Today we focused our time on finding the superficial thoracic muscles on the back of the cat. We cleared most of the fat and fascia. My partner exposed the latissimus dorsi which is positioned along the sides of the body. Next I identified the spinotrapezius and the acromiotrapezius by making incisions around the border to make them visually noticeable. However, I did make a minor mistake during the dissection, where I misidentified the acromiotrapezius as fat, and I accidentally cut a small hole through the muscle. Finally for the clavotrapezius, we had to cut some of the skin off from the head to get a clearer view of the muscle. After isolating each muscle, we removed any excess fasica to improve visibility.

In the first two classes of dissection, I didn't get very far due to the extensive amount of fat on the cat and our time was dedicated to carefully removing excess fat and fascia to reveal all the underlying muscles. However, today we made great progress in exposing them. After most of the fat was gone, we used the forceps to remove the fascia, ensuring that we get a clearer view of the pectoral region and all the muscle fibers stay intact. The pectoantebracialis was a bit harder to spot since it has a thin strap-like structure. My other group member successfully revealed the xiphihumeralis and the pectoralis minor, it was quite easy to distinguish. Just beneath the pectoantebracialis is the pectoralis major, we found this by spreading the cat's limbs to find the muscle.

For today's class, we found all the muscles for the superficial shoulder. We started from removing some the fat and fascia with forceps and dissection scissors so we can identify the muscle tissues. I focused on finding the acromiodeltoid(small triangular muscle), levator scapulae (lies along the side of the neck.) and spinodeltoid (near the upper back) by adjusting the cat's arms to determine the boundaries of each muscle tissue. We found the levator scapulae by following the line from the top of the shoulder blade and along the neck. My partner identified the clavobrachialis in Dane Time, it is located in the upper forelimb.

During class today, me and my partner discovered most of the muscles together, including the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres major and subscapularis. My partner worked on removing all the fat and fascia to make the muscles more visible and to obtain a clearer image. Since the fat was really thick, she had to rely on dissecting scissors and forceps to cut through the fat. She also identified the rhomboideus capitis(which is located on the back of the neck), rhomboideus cervicis(cervical region) and rhomboideus thoracis (upper back region).

Today I worked on finding the spinalis dorsi and longissimus dorsi. I used the scalpel and dissecting scissors to remove all the extra fat. There was a ton of fascia located on top of the muscles, so I had to use the forceps to carefully remove it. However, we had trouble locating the serratus ventralis. We had to call for help from Ms.Cochran. I observed how much of the fat she removed to find the serratus ventralis. It was a lot. But in the end, we did successfully find all the required parts.

Today we focused on finding the superficial abdominal and deep anterior thoracic muscles. Again, we had to remove a layer of fat in order to reveal the muscles hidden underneath. I worked on finding the rectus abdominos and transverse costarum. The rectus abdominos is a long straight muscle that is located in the middle of the abdomen. Finding the transerverse costarum was a bit more trickier, it took a lot of patience. After doing some careful dissection, I eventually found it. My partners worked on removing the fat and finding the external oblique, which wasn't too hard for them.

Today, I went to Dane Time to work on this section of the cat. At first, I didn't know where to begin since my partners weren't there to help me, but as I took of a layer of fat- everything started coming back together. The gluteus medius was the first muscle that I found, It was quite easy to locate since there was a distinct line running along it. Next I found the gluteus maximus, it's a very thin muscle. Finally the caudofemoralis took a long time to figure out where it was located, but once I found it, I started carefully separating each glute muscle.

In today's class, we focused on identifying the superficial and deep thigh muscles. I worked on finding the sartorius and gracilis muscles, which were a little hard to spot. But later on, distinctions became more clearer, the sartorius is stretched across the front of the thigh and the gracilis most of the inner thigh. For the biceps femoralis, we had to ask for help since the fat was attached to the muscles. I observed how Ms.Cochran carefully reflected the biceps femoralis and got rid of most of the fat. Next my partner easily spotted the semitendinosus, semimembranosus and sciatic nerve. These are located on the back of the thigh. Finally my other partner focused on finding the abductors. These are located on the inner thigh.

After locating the superficial and deep thigh muscles, we now focused on finding the quadriceps complex. These were a bit tricky to find, so we searched up images on the internet to help us locate the muscle. My partner removed some of the fat and fasica and was able to uncover the muscles. She found the vastus lateralis, this muscle is very thick. Next she found the rectus femoris which is found in the middle of vastus lateralis and vastus medialis. Finally the vastus medialis was located towards the inner part of the thigh. It was the smallest compared to the other two.

Date:02/25/25

Today in Dane Time 1, I dedicated my time to finding the gastrocnemius and tibialis cranialis. I started with the tibialis cranialis which is located on the front of the shin. The fascia was hard to remove since it was attached to the muscle, but I removed most of it. The muscle was well defined, making it easier to locate it. Next I worked on the gastrocnemius, this muscle was more thicker. I was able to isolate this muscle with the scalpel. After the shank, I worked on some of the superficial and deep brachium muscles in dane time 1.

Date: 02/25/25

Today in Dane Time 2, I found the triceps lateral head and triceps long head. I started with the triceps lateral head which was smaller than the long head. This made it easy to differentiate since they were so prominent. Next, the long head is the largest part of the triceps and located just above the triceps lateral head. It runs along from the scapula and helps with minor shoulder movement. I used the scalpel and dissection scissors to find these muscles.

In class, me and my partner worked on finding the brachialis and the biceps brachii. Reflecting the clavobrachialis toward the cranium was quite tricky, but we managed to do it. Under that muscle, we found the biceps brachii. Next on the list was the brachialis, we observed how brachioradialis was running along the muscle and how it was connected. So, we found a muscle that connects with the brachioradialis, which is the brachialis.

After working on the Shank and the Superficial and Deep Brachium, I focused on completing the Superficial Antebrachium. I began by removing the overlying fat and fascia to reveal the muscle underneath. The very first muscle that I found was the brachioradials, this runs along the forearm. Next I found the ECRL and ECRB, which are located right next to each other. The EDC was very prominent in the forearm, so it was quite easy to differentiate between EDC and EDL. The ECU helps extend the wrist and this is located near the ulna. This is where I left off in Dane Time 2.

In class, my partner worked on the last 3 muscles: FDP, FDS, and FCU. There was a ton of fat on the flexor digitorum profundus so it was tricky to isolate at first. However, my partner used the tweezers and the scissors to remove all of it. Next she located the FDS which lies just below the FCU, this required careful dissection. Finally, FCU lies in between the FDP and FDS and the structure was quite big so it was easy to differentiate between all the other muscles.