Four Entries on the Muscles

Entry One: Exploring the Chest 

Focus Question: What muscles are in the chest of the cat? 

Procedure: For this dissection, we cut our cat along the medial line.  Then we cut her chest muscles, the dotted lines below show the incision. 

We also cut another incision below the pectoralis minor. 

 

Materials Used: We used the scapels and booklet to help us cut the cat. We also used an iPhone to take pictures. 

Data/Observation: 

Human Muscles 

Reflection: During the dissection of the chest muscles, I learned that the cat and human aren't super similar.  The cat has muscles like the pectoantebrachialis and the Xiphihumeralis. The cat's Serratus Veratus is synonymous to the human's Serratus Anterior. The actual dissection of the muscles was a little tricky.  We were really careful because we didn't want to cut too deep. The Serratus Ventralis and the External Intercostals were also a little confusing because we thought the Serratus Ventralis was too thick when we cut it. 

Entry Two: Seeing the Abdomen 

Focus Question: What muscles are in the abdomen of the cat? 

Procedure: The first step we took before dissecting was cutting off the mammary tissue. After we cleaned that up, we saw the linea alba and the exterior oblique. We then cut along the dotted line that can be seen in the picture below. 

Materials Used: The materials used were scapels, the book with instructions on how to cut, and an iPhone(for pictures.) 

Data/Observation: 

Human Muscles: 

Reflection: In this dissection, we looked at the abdomen muscles. At first, we couldn't see any of the muscles because Oreo had a lot of mammary tissue. After we cut that off, we were finally able to see her muscles. While dissecting, I learned that the cat and human have the same muscles in the abdomen area. I also learned that underneath the External and Internal Oblique muscles are the Transverse Abdominus.  I also learned that the Linea Alba is really thin. While dissecting, I thought that the Linea Alba was just a lot of connective tissue. I also thought that the Rectus Abdominus couldn't be seen in any of the pictures, so I decided to draw it. I know that it is under the Linea Alba. 

Entry Three: Visting the Muscles of the Forearm, Arm, Back, and Shoulder 

Focus Question: What are the muscles of the forearm, arm, back, and shoulder? 

Procedure: For this part, we cut along the incision lines shown in the pictures below. 

Materials Used: For this dissection, we used scapels, the booklet, and an iPhone. 

Data/Observation: 

Human Muscles:

Reflection: In this part of the dissection, I learned that the ventral and dorsal of the forearms are different form each other. I initially thought they were the same muscles. I also thought it was interesting how the cat had more muscles than the human since we only have one trapezius and deltoid. I think the shoulder and back were probably the hardest part of dissecting this section. 

Entry Four: Discovering the Leg and Thigh Muscles

Focus Question: What are the muscles of the legs and thighs?

Procedure: We cut along the dotted lines in the pictures below. 

Materials Used: We continued using the book, the scapels, and an iPhone. 

Data/Observation:

Human Muscles:

Reflection: The leg muscles were a little confusing but we did most of it by looking at the book. I think the most confusing part was figuring out the superficial muscles. I also felt like dissecting was easier. 

Observation and Skinning

Wednesday: What does external observation show?

Today we observed our cat by using our hands, eyes, brains, and an iPhone.  We mainly looked all over Oreo and checked different parts of her body.  We discovered that she has a really deep cut in her chest and neck area because the company made a really deep incision before sending her to us.  We used gloves, scapels, masks, and aprons in order to observe our cat. 

Reflection: I was really scared to hold Oreo without the bag around her.  I thought it was also gross so I felt uncomfortable at first.  After a while though, it stopped being gross and uncomfortable and started to enjoy it.  I liked trying to find the different parts of her body.  I think putting Oreo back in the bag could have been improved because we spilled a lot of cat juice everywhere. 

Below are pictures. 

Above, is a full view of Oreo.  We tried putting her in anatomical position, but she's a little difficult! 

Above is Oreo's head(and lots of cat juice in the background...)

Above is Oreo's eye.  The white part inside is her third eyelid.  Her eyes are hard to pry open!

Here is one of Oreo's ear or one of her pinnae.  It's upside down in the picture and there's again, lots of cat juice! 

Here is Oreo's mouth(thank you Ms. McKinney for opening it up for us!).  Oreo's mouth is super hard to open but there are her teeth!  One of her tori is also in the picture. 

Here is another picture of her teeth! 

In this picture, there is Oreo's nares(nose), her philtrum and her tongue! 

This a shot of her vibrissae, they're pretty diffcult to see. 

Here is Oreo's neck.  There's a really deep cut. 

Here is her body or trunk. 

In this picture, there are the forelimbs and tori. 

Here are Oreo's hindlimbs. 

Oreo has 8 teats!!! 

Here's another picture of her hindlimbs and her little cat butt!

Thursday: Skinning 

Focus Question:  How do you use a scapel?

Today, we learned how to use the scapels.  We put Oreo on the lid and cut below her chest.  We used gloves, scapels, masks, and aprons in order to skin our cat. 

Reflection:  I thought using the scapel was scary because I make lots of mistakes!  I'm afraid I'll cut the wrong part of her body.  I think I could improve on cutting the connective tissue. 

Below is a picture of where we cut her skin.  The red dots represent the cut. 

Friday: Skinning Continued 

Focus Question: Is there anything wrong with Oreo?

Today we continued skinning.  We continued using the scapels and practiced using them. We also discovered part of Oreo's muscle was cut off which makes skinning diffcult.  We used gloves, masks, and aprons as well in order to skin our cat. 
Conclusion/Reflection:  I think I could do better on skinning.  I still think it's hard and confusing, but cutting is getting a little easier.  I feel scared still about making a cut too deep.  Oreo's arm is also a little difficult to cut because of how her chest was initially cut but that's okay! 

Below is the same picture as above, but the blue shows how far we cut today and skinned. 

Monday: Some More Skinning 

Focus Question: How Far Can We Skin today?

Today, we continued using the scapels along with the appropriate attire of gloves, masks, and aprons. Today was long period, so our main focus was to skin as much of Oreo as possible.  Rima finished the right arm and I continued cutting down the abdominal region as well as continuing the left arm. 

Reflection:  I think Oreo has a lot of mammary tissue and it was a little gross and weird to look at but also really cool.  Unlike Friday, we learned that there was a rally large chunk of mammary tissue not muscle that was cut. 

Below is the picture of how far we got, the green is the incisions made today. 

Tuesday: Skinning Continued (Again)

Focus Question: How to the Skin the Legs? 

Today we reached the legs and finished skinning almost all of Oreo!  For procedure and materials we cut Oreo using scapels just like the other days and we also had on our gear. 

Reflection:  I thought pulling off Oreo's back was a lot harder than it seemed! 

Below are the incisions we made, the purple dots are today's incisions. 

Wednesday: Skinning the Face 

Focus Question: How do you skin the face? 

Procedure: Using the scapel, we cut a line on the back of Oreo's skull and we cut a circle around her eyes and mouth.  We then cut her ears off.  

Reflection:  I thought cutting her ear was unexpectedly really hard.  Cutting Oreo's ears off also made me feel a little bad.

Below is a picture of the incisions we made. 

Below is also a microscopic skin sample, there aren't many bubbles but there are many hairs! 

Below is a picture of Oreo skinned and some parts of her that were probably areas for me. 

Below is a picture of the back of Oreo's head and her back.