Thanks Steve. I’ll add it to the list of things to talk to the vet about when we go in for the ultrasound. That list is starting to grow thanks to all of you!

And I am sure you are right about the rimadyl, and I mentioned that to her, but she said that as Rox shows no signs of pain for a period of time, that it will be more like us taking a dose of aspirin. Just to make it more bearable. Because she needs to have something in her tummy when taking it, she is to now get many small meals a day so that she will always have a protected tummy.

Sarah, the ultrasound tech is a traveling man that comes twice a month for more specialized work that the clinic cannot or is unable to skillfully do. I have to give them credit for knowing when they have reached their limits...

Here's my take on it.

Performing the US doesn't take too much skill ( in human medicine the US is usually done by a radiology tech that got a short course in the technique, so that's someone with a two year degree handling the equipment ( as I said, it's not too skilled based ) .
It takes more skill when facing a sub-optimal patient, i.e., someone that is severely overweight, a poor prep, etc. - then the US operators skill is more of a determining factor.

As far as interpreting the US resulting, I used to do that for my boss when I was a Physician's Assistant, and abdominal US's were pretty straight forward to read. A good Vet should be able to use the US to rule out stones or masses as long as the prep was good. And usually what you're looking for ( stones, for instance ) are *obvious* on US, so the miss rate was below 3% last time I read about it.
Plus most Vets forward difficult x-rays and US tapes to Vet Radiologists for final diagnosis these days.

I *love* when a vet practice has an US machine, it can provide a rapid and accurate diagnosis when time is critical, so I'm glad that the technology has spread to smaller Vet practices - it'll will likely save a fair amount of pets down the line.