1.First, pin the animal down with his/her belly facing up. With ethanol, wet the animal down. By washing the carcass with ethanol, not only are you sterilizing the future incision, but you are protecting the tissues from artifacts caused by hair dragging through them.
2.With your forceps, grab hold of the skin anteriorly to the urethral opening. Using your scissors, cut along the ventral midline from the groin to the chin, being careful to only cut the skin and not the muscle wall underneath. (See diagram for location of incisions)
3. Next, make an incision from the start of the first incision to down near the knee on both sides of the animal. Basically, you will end up with an incision that looks very similar to an upside down Y.
4. Reflect the skin back on the sides and you are ready for further examination. You can see the underlying organs through the peritoneal wall as diagramed in the drawing.
5. If the animal is male, the penis and the prepuital gland will lie on top of the muscle. By cutting between the prepuital gland and the muscle wall via the penis, the gland is left intact for preservation.
6. As with any tissue to be kept, place the prepuital gland and the penis in formalin or other fixative of your choice.
Site designed, written, and selected pictures illustrated by Erin Parsoneault, inspired by D.E.Devor-Henneman, and edited/mentored byDr. J.M.Ward