Domestic cat's internal carotid artery in ontogenesis

The aim of the study was to trace the presence of the internal carotid artery in the system of cerebral arteries of the domestic cat and to determine the role of this artery in supplying blood to the brain in ontogenesis. The available publications provide ambiguous or even contradictory information. The authors of some studies claim that there is no extracranial segment in the domestic cat's internal carotid artery. Other authors reported the internal carotid artery in the arterial pattern of the encephalon base. The study was conducted on sixty-one domestic cats: fifteen foetuses, sixteen juvenile cats, and thirty adult cats were analysed. The internal carotid artery - a vessel with a relatively large lumen - was fully preserved in all the foetuses and most of the juvenile animals. This artery was not complete with regard to the adults and some juvenile individuals, because it had lost the extracranial segment as a result of the obliteration process. A precise description of this area is not only of biological, but also of clinical, significance. The knowledge of the anatomical structure of cerebral vessels is particularly important to correctly interpret images obtained during diagnostic tests and to conduct surgical procedures correctly.