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THE VAGINA, VESTIBULE, AND VULVA

The vagina is unremarkable, and the vestibule is rela­tively long. The conical vulva slopes so that it faces rather obliquely upward (Figure 35-4, A/7); it is some­times so upturned that the cleft is inaccessible to the boar.

Gilts with an infantile vulva are common and undesirable as breeding stock because the defect hints at poor development of the reproductive organs with a consequently greater risk of infertility. The clitoris is normally barely visible (Figure 35-3/77). Clitoral enlargement is common and is associated with inter­sexuality (female pseudohermaphroditism).

The uterine artery, the principal supply to the uterus, is supplemented by branches of the ovarian and vaginal arteries (Figure 35-5/2,7). The ovarian vein, which drains most of the uterus in addition to the ovary, forms a plexus around the uterine and ovarian arteries that facilitates the transfer of luteolytic prostaglandins.

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Source: Dyce K.M., Wensing C.J.G.. Textbook of Veterinary Anatomy. 4th edition. — Saunders,2010. — 846 p.. 2010

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