Get to Know the International Keynote Speaker for LVS 2026: Cathy Beck

In this interview, Cathy reflects on the evolution of imaging in practice and shares practical insights from her London Vet Show sessions on interpreting thoracic radiographs, point-of-care ultrasound, and avoiding common imaging pitfalls.

Q: Can you tell me a bit about yourself, what started your journey to becoming a vet, and ultimately why you specialised in imaging? 

A: Sure! I always wanted to be a vet and I'm not entirely certain why. I’ve always loved animals, but there's much more to being a vet than just loving animals. In vet school and in my early career, my focus was on becoming a horse vet. And in my internship - which was a fabulous year - I became very attached to a number of cases, and became upset when things didn’t go well.  And I thought, I like these creatures too much to be a horse vet. It was during that time that I took on the role of taking all the radiographs for the practice. I primarily started with radiography and the quest for the perfect image. There's nothing better. It’s so satisfying to get the perfect image. Then the natural curiosity led me to want to know what's on the image, and that's what led my interest in imaging. I was very fortunate to gain a residency at the University of Melbourne, and that's how I started my specialist journey. 

Q: Your sessions talk about the challenges in image interpretation. Where do you feel that clinicians are losing the confidence or going off track when assessing images? 

A: I think that a lot of clinicians come to the radiograph expecting to know the answer instantly. While sometimes we do, most times we don't know the answer instantly, and it takes time to explore the image and to extract all the information that there is on the image. That’s the joy of what we do. It’s so cool, but it takes time. It might be that you go to the radiograph or the ultrasound or other imaging study with a preconceived idea, but you’ve got to go with an open mind, not wanting to find the information that supports your preconceived idea. Go with an open mind and take time. I absolutely acknowledge that we're all really busy people, and we don't always have the time to invest in looking at the image, but... do a preliminary read, and then come back to it. It’s very important to take the time to extract every bit of information from that radiograph or ultrasound or POCUS or other imaging study. 

Q: Your primary focus is small animals – do you work with horses at all now?

A: My clinical work is primarily cat and dog, but I have a very strong research interest in horses, particularly thoroughbred fetlocks and exploring why they break their legs when they're galloping. I've just completed a PhD looking at the CT features of the fetlock in thoroughbred racehorses, which is my passion project. I'm very lucky to be able to explore my passion of horses and their fetlocks, but also keep working with small animals and all the interesting cases that we see. I love thoracic and abdominal radiographs. I know a lot of vets are intimidated by that, and I hope my sessions can help. There’s so much to be gained from good quality thoracic and abdominal radiographs. 

Q: You’ve mentioned ultrasound. In your opinion, what are the situations in which POCUS is most valuable, and where should clinicians be cautious when using it?

A: I will address these in my sessions, but one of the things clinicians need to be cautious about is that POCUS is not a replacement for a thorough physical examination, so take time to perform a good physical examination. There are two things to be cautious in the thorax: not all B-lines equal cardiogenic pulmonary oedema and not all splenic nodules and masses are neoplastic. Don’t come with a bias toward what you expect to find - have an open mind. Ask: what are the other causes of b-lines? Has this dog been lying in lateral recumbency? Could this be atelectasis? Could that splenic nodule be lymphoid hyperplasia or extramedullary haematopoiesis? Let's think about those things before we jump to neoplasia. These are the areas that I see most people making a leap, which may not necessarily be correct for that particular patient. 

POCUS is a very valuable tool. In a collapsed dog or cat, for example, it can quickly identify pleural, pericardial, or abdominal effusion, guide sampling, and help decide which test should follow. POCUS is certainly not a replacement for a complete diagnostic ultrasound, but it can help indicate, for example, that a patient needs a complete ultrasound examination or that a thoracic radiograph is the best step forward. In that sense, it’s extremely useful for triaging your patient and deciding what comes next. 

Q: You’ve slightly touched on this: with multiple imaging modalities available, how do you think clinicians can go about choosing the right test? 

A: I think it boils down to what the wonderful Professor Jill Maddison says: first, we need to think about the problem that our patient is presenting for, and based on that, ask ourselves - what is the best test that will help solve that problem? And many times, I see clinicians thinking that the CT, for example, is the best test for a patient, but not necessarily. You can often answer the patient's clinical problem with radiographs or thoracic radiographs.  I think what we need to do first is define what the problem is and then work out which test is the most appropriate to solve that problem, and it's not necessarily always the most expensive test or the most invasive test. So, I'm going to talk about that a lot because that is one of my soapbox issues. 

Q: Across your LVS sessions, what kind of core imaging mindset or habits do you want people to take away and use in their day-to-day practice?

A: Take a deep breath and take your time to read the radiograph. Come to it with an open mind. And unfortunately, it is a time intensive thing. Looking at an image, looking at abdominal radiographs, ultrasound, CT - everything is time consuming, and we owe it to our patients to take the time. So, I think the big take home is give yourself the permission to take the time. It's okay if you don't know the answer instantly… sometimes the answer is revealed over time. So deep breath, take time. That is the imaging mindset that I want people to have. 

Q: You have taught imaging to clinicians around the world. What are you most looking forward to about being at LVS and about getting to actually speak to some of our delegates there? 

A: I always love speaking to a diverse group of people and people from other countries. Different questions, different problems, different disease processes, which often challenge me because we get comfortable with the disease processes that we see in our own practice. I'm looking forward to coming and sharing my passion and saying, ‘It's okay if you don't know the answer, but here I'm going to give you a way of helping work towards the answer.’ I'm so lucky to do what I do and I really love what I do.