The butt and legs Day 7

Focus question: Which muscles are found in the butt and legs' area?

Location: Butt and legs area. Specific muscles listed in data section.

Procedure:

1. take out cat
2. Find page in cat booklet which covers the location
3. Make an incision in the gluteus maximus area
4. search for the muscles in this area
5. Make an incision of the legs
6. search for muscles contained in the legs

Data collected
The muscles in the butt and leg were found. These muscles included the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, tensor fasciae latae, Sartorius, vastus lateralis, gastrocnemius, biceps femoris, semitendinosus, soleus, calcaneal tendon, peroneus, gracillus, extensor digitorum longus, tibialis anterior, adductor longus, adductor femoris, vastus lateralis, rectus femoris, and semimembranosus.

Conclusion

The legs required a lot of work to locate all of the muscles. There were muscles inside of muscles and those muscles were were inside of other muscles. The leg of a human and cat are similar in this way as they are set up in a similar way. The butts of both are different. It is going to be exciting, yet confusing to learn because they are all in close proximity and work together to help movement of the same area.

The back Day 7

Focus question: What muscles will be shown in the back?

Location: The back which includes the clavodeltoid, rhomboideus, levator scapulae ventralis, rhomboideus capitis, infraspinatus, supraspinatus, spinotrapezius, latissimus dorsi, and the spinalis dorsi.

Procedure:

1. take out cat
2. Find page in cat booklet which covers the location
3. Take scalpel and locate all the muscles in the back (mentioned in location)

Materials

1. Cat
2. Booklet
3. apron
4. gloves
5. mask
6. scalpel 

Conclusion

All the muscles were found that were needed to be seen. All of those muscles are listed in the location section above. Most of the muscles were found directly under the shoulder blade or right near the latissimus Dorsi. All the muscles are located within the location. The muscles are located underneath the clavo deltoid or under the bone, the clavicle.

The shoulder and forelimb Day 6

Focus question: What major muscles make up the forelimb and are located behind the shoulder blade?

Location: Muscles found in the shoulder and forelimb. Specific muscles listen in the data section.

Procedure:

1. take out cat
2. Find page in cat booklet which covers the location
3. remove the very thin layer of fat covering the first muscle shown
4. separate the four muscles next to each other on the arm
5. observe muscles in the back of the shoulder

Materials

1. Cat
2. Booklet
3. apron
4. gloves
5. mask
6. scalpel

Data collected

There are many muscles that make up the arm on the cat. We found all the muscles necessary that are involved with the shoulder and forelimb. The muscles found were the clavobrachialis, biceps brachii, pectoantebrachialis, pectoralis major, epitrochlearis, pronator Teres, flexor Capri ulnaris, palmaris longus, brachioradialis, extensor Capri radialis longus, and flexor Capri. The human muscles are more diverse and spread out. The clavobrachialis is around the shoulder blade and above the clavicle. From there on under the clavobrachialis. All of these muscles were found in the shoulder on the forelimb.

Conclusion

It was hard determining all of the muscles of the shoulder and the forelimb. These are where most of the muscles we have seen together on the cat. This part was not the worst part of dissecting. 

Dissecting the Abdomen Day #4 & #5

Focus question: What muscles will be displayed in the abdomen? What will they look like?

Location: Locating latissimus dorsi, rectus abdominus, external and internal obliques, transverse abdominus and the linea alba

Procedure:

1. Remove cat from bag
2. Turn booklet to the page which documents muscles in abdominal region
3. Make abdominal incision right under the ribcage
4. Separate the two layers of the muscle layers
5. locate muscles named in the 'location' section of the entry

Materials used:

1. Cat
2. Booklet
3. apron
4. gloves
5. mask
6. scalpel

Data Collected:
The latissimus dorsi was by far, the easiest muscle to locate due to its length. It is lateral to the erector spinae, in the back near the shoulder blades. The external and internal obliques are attached together and are very thin. The linea alba is the white, very clear lining that runs from underneath the nipple straight down over the abdominal muscles. The striations of the transverse abdominus showed that the muscle was under the internal obliques.

Conclusion:

The abdominal muscles were easier to locate than the chest muscles were. All of the muscles were more distinguishable. This section was definitely better than the chest muscles. It was less confusing and more open than the chest. The latissimus Dorsi, Rectus abdominus, external and internal obliques, transverse abdominus and the lines alba 

Deep cuts of the chest Day #1 & #2

Focus question: What will help distinguish each of the muscles from each other?

Location
Found in the chest cavity; pectoantebrachialis, pectoralis major, pectoralis minor, xiphihumeralis, serratus ventralis, and exterior intercostals

Procedure

1. Take the cat out of the bag
2. Open booklet to corresponding page for today's activity
3. Locate first incision made previously
4. Make deeper cuts in order to locate muscles mentioned in the 'location' section of this entry

Materials used:

1. Cat
2. Booklet
3. apron
4. gloves
5. mask
6. scalpel

Data Collected:

The cut initially made was deepened today. Two days were spent on locating all of the chest muscles successfully.

Conclusion:
Today was an interesting day for dissection as I was taken aback by how many layers there were before truly reaching the muscle. Although the layer separating the skin and muscle was considerably thin, I expected the muscle to be almost directly under all of the layers we had already take off. However, once all the excess layers had been removed, the muscles were much more easily distinguished. This was due to the different striations running in different angles and directions. By comparing the much less visible striations than those depicted in the booklet, my partner and I were able to eventually differentiate each of the muscles from what had previously seemed as if it was one very large muscle.

First Incision into the chest

Focus Question: How thin should the first incision be in order to reveal the muscles effectively?

Location: Incision starts from the middle of the chest directly under the collarbone and cut until the forelimb.

Procedure:

1. Take out the cat
2. Locate the area where first incision should be made using booklet
3. Use scalpel to make incision

Materials:

1. Cat
2. Booklet
3. apron
4. gloves
5. mask
6. scalpel

Data Collected:
Minimal data was collected today. The initial incisions made into the layer that covered the muscles were very thin. This insured the muscles underneath were not cut, thus damaging the tissue for later observation.

Conclusion:
The first incision made into the layer under the skin was an overall different experience than the one I was used to when skinning the cat. The skin was relatively thick and required a lot less skill than the layer we had to cut through today. However, I liked working on this layer more than the skin because of the lack of fur. The presence of fur when making incisions makes the entire process considerably messier. This was a welcome change.

Skin microscope day #1

Skinning Day #4

Focus question: Should removing the skin from the neck be handled differently from the rest of the body?

Location
Finishing off the skinning on the back and effectively removing the skin entirely from the muscle.

Procedure

1. Put our masks, gloves and aprons on
2. Take cat out of back room
3. Take cat out of bag 
4. Drain cat
5. Place on bin cover
6. Take out the scalpels and check to make sure the blade is on securely
7. Finish removing skin from muscle
8. After incisions have been made, clean scalpel off and place back in the kit
9. Place cat back in bag after removing stray hairs which have come off due to the incision
10. Clean off cover of the bin in the sink
11. Place cat bag in bin and and put bin in the back room
12. Wash hands

Materials

1. apron
2. masks
3. gloves
4. cat bin
5. kit
6. scalpels

Data collected

The skin around the stomach region comes off much more easily. The skin around the neck is very tough and hard to cut through. There are many visible veins all around the muscle that is now exposed.

Conclusion

We finally finished entirely skinning our cat today. I really got desensitized to skinning the cat by the end of the process which made the entire thing easier. The cat had to be drained again today because the excess liquid had gathered up underneath the space that was now present between it's back skin and back muscle. I did not enjoy the process of draining the liquid again. Honestly, the wet cat thing really does bother me but once I start making incisions, I start focusing on just the skin or just the muscle individually which makes the whole thing much easier. The neck incision required more strength instead of the usual careful cutting I have become accustomed to when skinning.

Skinning Day #3 (Skinning of the ears and removal of the face skin)

Was it difficult to cut off the ears?

Location
Making incision around scalp area and cutting off pinnae in the process.

Procedure

1. Put our masks, gloves and aprons on
2. Take cat out of back room
3. Take cat out of bag and place on bin cover
4. Take out the scalpels and check to make sure the blade on securely
5. Make incision around head including the pinnae and coming around from the initial incision already found in the neck
6. Removing remaining skin from muscle
7. After dissection has been completed, clean scalpel off and place back in the kit
8. Place cat back in bag after removing stray hairs which have come off due to the incision
9. Clean off cover of the bin in the sink
10. Place cat bag in bin and and put bin in the back room
11. Wash hands

Materials

1. apron
2. masks
3. gloves
4. cat bin
5. kit
6. scalpels

Data collected

The ears were tough coming off. there was so much muscle connected to the ear and cutting through all of it was tedious work. The ears are made up of muscle and cartilage and there was only some connective tissue so it was hard to distinguish the muscle and cartilage.

Conclusion 

The ears had ball like cartilage and muscle attached to the skin. I wish we could keep the ears and try to dissect within the ball-like sac on the skin that was cut off. This part of skinning took the longest time and most concentration to skin just the ears and nothing more.

Skinning Day #2

Focus question: Was it easy to remove the skin from muscle?

Location

Making an incision which crosses the first incision going from one hind limb to the other in the stomach region. Make another incision across the forelimbs. Make incision around all four paws to take skin off of limbs.

Procedure

1. Put our masks, gloves and aprons on
2. Take cat out of back room
3. Take cat out of bag and place on bin cover
4. Take out the scalpels and check to make sure the blade on securely
5. Start the incision on the left side of the hind legs and work way across stomach region
6. Start to remove skin from muscle
7. After incisions have been made, clean scalpel off and place back in the kit
8. Place cat back in bag after removing stray hairs which have come off due to the incision
9. Clean off cover of the bin in the sink
10. Place cat bag in bin and and put bin in the back room
11. Wash hands

Materials

1. apron
2. masks
3. gloves
4. cat bin
5. kit
6. scalpels

Data collected
The cut in the abdominal region was much easier. The skin was not nearly as tough as it was around the neck. As we started to move aside the skin from the actual muscle, the differences of the two colors could be found, as the skin was noticeably more white while the muscle was more pink. The thing connecting the muscle to the skin is a white web-like structure which can be sliced through easily.

Conclusion
Today, I was taken aback by how easily the skin moved aside from the muscle. I think I did the cuts on the cat well since I didn't cut into the muscle very much. However, I did end up going over the cut a few times on the abdominal region since it did not slice immediately. Today's incision was much easier to do as we did not need to hold our cat's arm back in order to effectively reach the abdominal area.The cat is still soaked which I personally find disgusting but I'm learning to move past it more and more each day. However, when we flipped the cat over to do some of the skinning on the back, some of the liquid almost leaked on to me. Today, my allergies were making the dissection more difficult than usual. On the bright side, the skin is almost off on our cat!

Skinning Day #1

Focus question: What measures must be taken when making an incision in order to not harm the muscle?

Location:

Making an incision from the middle lower neck, through the middle of the body all to the area between the hind limbs. A thin cut was made in order to not cut the muscles of the cat in the process.

Procedure:

1. Put our masks, gloves and aprons on
2. Take cat out of back room
3. Take cat out of bag and place on bin cover
4. Take out the scalpels and check to make sure the blade on securely
5. Start the incision on the neck
6. After first incision has been made, clean scalpel off and place back in the kit
7. Place cat back in bag after removing stray hairs which have come off due to the incision
8. Clean off cover of the bin in the sink
9. Place cat bag in bin and and put bin in the back room
10. Wash hands

Materials

1. apron
2. masks
3. gloves
4. cat bin
5. kit
6. scalpels

Data collected

The cut was very easy. The neck area was considered strong and thick. The area near the neck was a hard cut at first but as the first incision started going through the middle of the bod, there seemed to be no fat tissue. Because of the minimal padding provided by the skinny cat, the incision had to be made carefully in order to prevent any cut to the muscle.

Conclusion:
My first thought when making the incision in the cat was the surprise at how tough the skin was. I truly was not expecting it, and was expecting more of a butter-like consistency when slicing into it instead of the tough resistance my blade met. I also was not expecting so much fur to come off with the cut and for the skin to be so easy to distinguish from muscle. A challenge my partner and I faced when making the incision was effectively holding back the cat's maimed arm.

External Observations

The external observations revealed that  the cat appeared to have a broken spine or shoulder which caused the cat's left arm to slant toward the right side of the body. The cat's eyes are open with the pupils facing in opposite directions. It does not appear to have much fat tissue which should make dissection easier.

Procedure:

1. gather all supplies (gloves, apron, mask)
2. pick a number out of the bag (#11)
3. go into the back room to retrieve cat which corresponds with number
4. take cat out of bin and place bin under work station
5. cut the bag open using scissors directly under the heat seal
6. drain excess liquids in bag into the sink
7. once drained, take cat out of bag
8. place cat on bin cover
9. observe cat
10. once finished, return cat into bag and bin and clean work station 

Materials

1. gloves
2. apron
3. masks
4. scissors
5. notebook
6. pencil
7. Ipad

Data collected

• the third eyelid was a grayish white
• both ears are in good condition
• teeth are not chipped and appear sharp
• the right nose seems to be clogged while the left is clear
• the spine and left shoulder are broken and completely off from the normal structure of the body
• both pupils of the eyes are facing different directions
• female cat
• most likely has been run over

Conclusion

Honestly, my first reaction to the cat was disgust. When I held the cat while it was still in the bag, I felt relief that the cats didn't smell as bad as I expected. That was when I realized that once the bags were cut open, the real smell would be unleashed. Curiously, the fact that the cat was wet disgusted me more than the fact that it was dead. I also did not like the fact that there was a clear disadvantage in our future conquests since this cat was incapable of remaining in the proper position. The fact that I was allergic to cats didn't put me at ease either as my allergies kicked in rather quickly. Also, I would have preferred if the cat's eyes were closed instead of open and staring in opposite directions. Overall, I did not consider this a pretty cat. However, there was interest present in my reaction as well. After all, this is the first time it has been acceptable to examine a dead animal at such close proximity. It was interesting to examine the teeth and pads up close whereas, if the cat had been alive instead, such observations would have been close to impossible.