by Xypher Pino

On October 16, anatomy and physiology students started their first-of-many cat dissection labs. To learn more in-depth detail about the human body systems, specifically the muscular system, students will be examining the cats for the next couple of weeks as there are many similarities between cat and human muscles. 

The objective of this cat dissection lab was to skin the rat and prepare it for future labs. Students did not need to identify any body part nor fill out any worksheet. This might seem like the lab was quick and simple then, but it was far from that. 

To start off the lab, students had to grab a long silver tray and put on some gloves. After students were partnered up and set at their station, professor Jessica Bostic, the anatomy professor leading the lab, started pulling dead cats out of a container. The reactions to professor Bostic as she pulled out the cats varied – some were rightfully disgusted at the sight, and smell, of the chemically-soaked cats while others, such as myself, were very much excited by seeing such humongous cats that were going to be cut up. 

Students had to strategically pick their cat as some cats were much larger than others and had much thicker skin. As you would expect, the larger the cat, the more time one would have to spend to skin the cat. This is not completely a bad thing though as the larger cats would have more visible body parts, making it easier to identify muscles or any other body parts in the future. Those who were up to the challenge of struggling with the cat’s fur took the 18-inch cats while those who wanted to have an easier time leaned towards the 16-inch cats.  

After selecting the cats and placing them laying on their back on the tray, the students now had to grab their dissecting scissors and cut through the cat’s chest region all the way down to their anogenital area. Students had to be careful not to cut too deep as not only would this make it harder to cut through the cat, but that would also result in the muscles being cut, which the student definitely did not want to do. The reason for making these cuts is so that the students can simply just take off the fur, at least from the thoracic region, like a “fur coat,” as professor Bostic herself describes it. 

After dealing with the majority of the fur, students then had to worry about the fur at the limbs of the cat. The process was similar to cutting the fur in the thoracic region, except students had to begin from the axillary area and go all the way to the wrist bones of the cat. After this was completed, students were able to easily take off the cat’s fur so its muscles were now fully exposed. 

There were many ways to remove the fur of the cat, but this was the way that professor Bostic recommended. For example, sophomore Elmer Ventura took a different approach by brute-forcing his way through removing the fur at the limb area, making minimal cuts, “I did the same thing in my rat dissection lab last year. I just found it easier to grab the limbs of the animal and ‘pull it out’ and separate it from the fur. It was still hard though, do not get me wrong, but I thought I was more efficient than the others who decided to cut through the fur.” 

Successfully skinning the cat marked the end of this lab. Students placed their furless cat back from the bag where the cat first came from and handed it to professor Bostic. Professor Bostic then placed the cats in a refrigerator for safe keeping until the next lab. After sanitizing their stations, cleaning up their trays and disposing of any trash, students were free to go and able to escape from the chemical-ridden smell of the lab. 

As a biology major, this lab was very entertaining and interesting. I look forward to our next lab and actually identifying the muscles of the cat. If you are interested in participating in this experience, make sure you register for BIO 2300 next fall semester!