Anatomical and topographic features of the flexor muscles of the hip joint in a maine coon cat

The article presents the anatomical features of the flexors of the hip joint in an ordinary domestic cat of the Maine Coon breed, which are absent in the available literature. We have clarified the points of fixation of the large lumbar, iliac, sartorial and scallop muscles. The research was carried out at the Department of Anatomy and Histology of Animals named after Professor A. F. Klimov of the Moscow State Academy of Veterinary Medicine and Biotechnology – MBA named after K.I. Scriabin. The material for the research was a sectional material- pelvic limbs (n=8), selected from a Maine Coon domestic cat, without external signs of musculoskeletal system pathologies. The methods of fine macro- and microanatomic dissection under the control of a binocular magnifier "Micromed HR 350 S" were used, followed by functional analysis of the studied structures and skeletotopic projection of points of attachment of muscle parts. It is shown that in a Maine Coon cat, the flexors of the hip joint include a complex of muscles - the tensor of the wide fascia of the thigh, the iliolumbar, sartorial and scallop muscles. The strainer of the wide fascia of the thigh, fusing in the distal part of the fascia with the deep fascia of the thigh and with the quadriceps femoris muscle, creates a pressor effect on this muscle and helps it to unbend the knee joint. The iliolumbar muscle not only bends the hip joint, but also acts as a joint support, as well as an extensor of the knee joint due to cranial thickening (i.e., concentrations of muscle fibers at the cranial edge of the muscle). It passes from the hip to the shin with a wide distal end, which indicates that its lamellar part, together with a slender muscle, optionally also acts as a flexor of the knee joint.