On the Development of the Feline Skeleton

Abstract

To find precise data about the development of the skeleton of the domestic cat (Felis catus) embryological sections cleared specimens stained for bone and cartilage and radiographs were used (for details see our upcoming publication). The pre‐natal development is characterized by three main phases: the mesenchymal skeleton, already formed around stage 5 (Knospe, 2002) of the cat's development, with the notochord, somites, pharyngeal arches and limb buds, the cartilage skeleton arising during stage 14, and the bony skeleton formed by intramembranous and endochondral ossification from stage 16/17 on. The mesenchymal skeleton survives as periosteum in different ligaments, joint capsules, syndesmoses and inter‐vertebral disks. The cartilage skeleton is reduced up to birth to the epiphyseal and tympanic cartilages, and survives as laryngeal, tracheal, joint, rib, sternal, nasal cartilages and synchondroses. In the newborn cat all primary centres are present, except the carpal and distal tarsal bones, secondary centres aren not established radiographically yet. The secondary and tertiary centres are formed post‐natal from the first week on up to the second year. The results are presented in nine slides showing histological pictures with the main pre‐natal events and schemes of the post‐natal development with the skull, trunk and limb centres and their first appearance.