Comparison of Back and Loin Locomotor Bony Structures in Cat (Felis domestica) and Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus): (Thoracic and Lumbar Vertebrae

This study investigated the comparative bony features of the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae of cat and rabbit. It was carried out on adult apparently healthy New Zealand twenty rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) (two groups, 10 for each) and ten domestic cats (Felis domestica) of both sexes. Three-dimensional Computed Tomography was performed on the back and loin regions after anesthesia of both species using multi-slices CT system, followed by preparation of thoracic and lumbar vertebrae. Different measurements were taken and statistically analyzed for the vertebral structures of both species. The number of thoracic (T) and lumbar (L) vertebrae was 13/7 in cat while in rabbit was 13T/7L in 65% and 12T/7L in 35% of the animals studied. The rabbit had no anticlinal vertebra conversely in cat it was the (11th). There were collateral characteristic crests on the upper half of the first four thoracic spines in cat only. The lumbar vertebrae of rabbit had clear pointed hypapophysis in the first three bodies. In general, cat has longer bony measurements unless transverse lumbar process and lumbosacral space were notably increase in rabbit. The interlocking interarcuate articulation at the end of thoracic (11-13) and all lumbar vertebrae maximize the up and down movement but minimize the lateral movement that assist in forward speed of the cat. Although cat and rabbit are mammals, but both had different nutritional demands that might need more pace to pounce on the prey in cat rather than the rabbit whose fed on plants, so the aforementioned species-specific differences of thoracic and lumbar vertebrae in cat and rabbit affected greatly on their movement and locomotion.