"Wait, is that just fat?"

We have finally moved on from the muscular system and have now started the digestive system, a system that I find much more interesting! It is dissected easiest starting by the larynx, throat, and cutting your way towards the legs. While in the chest region, it is important to stay in the center because you will not be able to cut through the ribs with the scissors. Be careful not to cut any of the organs while cutting in the stomach region! Also, some of the ribs might get in the way and it will be helpful to actually cut the ribs so you can open the chest wider.
Once we had completed the cutting, Josh and I opened the cat’s body cavity and started pointing out different organs. However, what we thought was the small intestine was really the mesentery layer. Because our cat had packed on a few extra pounds, the mesentery layer had fat dispersed throughout causing it to look somewhat like the small intestines. Below is a picture of the difference.













After we removed the mesentery layer, we were able to see the small and large intestines. Another interesting thing we noted was how the kidneys are located under the intestines and are covered by a thick layer of connective tissue. The connective tissue connects the kidneys to the backside wall of the cat. Because of the thick connective tissue it was hard to see the kidney, and at first Josh and I thought it looked like our cat had a tumor. But no, it was just the cat’s kidneys.