Mouse

Tell-tale TINT: Does the time to incorporate into nest test evaluate postsurgical pain or welfare in mice?

Identifying early indicators of distress in mice is difficult using either periodic monitoring or current technology. Likewise, poor pain identification remains a barrier to providing appropriate pain relief in many mouse models. The Time to Incorporate to Nest Test (TINT),...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Gallo, M. S., Karas, A. Z., Pritchett-Corning, K. et al. 2020. Tell-tale TINT: Does the time to incorporate into nest test evaluate postsurgical pain or welfare in mice? JAALAS 59(1), 37–45.

The ‘Cage Climber’ – A new enrichment for use in large-dimensioned mouse facilities

Environmental Enrichment has been shown in experimental contexts to have clear and often beneficial effects on animal physiology and behavior. Housing prior to experiments can represent a large proportion of an animal’s living conditions, and improving housing conditions can be...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Vogt, M. A., Mertens, S., Serba, S. et al. 2020. The ‘Cage Climber’ - A new enrichment for use in large-dimensioned mouse facilities. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 230, 105078.

The effect of group size, age and handling frequency on inter-male aggression in CD 1 mice

Aggression in male mice often leads to injury and death, making social housing difficult. We tested whether (1) small group size, (2) early age of allocation to a group decreases aggression and 3) manipulation increases aggression in male mice. A...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Housing, Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Jirkof, P., Bratcher, N., Medina, L. et al. 2020. The effect of group size, age and handling frequency on inter-male aggression in CD 1 mice. Scientific Reports 10(1), 2253.

Reliability of the mouse grimace scale in C57BL/6JRj mice

To maintain and foster the welfare of laboratory mice, tools that reliably measure the current state of the animals are applied in clinical assessment. One of these is the Mouse Grimace Scale (MGS), a coding system for facial expression analysis....

Year Published: 2020Topics: Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Hohlbaum, K., Corte, G. M., Humpenöder, M. et al. 2020. Reliability of the mouse grimace scale in C57BL/6JRj mice. Animals 10(9), 1648.

Report of the 2019 RSPCA/UFAW Rodent Welfare meeting

The RSPCA/UFAW Rodent Welfare Group has held a one-day meeting every autumn for the last 26 years, so that its members can discuss current welfare research, exchange views on welfare issues, and share experiences of the implementation of the 3Rs...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Animal Training, Environmental Enrichment, Handling, Housing, Husbandry & Management, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rat, Rodent

Citation: Stevens, C., Finnegan, E., Clarkson, J. et al. 2020. Report of the 2019 RSPCA/UFAW Rodent Welfare meeting. Animal Technology and Welfare 19(2), 101-111.

Alternatives to shipping live mice

Many in the lab animal field are familiar with shipping animals from vendor to investigator, from investigator to vendor, and from investigator to investigator. Sharing mouse models represents being good stewards of our animal resources and prevents unnecessary duplication of...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Relocation & Transport, ReproductionAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Larson, M. A. 2020. Alternatives to shipping live mice. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 8(5) (September/October), 52-54.

Assessing pain in models of rheumatoid arthritis

A hallmark symptom of rheumatoid arthritis in humans is painful swollen joints. Pain can manifest before any inflammation is noticeable as well as persist long after inflammation has resolved. In rodent models of arthritis, ankle or footpad width is a...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Disease/Experimental Model, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Singleton, S., Nefla, M., Dennison, N. et al. 2020. Assessing pain in models of rheumatoid arthritis. Animal Technology and Welfare 19(2), 149-152.

Affective state determination in a mouse model of colitis-associated colorectal cancer

Behavioural indicators of affective state, including burrowing, clinical scores and the Mouse Grimace Score have not yet been validated in mouse models of chronic gastrointestinal disease. Additionally, a comparison of these methods has not been characterised. This study aimed to...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Disease/Experimental Model, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Chartier, L. C., Hebart, M. L., Howarth, G. S. et al. 2020. Affective state determination in a mouse model of colitis-associated colorectal cancer. PLOS ONE 15(1), e0228413.

Alternative anesthesia of neonatal mice for global rAAV delivery in the brain with non-detectable behavioral interference in adults

Viral-transduced gene expression is the current standard for cell-type-specific labeling and cell tacking in experimental neuroscience. To achieve widespread gene expression, a viral delivery method to neonatal rodents was introduced more than two decades ago. Most of those neonatal viral...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Anesthesia & Sedation, Disease/Experimental ModelAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Tang, W., Zillmann, U., Sprengel, R. 2020. Alternative anesthesia of neonatal mice for global rAAV delivery in the brain with non-detectable behavioral interference in adults. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 14, 115.

Automated radial 8-arm maze: A voluntary and stress-free behavior test to assess spatial learning and memory in mice

The radial arm maze (RAM) is a common behavioral test to assess spatial working and reference memory in mice. However, conventional RAM experiments require a substantial degree of manual handling and animals are usually subjected to prolonged periods of food...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Behavioral & Cognitive TestingAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Mei, J., Kohler, J., Winter, Y. et al. 2020. Automated radial 8-arm maze: A voluntary and stress-free behavior test to assess spatial learning and memory in mice. Behavioural Brain Research 381, 112352.