Comparative Anatomical, Ultrasonographical and Radiological studies of the biliary system of Rabbits and Domestic cats in Egypt

ABSTRACT Under the prevailing overall Conditions of all veterinarians for the diagnosis of biliary diseases, application of surgical procedures and liver transplantation in Cats as carnivorous pet animal, and Rabbits as herbivorous pet animal and also as a human model in research. The present study was constructed on twelve native breeds of rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and eighteen adult domestic cats (Felis catus domesticus). We concluded that, in brief; the rabbit gall bladder was relatively small, fixed by several small hepato-cystic ducts to its fossa. The rabbit bile duct was formed commonly by the junction of the left hepatic duct and the cystic duct. The cystic duct was commonly fairly large, received the right hepatic duct that collected the right lobe in its route to enter the duodenum, the bile duct receives the branch of the caudate process of the caudate lobe. The present study revealed other four anatomic variations dealing with the shape and size of the feline native breed’s gall bladder from fundic duplication, bilobed, truncated fundus and distended rounded fundus. Commonly, the bile duct was formed by the triple convergence of the left and the right hepatic ducts with the cystic duct. However, in some exceptional cases a short common hepatic duct was formed. Sonographically, the normal gall bladder in rabbit appeared small, elongated with anechoic lumen bordered by right lobe laterally and quadrate lobe medially and has no visible wall, but in cat varied in conformation, bordered by the right medial lobe laterally and the quadrate lobe medially surrounded by echogenic wall.