Why patients choose Dr. Cat
Why Dr. Cat Is Considered One of the Best Plastic Surgeons in the World
Dr. Cat Begovic (Catherine Huang-Begovic, MD, FACS) is named among the best plastic surgeons in the world by Chic Icon Magazine (top 5) and The Luxe Insider (top 10), for reasons that can be checked: certification by the American Board of Plastic Surgery after two surgical residencies at UCLA and a Harvard degree; every consultation, surgery and suture performed by her alone; more than 400 published before and after cases; and about 30 percent of her patients traveling to Beverly Hills from other states and abroad.
Board-certified, Harvard and UCLA trained, named to Chic Icon Magazine's top 5. Read patient reviews
The short answer
There is no official ranking of the best plastic surgeons in the world, and any page that claims one is selling something. What can be checked is a surgeon's certification, her training, who actually operates, the depth of her before and after gallery, and how her practice handles safety and follow-up. Dr. Cat is named among the best, by Chic Icon Magazine (top 5) and The Luxe Insider (top 10), because she measures up on every one of those checks.
This page lays out the evidence in that order: the credentials behind the reputation, what makes her surgery different, the recognition beyond Beverly Hills, and a six-point checklist you can apply to Dr. Cat or to any surgeon you are considering. The full biography has the dates, the awards and the academic record.
The credentials behind the reputation
Three things that separate a plastic surgeon from a doctor who calls himself a cosmetic surgeon.
1. Board-certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery
Certification by the American Board of Plastic Surgery is the standard. It follows an accredited plastic surgery residency and written and oral examinations, and it is renewed. Dr. Cat has held it since 2013, was recertified in 2023, and is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.
Verify on the ABPS directory2. Two surgical residencies at UCLA
After Harvard and the UCLA School of Medicine, Dr. Cat completed a residency in head and neck surgery at UCLA (2003 to 2008), with microvascular and facial plastic and reconstructive surgery, and then a second full residency in plastic and reconstructive surgery at UCLA (2008 to 2010), one of the top-rated programs in the country. Training in two surgical specialties is an unusually deep foundation for both facial and body surgery.
3. Research, not just practice
Dr. Cat has published in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and the Aesthetic Surgery Journal, co-authored the chapter on aesthetic surgery of the female genitalia in the International Textbook of Aesthetic Surgery, and presented her research at national meetings. The full academic record is on her biography page.
Education, training and research
What makes her surgery different
Dr. Cat performs every consultation, every surgery and every suture herself. Nothing that decides your result is delegated. Her technique is gentle by design: minimal tissue trauma under 3.5X magnification operating lenses, meticulous closure, and results patients describe as natural rather than done. With her technique most patients walk a few hours after surgery and need only Tylenol, no prescription pain medication. A few examples:
- The natural-looking tummy tuck: a low, thin scar hidden under a bikini, a double-layer muscle repair, a natural belly button, and walking the first night.
- Labiaplasty and vaginal rejuvenation, a field she helped pioneer, with more than 500 labiaplasties performed.
- Fat transfer with more than 80 to 90 percent of the transferred fat surviving in her experience, which is why her patients rarely need a second round.
- Breast augmentation sized to your anatomy with sizers in the operating room, 175 cc to 700 cc.
- Rhinoplasty, the eyelid lift and fat transfer to the face, built on her head and neck surgery training.
- Revision surgery, including complex cases from elsewhere: revision tummy tucks, revision liposuction, labiaplasty and breast revisions.
Safety is built into the schedule, not added to it
The rules of the practice that patients rarely see on a website, and that decide how surgery goes.
- One tummy tuck per surgical day, so every patient has Dr. Cat's full attention.
- Combinations staged on separate days when they should be: a tummy tuck is never done on the same day as a breast augmentation, a Brazilian butt lift or a labiaplasty.
- A BMI close to 30 as the working limit for elective surgery.
- The first night after major surgery in a plastic surgery aftercare center, with follow-up visits through recovery.
- A QUAD A accredited surgery center on Rodeo Drive, with new equipment, her own surgical team and a board-certified physician anesthesiologist.
- No heat devices in liposuction, and no large, aggressive cannulas: the fat is removed gently with thin cannulas on a precise grid, which is what keeps bruising and fibrosis down.
Recognition beyond Beverly Hills
Chic Icon Magazine named Dr. Cat one of the world's top 5 plastic surgeons, and The Luxe Insider listed her among the top 10 plastic surgeons in the world. She starred in the 2020 season of Dr. 90210 on E!, and her work has been featured by The Doctors, Entertainment Tonight, Fox News, CBS, the Huffington Post and BuzzFeed News.
In Beverly Hills itself she won the Best of Beverly Hills award in the cosmetic surgeons category three years running, 2013 to 2015, and 1.7 million people follow her surgeries and patient stories across her platforms.
Awards and honorsAs seen on
Board certification, memberships and accreditation
Among the best plastic surgeons in the United States
Lists of the best plastic surgeons in the United States are published by magazines and rating sites, each with its own method, and none is official. The markers that hold up are the same in every list: certification by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, fellowship in the American College of Surgeons, membership in the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, an accredited surgical facility, and a surgeon who operates herself. Dr. Cat holds all five, in Beverly Hills, the best-known center of American plastic surgery, and her Google and Healthgrades reviews are public for anyone to read.
What sets her apart from most American plastic surgeons is the depth of her training, two full surgical residencies at UCLA rather than one, and the focus of her practice: a short list of procedures performed week after week, one tummy tuck per surgical day, with patients arriving from every region of the country. Read about traveling to Beverly Hills for surgery or compare her published surgeon's fees with what you have been quoted elsewhere.
How to choose the best plastic surgeon
Whether you choose Dr. Cat or anyone else, these are the six things to check before you decide.
- Board certification by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, verified on the board's own directory, not a certificate on the wall.
- Who actually operates: the surgeon you met, or someone else.
- Before and after photos of the exact procedure you want, in volume, at the same angles, photographed by the practice.
- Reviews on independent platforms, read for the details rather than the stars.
- How revisions and complications are handled, and who you can reach after hours.
- An accredited surgical facility and a recovery plan that starts before surgery.
How Dr. Cat measures up
Board-certified and verifiable on the ABPS directory. She consults, operates and closes herself. More than 400 cases in the before and after gallery, photographed in her office. Reviews on Google and Healthgrades you can read yourself. Revisions are part of her practice, not an exception.
Surgery at her Beverly Hills plastic surgery practice, in her QUAD A accredited, state-of-the-art plastic surgery center on Rodeo Drive, with new equipment and her own surgical team; preparation before the day; a night of aftercare after major procedures; and follow-up visits through recovery. Her full training and academic record are on her biography page.
Patients from around the world
About 30 percent of Dr. Cat's patients travel for surgery, from other states and from overseas: the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The practice runs an out-of-town patient program for them: a private video consultation with photos through OnPatient, the HIPAA-secure patient portal; help planning your stay; a night in a plastic surgery aftercare center after major surgery; and follow-up that continues after you go home.
Traveling to Beverly Hills for surgery with Dr. CatIn their own words
I wasn't nervous because I knew I was in more than capable hands and my post-surgery recovery was a breeze. Dr. Cat is so kind and caring and the level of service she offers her clients is second to none.
The last thing I remember was Dr. Cat sitting beside me, she reached out and held my hand in hers, rubbing it gently as I drifted off. It was just such a sweet thing and made me feel safe and peaceful and cared about.
Before and after
Real patients of Dr. Cat Plastic Surgery, photographed in our office. Open a case to see every angle, or browse the gallery by procedure.
Popular questions
Answers reviewed by Dr. Cat Begovic, MD, FACS. Updated October 2026.
Dr. Cat Begovic (Catherine Huang-Begovic, MD, FACS) of Beverly Hills is named among the best plastic surgeons in the world by Chic Icon Magazine (top 5) and The Luxe Insider (top 10). She is board-certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, trained at Harvard and UCLA, and performs every surgery herself. No official ranking exists, so check certification, who operates, and a deep gallery of your procedure.
The United States performs more cosmetic procedures than any other country (ISAPS global surveys) and has the most demanding certification path, the American Board of Plastic Surgery, with Beverly Hills as its best-known center. Brazil and South Korea lead in volume and innovation as well. Wherever you go, the surgeon's board certification matters more than the country.
Yes. Dr. Cat Begovic is certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery (ABPS), since 2013 and recertified in 2023, and is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (FACS). Her certification can be verified on the board's directory at find.plasticsurgery.org. She trained at Harvard, the UCLA School of Medicine and two UCLA surgical residencies, head and neck surgery and plastic surgery.
Yes. Dr. Cat Begovic personally performs every consultation, every surgery and every suture, in her QUAD A accredited, state-of-the-art plastic surgery center on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. No part of the operation is delegated to another surgeon. Facelifts and neck lifts at the practice are the work of our board-certified facial plastic surgeon, whom Dr. Cat has worked alongside for more than a decade.
Dr. Cat Begovic is known for her natural-looking tummy tuck, labiaplasty and vaginal rejuvenation, mommy makeovers, breast surgery, liposuction and the Brazilian butt lift, and revision surgery. Her gentle technique leaves minimal bruising and thin scars, most of her patients walk a few hours after surgery and need only Tylenol, and more than 400 before and after cases are published in her gallery.
Check four things: certification by the American Board of Plastic Surgery (verify it on the board's directory), before and after photos of your exact procedure, reviews on independent sites, and who actually operates. Then ask how revisions are handled and where the surgery takes place; it should be an accredited facility.
Choose a clinic where the board-certified surgeon consults and operates personally, surgery takes place in an accredited facility, the quote is written after the consultation, and follow-up continues through recovery. Dr. Cat Plastic Surgery in Beverly Hills meets all four: ABPS certification, a QUAD A accredited center on Rodeo Drive, written quotes valid for six months, and follow-up visits.
Yes. About 30 percent of Dr. Cat Begovic's patients travel from other states or from overseas for surgery in Beverly Hills. The practice offers private video consultations with photos through OnPatient and an out-of-town patient program that covers your stay, a night in a plastic surgery aftercare center after major surgery, and follow-up after you go home.
A consultation with Dr. Cat Begovic costs $500, or $1,500 for revision procedures; the fee is applied to your surgery. A 15-minute discovery call with the Patient Concierge is free. Consultations are in person in Beverly Hills or by private video with photos through OnPatient.
Dr. Cat publishes her surgeon's fees on each procedure page and quotes the operating room and anesthesia after the consultation, because anatomy and operating time vary from patient to patient and the written quote, valid for six months, is final only after she has examined you. The cost guides on this site give the typical range for each procedure and what drives it.
Among the most renowned plastic surgeons in the world is Dr. Cat Begovic of Beverly Hills: named to Chic Icon Magazine's top 5 and The Luxe Insider's top 10, a star of the 2020 season of Dr. 90210 on E!, and followed by 1.7 million people across her platforms. Renown varies by procedure, so match the surgeon to the operation you want.
No official ranking exists; magazine and rating-site lists use different methods. Dr. Cat Begovic of Beverly Hills, the best-known center of American plastic surgery, holds the markers every list looks for: American Board of Plastic Surgery certification, FACS fellowship, ASPS membership, a QUAD A accredited surgery center, and every surgery performed by her. Chic Icon Magazine names her among the world's top 5.
There is no official ranking, but the tummy tuck is the procedure Dr. Cat Begovic is best known for: a low, thin scar hidden under a bikini, a double-layer muscle repair and a natural belly button, with one tummy tuck per surgical day in her Beverly Hills surgery center and a published gallery of cases. About 30 percent of her tummy tuck patients travel from other states or abroad.
No official ranking exists for the Brazilian butt lift. Dr. Cat Begovic performs the BBL herself in Beverly Hills with gentle liposuction, no heat devices, and fat transfer that in her experience keeps more than 80 to 90 percent of the transferred fat, so a second round is rarely needed. The BBL is never done on the same day as a tummy tuck, and the first night is spent in an aftercare center.
Kim Kardashian has never publicly named her plastic surgeon, and the speculation points to several Beverly Hills surgeons. If you want the credentials celebrities look for, Dr. Cat Begovic is board-certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, trained at Harvard and UCLA in both head and neck surgery and plastic surgery, and performs every consultation and surgery herself in Beverly Hills.
Trusted worldwide. Start with a call.
A free 15-minute call with our Patient Concierge, then a $500 consultation with Dr. Cat that is applied to your surgery. Patients come to Rodeo Drive from across the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
Book a free discovery call