BLOOD VESSELS

- These are tubes that carry blood throughout an animal’s body.

A. ARTERIES
- Carry blood away from the heart under pressure (Aspinall and O’Reilly, 2004)
- Almost all arteries transport oxygenated blood to the capillary beds found within the
tissues
- Only the pulmonary arteries carry deoxygenated blood
- Arteries have thick walls that is composed of three layers: (Aspinall and O’Reilly)
1. Tunica Intima
o Consist of endothelial lining which is continuous throughout the entire circulatory
system and is also continuous with the endothelial covering of the heart valves
2. Tunica media
o Consist of smooth muscles and elastic tissue
3. Tunica adventitia
o Fibrous outercoat of artery
- Elastic nature of the arterial walls allows them to dilate or constrict and enables arteries
to withstand blood under high pressure as it leaves the heart
- Once the arteries enter the tissue, they give off collateral vessels that link up with each
other to form an anastomosis or network
- In cases of obstruction to one of these collateral vessels, the blood has an alternative
route in order for the cells to still receive oxygen and nutrients (Aspinall and
O’Reilly,2004)
- The brain, kidneys and heart are the only organs that do not have the collateral vessel
systems
- Such pattern is similar to how the tree branches-they branch but never join each other
- This mechanism prevents damage by a sudden drop in blood pressure
- However, if an end artery is occluded, since there is no alternative route, thus it may
cause organ failure, coma or even, death.
 ARTERIOLES- smaller and narrower arterial branch found in the tissues.

B. CAPILLARIES
- Small, thin walled permeable vessels which is composed of a single layer of endothelial
cells
- Site for gas exchange in tissues, nutrient up-take and removal of metabolic waste such
as carbon dioxide and urea
 CAPILLARY BEDS- networks of capillaries that extend between the arterioles and
the venules within the tissues.

C. VEINS
- Carry blood towards the heart
- Relatively thin walls and carry deoxygenated blood under low pressure
- Only the pulmonary vein carries oxygenated blood
- Have the same structure as arteries but have thinner smooth muscle and fewer elastic
fibers
  VENULES- smallest veins that collect carbon dioxide and metabolic wastes from the
capillary beds in tissues.
APPLIED and CLINICAL ANATOMY
 Veins are the most suitable sites for venipuncture being relatively superficial of the two
large vessels
 Most common vein use in companion animal practice is the cephalic vein located on the
dorsal surface of the lower thoracic limb.
 The lateral saphenous veins which run down on the lateral side of the hock, and the
jugular veins which run down on both sides of the neck along the jugular furrow are the
other sites for venipuncture.

AORTA and its BRANCHES

I. AORTA
A. Coronary Arteries- supply blood to the heart
B. Brachiocephalic Trunk- supplies blood to…
1. Common Carotid Artery- head
2. Right Subclavian Artery
a. Right Axillary Artery
a.1. Right Brachial Artery
3. Left Subclavian Artery
a. Left Axillary Artery
a.1. Left Brachial Artery
C. Spinal Arteries
D. Renal Arteries
E. Ovarian Arteries (female gonads)
F. Testicular Arteries (male gonads)
G. Coeliac Artery- stomach, spleen, liver
H. Cranial Mesenteric Artery- small intestine
I. Caudal Mesenteric Artery- large intestine
J. External Iliac Arteries
1. Femoral Arteries- hind legs
K. Internal Iliac Artery- pelvic viscera
VENOUS CIRCULATION
I. Cranial Vena Cava
A. Jugular Vein-from the head
B. Subclavian Veins- collect blood from the forelimb veins
1. Brachial Vein- deeper tissues
2. Cephalic Vein- superficial tissues

II. Caudal Vena Cava

- Returns deoxygenated blood from the pelvic region, hind limbs and abdominal viscera
 III. Azygous Vein
- Arises in the abdomen and runs towards the heart passing through the diaphragm
- In the thorax, it runs dorsall and either joins the cranial vena cava or drains directly into
the right atrium
- Drains venous blood from the thoracic wall

IV. Coronary Veins

- Return deoxygenated blood from the heart to the heart itself.
BLOOD
I. Volume
 10-11% of the body weight in hot blooded horses
 8-9% in dogs
 6-7% in cats, ruminants, laboratory rodents, and cold-blooded (draft) horses
 5-6% in pigs
 Young, growing animals, the volume often exceeds 10% of the body weight
II. Composition
A. Cells
1. Erythrocytes (Red Blood Cells)
- Most numerous of the blood cells
2. Thrombocytes (Platelets)
- Second most numerous
3. Leukocytes (White Blood Cells)
- Proportion of leukocytes present varies among species
a. Neutrophils
- Most numerous leukocyte in carnivores
b. Lymphocytes
- Most numerous leukocyte in ruminants and rodents
c. Monocytes
d. Eosinophils
- Abundances of these cells suggest either allergy and/or parasitism
e. Basophils
B. Plasma
- Consist of primarily of water that contains 6-8 g/dL of plasma proteins and 1.5-2.0 g/dL
of inorganic salts, lipids, carbohydrates, hormones and vitamins

PLASMA PROTEINS

A. Albumin (44%)
- A single protein that generally accounts nearly half of the total plasma

B. Globulins (52%)
1. Alpha (14%)
2. Beta (15%)
3. Gamma (23%)
 C. Fibrinogen (4%)
- Only present in plasma
PLASMA vs. SERUM

 PLASMA
When prepared in the laboratory, the blood collected is placed with anticoagulant,
followed by centrifugation to remove the blood cells

 SERUM
If the blood collected, and it is placed in a container without anticoagulant, allowing it to
clot, the fluid obtained after centrifugation is called serum.

APPLIED and CLINICAL ANATOMY NOTES

DEATH by CHOCOLATE
 Chocolates, coffee and to a lesser extent tea have plant alkaloids that may be essential
and harmless to humans, but are deadly to dogs.
 One alkaloid that is abundant in chocolates is theobromine
 Theobromine, like caffeine is a stimulant
 This alkaloid increases calcium influx in the muscles thus increasing muscle contractions
of somatic and cardiac muscles
 Death is due to cardiac arrthymias, hyperthermia or respiratory failure
 𝐿𝐷50 100-200 mg/kg body weight, but even at lower doses, death may occur.