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Cat Book Preface:

When dissecting your cat, remember that there will be differences between the illustrations in the book and your specimen and although the book may have instruction on how to dissect, they may be different from our instructor’s. Taking notes in the book when dissecting is encouraged because you may identify something while dissecting that is not in the book; noting these differences in the book will help you remember and study them in the future. You will learn more from dissection and making your own illustrations rather than copying directions and labels straight out of the book. With Galen’s text, students would disregard what they were observing if it was different than the book and always went by what the book said but Vesalius changed this method through his text De Humani Corporis Fabrica when students started using the illustrations to know what to look for and not looking at the illustrations instead of the cadaver. Although some people disesteem the process of using descriptions and pictures to study anatomy rather than dissections, Gilbert agrees that dissections are an important part of studying anatomy but that pictures and descriptions can be a helpful tool while dissecting.

 

Felis catus:

The family that cats belong to is Felidae. This family is then broken down into two subfamilies, Pantherinae and Felinae. The Pantherinae subfamily contains the larger organisms of the family. This includes species such as tigers, lions, and panthers. The Felinae subfamily is comprised of mainly smaller organisms such as the domestic cat and the wild cat. However, Felinae does also contain species such as the cheetah and the cougar. The difference between the two subfamilies is that one evolved and had slightly differing anatomy from the other. These evolutionary changes include an imperfectly ossified hyoid and the area between the nostrils being narrow and not extended sideways for the Pantherinae. The changes in the Felinae subfamily is that because the hyoid doesn’t harden into bone, allowing those in this subfamily to purr instead of roar.

Cranium Venn Diagram

  • Sagittal crest

  • Foramen magnum is under the cranium at an angle

  • Orbits are much larger proportionally 

  • Parietal section of cranium is more posterior

  • Frontal bone is spread out more across the top of the cranium

  • Zygomatic (zugal) stretches much farther across cranium

  • Has a premaxilla

  • Magnum foramen

  • Orbits

  • Parietal bones

  • Frontal bones

  • Zygomatic process

  • Nasal cavity

  • Maxilla

  • Much larger cranium

  • Foramen magnum is directly under cranium

  • Can move the mandible to grind food

  • Parietal section is more medial

  • Frontal bone is mainly on the anterior part of cranium

  • Zygomatic process is mainly in the cheeck area

  • Doesn't have a premaxilla

Human Cranium

Cat Cranium

Vertebrae Venn Diagram

  • Lumbar curve places center of gravity on hips and legs

  • Sacrum composed of 5 fused bones

  • Coccyx consists of 3-5 fused caudal vertebrae

  • 5 lumbar

  • 12 thoracic

  • More bones

  • More loose connections providing greater flexibility

  • 7 lumbar

  • Sacrum composed of 3 fused bones

  • Has 21-25 separate caudal vertebrae

  • 13 thoracic

  • Cervical Vertebrae

  • Thoracic Vertebrae

  • Lumbar Vertebrae

  • Sacrum

  • 7 Cervical

Cat Vertebrae

Human Vertebrae

Teeth Venn Diagram

  • Omnicorous dentition pattern

  • 32 teeth

  • 2 incisors on upper and lower jaw

  • 2 premolars on upper jaw

  • 3 molars on upper and lower jaw

  • No gap between canines and premolars

  • 2 sets of molars

  • Carnivorous dentition pattern

  • 30 teeth

  • 3 incisors on upper jaw

  • 3 incisors on lower jaw

  • 3 premolars on upper jaw

  • 1 molar on upper and 1 molar on lower jaw

  • Gap between canines and premolars

  • 1 set of molars

  • 1 Canine upper and lower jaw

  • Molars

  • 2 premolars on lower jaw

  • 2 sets of incisors, premolars, and canines.

Cat Teeth

Human Teeth

Dissection Technique:

Read the dissecting instructions before beginning and become familiar with what you will be looking at. When you have identified the muscle intended for removal, trim the adipose tissue away with fine scissors and forceps. To determine different muscles, look for a change in direction of muscle fibers and if scalpel easily slides between, those are two different muscles. When cutting the muscle, cut at a 90 degree angle to the direction of the muscle fibers and half way between the origin and the insertion. At this point, the muscle can either be removed completely or leave the cut muscle intact with the attachment points to see the relationship with underlying tissues. Another option is to remove muscles from one side of the body to identify underlying tissues and leave the other side attached to see the relationship of tissues. 

Skinning

When skinning your cat, place the cat so that it’s dorsal side is down and the anterior side is up. Make a anterior medial cut from the jaws to the anus. If it is a female cat, cut around the nipples and cut the skin away from the mammary gland. Use blunt dissection to separate the skin from the muscles. Make smaller cuts to remove skin from the rest of the body leaving the skin around the mouth, eyes, ears, and feet.

 

Vocabulary

  • Anterior- towards the front

  • Posterior- towards the back

  • Dorsal- towards the back

  • Ventral- towards the front

  • Lateral- away from the middle

  • Medial- towards the middle

  • Proximal- close to an appendage connection point

  • Distal- away from an appendage connection point

  • Transverse- horizontal

  • Saggittal- middle (doesn’t have to be perfectly symmetrical)

  • Frontal- the front

  • Deep- deeper inside the body

  • Superficial- more outward from the body

  • Superior- higher

  • Inferior- lower

 

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