Skinning, Day Four

9/23/14

Today was the last day Kate and I skinned Semara. We fully removed the skin tissue around Semara’s trunk (body) by disconnecting the skin tissue from her posterior (back) side. This was incredibly easy because the connective tissue came off very easily. At times Kate and I could just peel the skin off without using a scalpel. The skin tissue around Semara’s neck was more difficult to remove because it was thicker than the rest of her skin on her back. The skin on Semara’s head and face was also thicker and quite difficult to remove. Kate and I removed the skin on top of Semara’s head and cut right through her pinnae (ears) but we did not cut off the skin covering her face. It was interesting to see inside Semara’s pinnae (ears) but also a little gross because there was wax inside her ears. After Kate and I finished removing the skin from Semara’s trunk, neck area and head, we went on to remove the skin from her bottom (butt and tail area). Kate and I had to cut around the tail, while being careful not to cut too close to her butt. The skin in this area was easier to remove than the skin around Semara’s neck and face. By the end of class, Kate and I had completed the skinning process, which was the main focus of today. The only skin remaining was the skin tissue covering the tori (paws), tail and face of the cat. Kate and I were also able to take a sample of the skin and look at it under the microcscope. Posted below is a picture of the completed skinning process and the skin sample under the microscope. There is also a close up of the skin removed around Semara’s neck and face.

Skinning, Day Three

9/22/14

Kate and I continued to skin Semara’s forelimbs and her hindlimbs on day three. We continued to use scalpels but at times found it easier to cut the skin tissue off using the scissors, especially when trying to skin the forelimbs around the tori (paws). Kate had some difficulty skinning one of Semara’s forelimbs but this was because her blade had rusted. Because it was a monday, both of our blades had rusted over the weekend, making it difficult to skin Semara. Once we received new blades, we started to make progress. Unfortunately, I accidentally severed the achilles tendon while trying to skin Semara’s hindlimb. I was trying to skin around this tendon but, I was working too quickly and cut right through the achilles tendon. This incident reminded me that I need to be more patient and work at a slower pace to prevent future accidents. I did a cleaner job skinning the forelimb (no accidents). It was pretty exciting to see what the hindlimbs and the forelimbs looked like without skin covering them. By the end of class, Kate and I had skinned both hindlimbs and forelimbs, which was the main focus of today. Posted below are close up pictures of the hindlimbs and forelimbs, and more progress in skinning.

Skinning, Day Two

9/19/14

Today, the main focus was for Kate and I to continue to skin the trunk of our cat and then move on to the forelimbs and hindlimbs. Again, this was done by using a scalpel. As I continued to skin the center of the Semara’s lower abdomen, I stumbled across a small, squishy yellow mass. At first, I thought this mass was just discoloration of the skin or a fat pocket but, as I continued to remove more skin tissue, more of the mass was revealed. I then realized this was not a fat pocket or part of Semara’s skin so, I called over my instructor, Ms. McKinney. Ms. McKinney immediately knew that this mass was a perforated a bowel. A perforated bowel is when a hole develops in the wall of the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large bowel, rectum or gallbladder. Semara had perforation of the intestine, which causes the contents of the intestines to leak into the abdominal cavity, causing her immediate death. A perforated bowel may start out as an infection that won’t kill you right away, but once a specific organ leaks into the abdominal cavity (for example the intestines), that will cause immediate death without proper treatment (surgery). It was upsetting to hear that Semara’s cause of death was a perforated bowel because that is a very painful condition. Though this was very painful, I’m glad that Semara died of natural causes. By the end of class, Kate and I had removed the remaining skin tissue from Semara’s pelvic area, inner thighs and outer thighs. Kate also had begun to skin Semara’s right forelimb and was almost finished. Posted below are a few pictures of Semara’s perforated bowel which also display how much skinning progress Kate and I made since the previous day.

Skinning, Day One

9/18/14

     Today, Kate and I skinned Semara for the first time; it was also both our first time using a scalpel. The proper way to use the scalpel, was to delicately cut using the tip of the blade; using too much force would have cut through the muscle tissue or even the cat’s internal organs. Kate and I also learned the proper way to remove and apply new blades. At first I was nervous about injuring myself with the scalpel but, within minutes, I quickly picked up the pace and was able to work more efficiently. In order to remove the skin, my lab partner and I had to cut through the connective tissue, which looked like tiny white spider webs. The connective tissue was extremely easy to cut through but, we had to be careful not to remove any muscle tissue while skinning. Luckily, neither I nor my lab partner damaged the muscle tissue or any internal organs.
     The main focus of today was to remove the skin from the neck down as well as become comfortable with using a scalpel. Kate started to skin Semara by her neck and I started by the pelvic area. I had to work slower than Kate because it was harder to find the connective tissue due to the difference in Semara’s muscle tissue’s texture and color by her hind legs and pelvic area. The skin began to come off more easily once I had removed a larger section. By the end of class, my lab partner and I had removed all the skin from her chest, abdominal region, and left side of pelvic area. Nothing was significantly wrong was found with Semara. Posted below are a few pictures from today’s work, which show Semara’s skin tissue disconnected from her muscle tissue.

External Observations

9/17/14

The external observation indicates the cat’s general health and helps indicate how the cat may have died. For example, If the cat has a broken bone, it may have been hit by a car; If the cat is covered in flies and has hair loss, it may not have been in ideal living conditions. In order to perform an external observation, I had to put on gloves, a protective mask and an apron. Because my cat, Semara, came in a bag, my lab partner, Kate, and I had to carefully remove her from the bag by using scissors to cut after the heat sealed plastic area. This was slightly difficult because Kate and I had to remove Semara without spilling any of the fluids within the bag onto the floor or the lab table. After Semara was removed from the bag, we then performed an external procedure which included checking and locating the head, eyes, third eye lid, pinnae (ears), mouth, nares (nose and nostrils), philtrum (the skin in between the nose and the upper lip), vibrissae (the whiskers on the upper lip and philtrum area), neck, trunk (body), forelimbs, hindlimbs, teats and tori (paws). I found it interesting to perform the external observations because it gave me a better understanding of my cat. Kate and I actually noticed that one of Semara’s legs may have been broken. Also Semara had two shaved spots on her sides near her hind limbs. We believe this is because she had an ultrasound done to get a better understanding of her kidneys, which leads Kate and I to conclude that there may be a problem with her kidneys. This external observation was successful and nothing sufficiently wrong was found which is relieving. Posted below are several pictures of the cat where her different bodies parts are clearly labeled and able to be seen (The third eyelid is labeled as “eyelid”). There is also a picture showing the incision lines (where the cat will be cut with the scalpel).

Introduction

Hello and welcome to my blog! Within this blog I will be documenting the fascinating anatomy of my cat named Semara. She was a gorgeous black cat that will now be noticed by her internal beauty. Hope you are able to learn a lot about her anatomy and enjoy this exciting experience!