Rat

Affective and behavioural interactions between human handlers and laboratory rats

In laboratory settings, human–rat interactions are necessary and frequent, yet the impact of different handlers on the behaviour of the animal is underexplored. This study examined how human behavioural responses - confidence, experience, and physiological arousal - relate to affective...

Year Published: 2026Topics: Handling, Human-Animal InteractionAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Feddo, C. C., Robinson, E. S. J., Hinchcliffe, J. K. 2026. Affective and behavioural interactions between human handlers and laboratory rats. Behavioural Brain Research 505, 116115.

AnaesthesiaSkills in Veterinary Medicine: Perioperative Management in Small, Companion and Domestic Animals

This book is designed as a practice-orientated text covering monitoring and equipment, established protocols, pain management, complications and underlying disease. The strength of the book is the inclusion of a relatively wide spectrum of species – dogs, cats, rabbits, ferrets,...

Year Published: 2024Topics: Analgesia, Anesthesia & SedationAnimal Type: Cat, Cattle, Dog, Equine, Ferret, Gerbil, Goat, Guinea Pig, Hamster, Mouse, Pig, Rabbit, Rat, Rodent

Citation: Eberspächer-Schweda, E. 2024. AnaesthesiaSkills in Veterinary Medicine: Perioperative Management in Small, Companion and Domestic Animals. Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc, 512 pp.

Presence of ultrasonic noise in the housing colony affects behavior and physiology of adult Sprague Dawley rats

Perception is dictated by our sensory capabilities which vary widely across species. Hearing in humans is confined to a relatively narrow range, thus the presence of ultrasonic noise, sound with a frequency >20 kHz, is often overlooked. Concerningly, it has...

Year Published: 2026Topics: Husbandry & Management, VocalizationAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Bigelow, L. J., Pope, E. K., Sohasky, V. K. et al. 2026. Presence of ultrasonic noise in the housing colony affects behavior and physiology of adult Sprague Dawley rats. Physiology & Behavior 310, 115313.

Shelved cages impact affective behavior in Sprague Dawley rats – implications for animal welfare

Laboratory animal welfare has received increasing attention in recent years as housing protocols move toward favoring environments that allow natural behaviors. Within this study, the effects of housing male and female Sprague Dawley rats in standard cages versus taller cages...

Year Published: 2026Topics: HousingAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Bigelow, L. J., Pope, E. K., Lee, C. P. et al. 2026. Shelved cages impact affective behavior in Sprague Dawley rats – implications for animal welfare. Laboratory Animals 60(1), 53–62.

Affective and behavioural interactions between human handlers and laboratory rats

Year Published: 2026Topics: Human-Animal InteractionAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Feddo, C. C., Robinson, E. S. J., Hinchcliffe, J. K. 2026. Affective and behavioural interactions between human handlers and laboratory rats. Behavioural Brain Research 505, 116115.

Report of the 2024 RSPCA/UFAW rodent welfare group meeting

The RSPCA/UFAW Rodent Welfare Group has held a one-day meeting every autumn for the last 31 years. These meetings provide an opportunity for members to discuss current welfare research, exchange views on welfare issues and share their experiences of the...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Animal Training, Drug/Substance Administration, Environmental Enrichment, Handling, Housing, Husbandry & Management, Imaging & Electrophysiological RecordingAnimal Type: Mouse, Rabbit, Rat, Rodent

Citation: Stevens, C., Robinson, E., Jackson, M. et al. 2025. Report of the 2024 RSPCA/UFAW rodent welfare group meeting. Animal Welfare and Technology 4(3), 219–226.

Assessment of behavioral, clinical, and histological outcomes in Sprague-Dawley rats housed in enriched colony cages versus conventional pair housing over 28 days

The standardization of husbandry in animal studies for drug development aims to minimize variability and enhance inter-laboratory comparability. Rats are a commonly used species in such studies. This standardization yields housing conditions that do not reflect the natural environment of...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Environmental Enrichment, HousingAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Shamsi, A., Niebl, P., Kalina, A. et al. 2025. Assessment of behavioral, clinical, and histological outcomes in Sprague-Dawley rats housed in enriched colony cages versus conventional pair housing over 28 days. Animals 15(24).

Video based heart rate detection in unrestrained laboratory rats: A feasibility analysis

Continuous monitoring of vital signs in laboratory animals is often essential for reliable scientific results and severity assessment. It still depends on invasive approaches such as transponder implementation, which affect the animals well-being. To minimize this impact, a camera-based method...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Biological Sampling & Physiological MeasurementAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Monissen, J., Mösch, L., Monissen, M. et al. 2025. Video based heart rate detection in unrestrained laboratory rats: A feasibility analysis. Scientific Reports 15(1), 37935.

The edge of lesion

At AstraZeneca we utilise a wide variety of flank tumour models in rodents to gather data on the effectiveness of our Oncology drugs. During these studies tumour condition is closely monitored for appearance of lesions; typically a change of shape...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Humane EndpointAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Little, E., Baker, T., Peverill, J. et al. 2025. The edge of lesion. Animal Technology and Welfare 24(3), 268–269.

Adaptation of the Animal Welfare assessment grid (AWAG) model to monitor laboratory rats and mice

The Animal Welfare assessment grid (AWAG) is a cloud based online tool designed to assess and monitor the welfare and cumulative lifetime experience of animals. It has been successfully used to monitor the wellbeing of animals from an experimental, zoological,...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rat, Rodent

Citation: Cunningham, A., Wolfensohn, S., Dennis, M. et al. 2025, December. Adaptation of the Animal Welfare assessment grid (AWAG) model to monitor laboratory rats and mice. Animal Technology and Welfare 4(3), 199–211.