Vanessa Barrs
From Felipedia
Vanessa is a registered specialist in Feline Medicine and co-directs the world-class feline referral service at the Valentine Charlton Cat Centre. This is currently the only centre in the world to provide an accredited training program for specialists in Feline Medicine, supervised by Vanessa Barrs and Julia Beatty, our two resident feline specialists.
After graduation in 1990, Vanessa worked at The University Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Sydney (UVTHS) from 1993 to 1999 completing a residency in small animal medicine, a Master’s degree in bacteriology and working as a senior small animal medical registrar. Vanessa achieved Fellowship of the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists in Feline Medicine in 2000 and worked in University /private referral practice in London for 2 years. After returning to Australia Vanessa worked in private referral practice for 2 years and was then appointed Senior Lecturer in Small Animal Medicine in April 2004. Vanessa is a prominent member of the veterinary professional community. She serves on the NSW Board of Veterinary Practitioners as a specialist representative and is a trustee for the Feline Research Health Fund. Vanessa enjoys all aspects of teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students and has been awarded a number of teaching improvement grants.
Special Interests
Vanessa loves to make sick cats better! She is interested in all aspects of feline medicine, especially infectious and genetic diseases, cardiology and endocrinology. Vanessa enjoys currently directs a number of research projects including erythrocyte pyruvate kinase deficiency of Abyssinian and Somali cats, sino-orbital Aspergillosis, alimentary lymphoma in cats and a prevalence study of Tritrichomonas fetus.
Contribution to the Profession and the Community
- Veterinary Practitioners Board of NSW – Specialist Representative
- President Feline Medicine chapter of the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists 2002 - 2006
- External Examiner Australian College of Veterinary Scientists Feline/Small Animal Medicine
- Feline Health Research Fund - Trustee
- Journal of Feline Medicine & Surgery – Editorial Board Member
- Invited Speaker:
- Valentine Charlton Symposium in Feline Medicine, Hong Kong 2004
- Korean Animal Hospital Association. 2nd KAAHA International Conference, Seoul Korea.
- World Small Animal Veterinary Association Congress Sydney 2007
- Singapore & Thailand Veterinary Association Conferences, Singapore & Thailand 2007
Selected Publications
1.Barrs VR. Gunew M. Foster SF. Beatty JA. Malik R (2001) Prevalence of polycystic kidney disease in Persian cats and related breeds in Sydney and Brisbane. Aust Vet J 79: 257-259.
2.Barrs VR. Swinney GR. Martin P (1999) Concurrent Aelurostrongylus abstrusus infection and Salmonellosis in a kitten. Aust Vet J 77:11-14.
3.Barrs VR, Martin P, Beatty JA, Nicoll RG and Malik R (2000) Pulmonary cryptococcosis and Capillaria aerophila infection in an FIV-positive cat. Aust Vet J 78:154-158.
4.Barrs VR, Beatty JA, McCandlish IA and Kipar A (2002) Hypereosinophilic paraneoplastic syndrome in a cat with intestinal T-cell lymphosarcoma. J Sm An Pract 43:401-405
5.Barrs VR, Martin P, Allan, GS, Malik R and Love DN (2005) A retrospective study of feline pyothorax: 27 cases (1988-2002). JFMS 7:211-222
6.Barrs VR, Martin PM and Beatty JA (2006) Antemortem diagnosis and treatment of toxoplasmosis in two cats on cyclosporin therapy. Australian Veterinary Journal 84: 30-35.
7.Barrs VR, Beatty JA, Lingard AE, Malik R, Krockenberger MB, Martin P, O’Brien C, Angles JM, Dowden M, Halliday C (2007) Feline Sino-orbital Aspergillosis: An Emerging Clinical Syndrome. Australian Veterinary Journal 85(3):N23
8.Barrs VR, Nicoll R, Churcher RK, Beck JA, Beatty JA (2007) Intracranial Empyema: literature review and two novel cases in cats. Journal of Small Animal Practice 48:449-454.
