Mouse

Types and functions of ultrasonic vocalizations in laboratory rats and mice

Understanding the types and functions of ultrasonic vocalizations emitted by laboratory rodents may enable researchers and animal care personnel to use vocalizations as an indicator of an animal's behavior and affect.

Year Published: 2007Animal Type: Mouse, Rat, Rodent

Citation: Portfors, C. V. 2007. Types and functions of ultrasonic vocalizations in laboratory rats and mice. Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science [Contemporary Topics in Laboratory Animal Science] 46(1).

Noise produced by vacuuming exceeds the hearing thresholds of C57Bl/6 and CD1 mice

Comparison of cage-level spectral analysis results with age-specific audiograms of C57Bl/6 and CD1 mice showed that vacuuming produces frequencies audible to C57Bl/6 mice at 3 and 6 mo of age and to CD1 mice at 1 mo of age. These...

Year Published: 2007Animal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Naff, K. A., Riva, C. M., Craig, S. L. et al. 2007. Noise produced by vacuuming exceeds the hearing thresholds of C57Bl/6 and CD1 mice. Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science [Contemporary Topics in Laboratory Animal Science] 46(1), 52-57.

Influence of environmental enrichment and handling on the acute stress response in individually housed mice

In this study we investigated the effect of environmental enrichment and handling on the acute physiological stress response caused by short periods of restraint in individually housed female mice. Heart rate (HR) and body temperature (BT) were measured by radiotelemetry...

Year Published: 2007Topics: Environmental Enrichment, HandlingAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Meijer, M. K., Sommer, R., Spruijt, B. M. et al. 2007. Influence of environmental enrichment and handling on the acute stress response in individually housed mice . Laboratory Animals 4(2), 161-173.

Life rafts for mice

A cage modification was designed for mice to escape in the unlikely event of a flood.

Year Published: 2008Animal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Butcher, T. 2008. Life rafts for mice. Animal Technology and Welfare 7(2), 61-63.

Effects of indomethacin and buprenorphine analgesia on the postoperative recovery of mice

Effects of indomethacin and buprenorphineanalgesia on the postoperative recovery of mice

Year Published: 2008Animal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Blaha, M., Leon, L. R. 2008. Effects of indomethacin and buprenorphine analgesia on the postoperative recovery of mice. Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science 47, 8-19.

Home improvement: mice with more naturalistic nesting materials build better nests

Environmental enrichment of laboratory mice can improve the quality of research, but debate arises over the means of enrichment and its ability to be used in a sterile environment. One important form of enrichment is nesting material. Mice in the...

Year Published: 2008Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Hess SE, Rohr S, Dufour B, et al. 2008. Home improvement: mice with more naturalistic nesting materials build better nests. J Am Assoc Lab Anim Sci. 47;25-31.

Small changes, big results

This paper examines how weaning age influences the welfare of laboratory mice. Results indicate that delaying weaning reduces adult anxiety, as measured by an elevated plus-maze. In females, weaning at a later age seems to decrease the prevalence of both...

Year Published: 2007Animal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Bechard, A. 2007. Small changes, big results. Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) Quarterly 56(3), 17.

Enforced restraint of rodents: A discussion by the Refinement & Enrichment Forum

The question was asked: "Rodents are often restrained for data collection procedures, such as blood collection and injection, by coaxing them into tubes, for example syringe cylinders or perspex tubes. What can be done to buffer the stress response of...

Year Published: 2007Topics: Animal Training, RestraintAnimal Type: Guinea Pig, Mouse, Rat, Rodent

Citation: Barley, J., Mikkelsen, L. F., Francis, R. et al. 2007. Enforced restraint of rodents: A discussion by the Refinement & Enrichment Forum. Animal Technology and Welfare 6(1), 11-13.

Quality of life and the rodent laboratory

Preference studies show that lab mice and rats value opportunities to take cover, build nests, explore, forage, and gain social contact, behavioural needs that are by and large thwarted by standard laboratory housing systems. Eighty additional studies were reviewed to...

Year Published: 2007Animal Type: Mouse, Rat, Rodent

Citation: Balcombe, J. P. 2007. Quality of life and the rodent laboratory. Animal Welfare 16 Supplement(Poster abstract), 166.

A targeted approach to developing environmental enrichment for two strains of laboratory mice

Previous studies on environmental enrichment have generally placed a purported enrichment in the cage and observed changes in behavioural and physiological indicators of welfare. However, many of these enrichments are not purposely designed, or appear to be designed with anthropomorphic...

Year Published: 2008Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Nicol, C. J., Brocklebank, S., Mendl, M. et al. 2008. A targeted approach to developing environmental enrichment for two strains of laboratory mice. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 110(3-4), 341-353.