Jinx's Loses a Few Pounds

In our first lab, our goal was to remove any excess fat, or adipose tissue, on our cat and locate a few key muscles. Before we get started there are a few key terms that you should know prior to dissecting a cat. First, the tools we use are scissors, which are a smaller version of normal scissors; a probe, which has a circular thin, metal piece to poke things; a knife, which is very dull; and tweezers, for the hard to reach areas. Also, connective tissue will be seen in almost every system of the body. Connective tissue is a thin layer of white to clear colored material that connects skin to muscles, muscles to muscles, muscles to organs, muscles to bones, organs to organs, and just about anything else that could be connected to something else. You will soon realize that connective tissue is hard to remove and is extremely annoying.
While removing fat might sound like a simple task, you should take a look at our over-fed, very voluptuous cat. Josh and I spent a good hour of the lab just removing fat from Jinx’s stomach. Removing the big chunks was pretty easy; however, the thin layer that covers our cat’s entire body was a little more difficult. In order to remove the thin layer of fat as well as the connective tissue without damaging the cat’s muscles, one must use the probe and rub back and forth with a great amount of pressure until the thin layer is no longer visible. It is important to use the probe because it will not cut the muscle.



When differentiating muscles, it is important to remember that all muscles are made up of individual muscle fibers. The fibers are small; however, you can see with the naked eye what direction the muscle fibers are running. For example, in the picture above you see the pectoralis major and the pectoralis minor and the only way to see the difference is by looking at where the muscle fibers change direction. It is very important that all the connective tissue is removed or else you will not be able to see the muscle differentiation. This link shows a good example of removal of the connective tissue. (scroll down to the bottom of the page to see the connective tissue)