VAN 221: Veterinary Splanchnology and Applied Anatomy (1+1)

Species difference

KIDNEY
(Sheep, Goat, Horse, Pig, Dog, Rabbit, Fowl)

Sheep and Goat

• The kidneys are bean shaped and smooth
• In position, they resemble ox except that the right one is usually a little further back and lies under the first three lumbar transverse process
• The hilus is present at the middle of the medial border
• They are similar to each other and very much close to the dog and very difficult to distinguish them
• They are more regular in shape than dogs, being protected from the distorting pressures by thick masses of fat
• The fat cushion makes the left kidney less subject to the displacement

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Horse

• The surfaces are smooth and are not lobulated. The average weight is about 700 gm
• The right kidney weighs 30 to 60 gm. more than the left. The right kidney is 15 cm long, 15 cm wide and 5 cm wide
• The right is shorter, wider and thicker than the left
• The right kidney resembles the heart of playing cards while the left is bean shaped
• The right is situated under the vertebral end of the last two or three ribs and 1^st lumbar transverse process
• The left one is under the last rib and the first two or three lumbar transverse processes
• The hilus is about the middle of the medial border in the form of a deep notch in both kidneys
• The dorsal surface of the right kidney is convex and is related chiefly to the diaphragm whereas the ventral surface is concave and related to the liver, pancreas, caecum and adrenal gland
• The cranial extremity of the right is thicker and rounded, lies in the renal impression of the liver
• The caudal extremity is thinner and narrower
• The caudal extremity of the left kidney is wider and thicker
• The hilus leads into a renal sinus in the interior for the lodgment of the renal pelvis, which is the dilated origin of the ureter
• The inner central part of the medulla forms a concave ridge - the renal crest, which presents numerous openings - the area cribrosa through which the large ducts open into the renal pelvis

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Pig

• Smooth and bean shaped
• It is more elongated
• The right and left kidneys are almost symmetrically placed ventral to the transverse processes of the first four lumbar vertebrae, but the left is often a little further forward than the right one
• The right kidney has no contact with the liver
• The hilus is about the middle of the medial border
• Each kidney possesses two calyces major and about a dozen of calyces minor

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Dog

• The kidneys are smooth and bean shaped. The average weight is 50 to 60 gm
• The right kidney is situated under the bodies of the first three lumbar vertebrae
• The left kidney is about the level of the 2^nd , 3^rd and 4^th lumbar vertebrae but when the stomach is full, it is pushed to one vertebra further back, so that the cranial pole may be placed behind the caudal pole of the right
• The hilus is about the middle of the medial border. The medulla shows a renal crest

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Rabbit

• The kidneys are smooth and bean shaped
• Right kidney is situated below the proximal end of the last rib and first two lumbar transverse processes and the left kidney is placed below the bodies of 2^nd and 3^rd lumbar vertebrae
• The kidneys are unipyramidal

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Fowl

• The kidneys are brown coloured elongated structures and lie along each side of the vertebral column from the vertebral end of the 6^th rib into the iliac fossa
• Each is made up of 3 or 4 lobes as cranial, middle and caudal portions. It is friable in nature
• The lobes are not well defined
• The surfaces are rough due to projected surfaces of the renal tubules

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