Thursday, July 9, 2009
Pregnant Cat!
Next, began the process of opening the uterine horns.
We found out the lumps inside were mainly composed of placenta. A little internet research let us know that feline placentas are a little different than human placentas. The feline placenta surrounds the whole embryo and helps it anchor the embryo in its position in the uterine tube.
Below, the embryo is exposed, but is still inside its amniotic sac. Our research indicated that the mother was probably 2-3 weeks into an 8.5 week pregnancy. Compare this picture to an ontogeny diagram like the one Ernst Haekel created (fraudulently...but your going to have to do your own Google search for that story).
In the final photo the placenta and sac have been removed from the embryo. We have identified where the eye is forming under the skin.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Whaddya mean, I gotta learn all this stuff?
After nearly a week working on the muscular system we finally cut in to the abdominal cavity of our cats. The liver, stomach, small and large intestines were readily visible. Hidden or more difficult to find a this point are the reproductive organs and the urinary system.
JP holds a kidney he and Titus just removed from their cat.
Here is the same kidney bisected.And, in what has become part of the daily ritual with our cats, DeMarco sprays his cat with Carosafe. We use the preservative mainly to keep the cats from drying out. The muscles start to get sinewy after being exposed to the air for this long. Additionally, it helps prevent any rot or mold from happening.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Feline Day 3
As always, click on the photo for a more detailed view.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Introducing Doctor Dissector
Beware, and by all means be safe!
Muscle identification
I think many of us are just starting to understand what an in-depth process the cat dissection is going to be. There is so much to learn!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
There is more than one way to skin a cat
Quindarryl makes his first incision precisely.
Kenny and Ariane work carefully to not cut deeper than the dermis. The goal is to keep all the muscles in pristine condition. We have a lot of muscle to find and don't want them hacked up.
Most of the pink tissue you can see in this photo is not meat (aka muscle tissue). It is most likely fat. You will also notice the well developed mammillary pappillae, or teats, on this cat. We suspect that she was pregnant and near her delivery date at the time of death. This cat will probably provide an interesting dissection opportunity.
Fin!
Monday, June 22, 2009
An article from resident blogger Amanda Reed
Now we are in the third week of 5th term and our last dissection is a cat. Not little cats, but very large cats. Mr. Shields only laughed when I complained about the pigs because the cats were even worst. The smell was the worst, then comes the actually cat itself. There was no way I could last in this class for two more weeks so I was assigned to be the blogger and take pictures. Today is the first day with the cats. The teams are skinning today and getting to know their cats personally. And we found out that one of our cats is pregnant! This was a surprise to everyone, even Mr. Shields. That’s all for today!
I’ll keep you posted on all the good news within these last two weeks!
(A note from Mr. Shields: Don’t kid yourselves. Amanda will be doing more than blogging. Don’t take a dissection class if you don’t want to dissect!)
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Day 1 - Introduction to microscopes
Day 2 - Physical Exam & Dissection
If you don't tie them down they might get away!
After we lifted the chest plate off, each group removed the chest cavity organs. Each organ was then separated, weighed, and described. We cut the heart into a saggital section and examined the chambers and heart valves. We eventually compared the fetal heart to a full sized pig heart. Adult pig hearts are enormous!
Each group cut a cross section of the lung and observed the the small bronchioles that deliver air to the deepest recesses of the lung.
Final Steps
With all the preservative fluids emptied out, our pigs were much skinnier than when we began. We soon learned that a few in the class were not destined for careers as surgeons. Some of our post mortem stitching seemed to resemble the work of Dr. Frankenstein. (Pictures have been omitted to protect the identities and egos!)