About Dr Martine van Boeijen
Director and Principal Veterinarian BSc BVMS (hons) MANZCVS (Medicine of Cats) ISFM AdvCertFB
Dr Martine van Boeijen has been strongly focused on feline medicine for most of her veterinary career. Graduating from Murdoch University in 1999 with Honours, she soon moved to London to work in an emergency clinic for a number of years which sparked her interest in moving to a feline only practice.
In 2008 she completed a 12 month Distance Education course with the University of Sydney in Feline Medicine before going on to successfully attain Membership with the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists by examination in Feline Medicine in 2010 which has allowed her membership into the ISFM Academy of Feline Practitioners. She currently sits on the Board of Examiners for candidates sitting the Feline Medicine Memberships for the College. As part of this role she collaborates with other experts in Feline Medicine to both write and mark the examinations. She was one of the founding Board Members for the Australasian Society of Feline Medicine which was a not-for-profit company which aimed to advance and promote the well-being of cats. She remained active on the Board until its closure in 2016.
Opening a feline exclusive cat hospital has been Dr Martine’s dream for many years and in this time she has become close colleagues with a number of other “cat vets” around Australia. The insights she has gained from visiting their feline hospitals has helped her to design the Perth Cat Hospital into something that we feel is very special.
Dr Martine has been an Adjunct Clinical Teacher at Murdoch University for over 7 years where she is involved in both mentoring and teaching our undergraduate vets. She gains great enjoyment by inspiring a sense of enthusiasm for all aspect of feline medicine and assists improving the students “feline friendly” atttitudes by providing annual workshops and lectures.
She is a proud fur-parent to two delightful chocolate Burmese boys; Rollie and Eddie, and she will happily talk about them for hours. In addition to her love for cats, she is also a passionate foodie with a penchant for food festivals and fine dining.
Dr Martine is very passionate about proactive health care especially in the field of geriatric medicine. She does not believe age is a disease and finds many of her senior patients strongly benefit from careful and thoughtful medical management of concomitant conditions. She has a strong focus on high level dentistry and appreciates the importance of quality dental x-rays in all cats undergoing dental treatment.
Dr Martine is one of our two main senior endoscopists, having successfully completed the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine in-depth training course. This internationally acclaimed course includes nine examinations to ensure their graduates have a very high standard of theoretical knowledge.
She has a special interest in feline behaviour and has completed the ISFM Advanced Certificate in Feline Behaviour with Distinction in 2020. She runs a feline behavioural consultancy to provide solutions for owners whose cats have problem behaviours.
Dr Martine regularly attends feline specific conferences in Australia and internationally and is an invited member of the ISFM Academy of Feline Practitioners.
She is periodically invited to lecture at both local and national events including the Annual Veterinary Association Conference and the Annual Vet Nurse Council of Australia Conference. She is also part of a small group of feline practioners whom have been selected to form the Australian Cat’Xpert Panel providing nationwide education for veterinarians in feline medicine. The Cat’Xpert Panel was created by Boeringher Ingehelm in 2021 to form a team of feline clinicians that create up to date, locally relevant training materials for general practioner veterinarians. The Panel undergo national roadshows, and create innovating video training sessions, and recently created the Australian Feline Wellness Guidelines.
She is also a member of the Australian Veterinary Association, the Australian Small Animal Veterinary Association, the American Association of Feline Practitioners, the International Society for Feline Medicine, the Australian Veterinary Dental Society, Australian Veterinary Business Group and the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.