Mouse

Separating the effects of shelter from additional cage enhancements for group-housed BALB/cJ mice

Enrichment studies with rodents have demonstrated that cage enhancements can improve animal welfare and performance on common behavioral measures, but few studies have compared more than one type of enrichment or controlled for confounds, and some have revealed undesirable effects...

Year Published: 2011Topics: Environmental Enrichment, HousingAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Swetter, B. J., Karpiak, C. P., Cannon, J. T. 2011. Separating the effects of shelter from additional cage enhancements for group-housed BALB/cJ mice. Neuroscience Letters 495(3), 205-209.

Report of the 2015 RSPCA/UFAW rodent and rabbit welfare group meeting

The RSPCA/UFAW Rodent Welfare Group has held a one-day meeting every autumn for the last 21 years, so that its members can discuss current welfare research, exchange views on rodent welfare issues and share experiences of the implementation of the...

Year Published: 2016Topics: Husbandry & Management, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rabbit, Rodent

Citation: Hawkins, P., Atkinson, J., Birt, R. et al. 2016. Report of the 2015 RSPCA/UFAW rodent and rabbit welfare group meeting. Animal Technology and Welfare 15(1), 9-22. [Meeting Report]

Going outside ASPA guidelines

This article will discuss an improved and refined technique used for working and caring for a group of diabetic mice. As a team of animal technologists, academics and named veterinary surgeon, we developed a new husbandry care regime to improve...

Year Published: 2016Topics: Disease/Experimental Model, Drug/Substance Administration, Environmental Enrichment, Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Gardiner, P. 2016. Going outside ASPA guidelines. Animal Technology and Welfare 15(1), 47-52.

Refinement in post-surgical recovery

Pre- and post-surgical care includes providing the animals with a soft version of their standard Irradiated diet. Food pellets are soaked in sterile water and this turns into a mash. This ensures that the animals are well hydrated prior to...

Year Published: 2016Topics: Disease/Experimental Model, Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Robertson, A. 2016. Refinement in post-surgical recovery. Animal Technology and Welfare 15(1), 62-63.

Do different strains prefer different enrichments?

This study was aimed at discovering if C57BL/6J and BALB/c mice have a preferred type of enrichment. The findings will help identify the right type of enrichment for each strain and ultimately aid in keeping laboratory mice happy and healthy....

Year Published: 2016Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Atkinson, R. 2016. Do different strains prefer different enrichments? Animal Technology and Welfare 15(2), 133-135.

Social and environmental enrichment has different effects on ethanol and sucrose consumption in mice

Factors leading to the harmful consumption of substances, like alcohol and sucrose, involve a complex interaction of genes and the environment. While we cannot control the genes we inherit, we can modify our environment. Understanding the role that social and...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Holgate, J. Y., Garcia, H., Chatterjee, S. et al. 2017. Social and environmental enrichment has different effects on ethanol and sucrose consumption in mice. Brain and Behavior 7(8), e00767.

The introduction of a cable tie swing and its impact on animal welfare

Common enrichment for mice is usually restricted to the floor and easily damaged, leading to frequent replacement. We have been studying the behaviour of NSG mice towards a 'swing' made from plastic cable ties. This enhances the 3-dimensional space which...

Year Published: 2018Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Dean, L., Swan, J., Lopez-Salesansky, N. et al. 2018. The introduction of a cable tie swing and its impact on animal welfare. Animal Technology and Welfare 17(1), 43-45.

Time for change? Practicalities of implementing non-aversive methods for handling mice

Recent studies have shown that the method choice for handling laboratory mice is important to animal welfare. In 2015, 60% of all animals used in Home Office procedures were laboratory mice. Given the large number of mice within global facilities,...

Year Published: 2017Topics: HandlingAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Waters, J. 2017. Time for change? Practicalities of implementing non-aversive methods for handling mice. Animal Technology and Welfare 16(1), 47-56.

Report of the 2016 RSPCA/UFAW Rodent and Rabbit Welfare Group meeting

The RSPCA/UFAW Rodent (and now Rabbit) Welfare Group held a one-day meeting on 1 November 2016 at the University of Edinburgh and was attended by 70 delegates. Presentation topics included refinements in blood sampling rodents, reducing suffering in projects involving...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Biological Sampling & Physiological Measurement, Disease/Experimental Model, Husbandry & Management, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rabbit, Rat, Rodent

Citation: Hawkins, P., McNeilly, A., Watson, J. et al. 2017. Report of the 2016 RSPCA/UFAW Rodent and Rabbit Welfare Group meeting. Animal Technology and Welfare 16(2), 77-86.

3Rs improvements in the Bexsero® (Meningitis B) vaccine

Bexsero® is a new vaccine in the UK which since September 2015 has been added to the childhood immunisation programme for the prevention of Meningitis B. The in-vivo test as performed in Biological Services Division (BSD) uses female CD1 mice...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Analgesia, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Ferguson, R. 3Rs improvements in the Bexsero® (Meningitis B) vaccine. Animal Technology and Welfare 16(2), 150-152.