I'm having a real hard time with this section of my course. There is no sympathy to be had by the higher ups. A complaint about animal selection would garner a simple,"perhaps you aren't cut out for pre-med" response. We have 3 human cadavers in the room as well and this does not sit ill with me. Those individuals filled out paperwork donating their bodies to science. Why cats? We don't have such similar muscle anatomy to make it relevant in my mind and why must it be an animal we use as a pet?

You will get through it. It's the only way to learn hands on. They have passed on, their body is just a shell now.

luv4u said:

I'M trying to work with that concept. Its just so morbid to me. Even has caused me to reconsider meat eating. ( Well, seeing human cadavers has... we look so similar. sheds a new perspective shall we say. )

Yikes.

There's no way possible I could do it. But then, I couldn't with humans either.


Sorry, Karen.

Just close your eyes.

What I do is imagine them wearing nothing but their underwear.

Works for me.

mcmeekle said:

No, wait, is that for job interviews?

I don't know if this will make it any easier for you to dissect the cats but here's my justification for it.

Thousands of cats are euthanized every day in shelters because of overpopulation. At least by using these cats for learning purposes, their death perhaps had a bit more meaning. These cats will help you to become a better doctor.

In veterinary school, shelter animals are often used to teach us anatomy and surgery and believe me when I say that it never gets any easier. The only real comfort is that these animals have given their lives so that I can become a better veterinarian and help other animals.

Hope I could help.

My friend had a hard time with the same thing. We had a med program in our high school and she had to dissect baby kittens and small pigs

Karen the first day of lab my instructor was talking about everything we'd be doing this semester and he says in his best groaning voice, "Yes folks we're cutting open cats. I have a cat. I love my cat. Don't bombard me with complaints. If you can't handle it then drop the class."


I thought it was funny.

i did that in high school

There's a simple rule to dissection:

Using a scalpel is scientific; using a chainsaw is gratuitous.

hokie said:

it's funny because it's true.

JasmineFire said:

Yes. I like animals don't get me wrong. But those of us going into the medical field,or like you going to be veterinarians, have to learn somehow. Frankly there is no better way at the moment. I think your way of explaining how to deal with it is a good one.

So I don't know the answer to this...are these shelter cats that have been euthanized? I didn't get if that is what you were saying earlier.

whatever happened to dissecting frogs?

i guess frogs are for intermediate school. (?)

LoyalAndTrue said:

I cut the frogs up in 7th grade.

Fetal pigs in honors biology in 10th.

Cats and sharks in Advanced biology as a senior.

Now in Anatomy and Physiology (college) we're doing cats and apparently humans.

we dissected cats in biology in high school.

hokie said:

ok that makes sense.

it's progressive with the more advanced classes.

horatio said:

I did it for fun as a child.

Cloudbuster said:

I'll never forget having to dissect a cat in college. It didn't bother me at all; and after a few weeks of class and having to do all the dissecting myself because my lab partner was barely there, I learned to enjoy the learning aspect. I made straight A's in that class and always screwed up the curve .

Now, I'm a veterinary technician and what I learned from those labs is something I have to do everyday when I assist in surgeries. If someone is planning on working in any medical profession, than the least terrible thing they are going to have to experience is dissecting a body. It's much harder having to console people who have just lost loved ones, having to watch people die from terminal illnesses or injuries, and having to fight the clock to keep someone who's critical alive, than doing an autopsy (necropsy in my case) will ever be IMO. I believe that the body is just an empty shell once the soul has left; and our souls are what make us who we are; not the body they are housed in.


Just look at the whole experience in a positive way. Dissecting bodies helps doctors learn how to really help people and save lives and it teaches you that death is always going to be a part of life, something that I've seen many people have a hard time accepting.

hokie said:

in most cases the cats and dogs that are used for educational reasons are shelter animals that have been euthanized.

hokie said:

I took Human Anatomy some years ago and dropped the class as soon as I saw that cat in front of me
Karen I hope you're stronger than me

Muse2NOPharaoh said:

Why differentiate between animals? Would you feel better if it were a pig, an animal many people do eat? Sentimentalizing certain species isn't a good idea IMO because it causes us to lose perspective. Cats and dogs are great -but they're not pets to everybody. To some they're food, and to some, they're just another kind of animal.

BTW, practicind dissection on animals that aren't human or similar to humans is simply for the practice. One needs to be good at seperating tissue, and it's easier no doubt to access feline cadavers than human ones.

Besides, it's not like the cats are killed specifically for research purposes.

We did a whole slew of animals in high school biology. My favourite was the baby pigs. My lab partner and I had a little female that we named Sunshine.

i'd have a much easier time dissecting a human than a cat...dont know what that says about me

At least they're not a moving target. The live ones are tricky!

xperience319 said:

You probably watch too much CSI.

I have a cat i can donate to the cause.