Rat

A happier rat pack: The impacts of tickling pet store rats on human-animal interactions and rat welfare

Rats find initial interactions with humans frightening, which can lead to negative affect, and poor welfare. A handling technique called “tickling”, which mimics rat rough-and-tumble play, can be used to reduce these negative effects. When tickled, rats produce 50 kilohertz...

Year Published: 2018Topics: Human-Animal InteractionAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: LaFollette, M. R., O'Haire, M. E., Cloutier, S. et al. 2018. A happier rat pack: The impacts of tickling pet store rats on human-animal interactions and rat welfare. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 203, 92-102.

Generalization of effects of environmental enrichment on seeking for different classes of drugs of abuse

Background: Addiction is a chronic disease characterized by persistent vulnerability to relapse during abstinence. In animal models of addiction, accumulating evidence suggests that exposure to environmental enrichment (EE) during periods of abstinence can have curative effects on addiction and reduce...

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

Citation: Sikora, M., Nicolas, C., Istin, M. et al. 2018. Generalization of effects of environmental enrichment on seeking for different classes of drugs of abuse. Behavioural Brain Research 341, 109-113.

Decreased environmental complexity during development impairs habituation of reinforcer effectiveness of sensory stimuli

Previous research has shown that rats reared in simple/impoverished environments demonstrate greater repetitive responding for sensory reinforcers (e.g., light onset). Moreover, the brains of these rats are abnormally developed, compared to brains of rats reared in more complex/enriched environments. Repetitive...

Year Published: 2018Topics: Abnormal/Problematic Behavior, Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Wang, R., Hausknechta, K. A., Haj-Dahmane, S. et al. 2018. Decreased environmental complexity during development impairs habituation of reinforcer effectiveness of sensory stimuli. Behavioural Brain Research 337, 53-60.

Pavlovian influences on learning differ between rats and mice in a counterbalanced Go/NoGo judgement bias task

Judgement bias tests of animal affect and hence welfare assume that the animal's responses to ambiguous stimuli, which may herald positive or negative outcomes, are under instrumental control and reflect ‘optimism' or ‘pessimism' about what will happen. However, Pavlovian control...

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

Citation: Jones, S., Paul, E. S., Dayan, P. et al. 2017. Pavlovian influences on learning differ between rats and mice in a counterbalanced Go/NoGo judgement bias task. Behavioural Brain Research 331, 214-224.

Ethological approach to social isolation effects in behavioral studies of laboratory rodents

The aim of the present review is to discuss how housing conditions affect behavioral performance in laboratory rodents from an ethological view. Commonly used laboratory rodents such as rats and mice, are originally captured animals that largely retain species-typical natural...

Year Published: 2018Topics: Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Mouse, Rat, Rodent

Citation: Arakawa, H. 2018. Ethological approach to social isolation effects in behavioral studies of laboratory rodents. Behavioural Brain Research 341, 98-108.

Rat aversion to isoflurane versus carbon dioxide

Some experts suggest that sedation of laboratory rodents with isoflurane before euthanasia with carbon dioxide (CO2) is a humane alternative to euthanasia with CO2 alone, but little research has compared aversion with these agents. Albino rats were tested in a...

Year Published: 2013Topics: EuthanasiaAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Wong, D., Makowska, I. J., Weary, D. M. 2013. Rat aversion to isoflurane versus carbon dioxide. Biology Letters 9(1), 20121000.

Environmental enrichment in the absence of wheel running produces beneficial behavioural and anti-oxidative effects in rats

The effects of early environmental enrichment (EE) when solving a simple spatial task in adult male rats were assessed. After weaning, rats were housed in pairs in enriched or standard cages (EE and control groups) for two and a half...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Mármol, F., Sánchez, J., Torres, M. N. et al. 2017. Environmental enrichment in the absence of wheel running produces beneficial behavioural and anti-oxidative effects in rats. Behavioural Processes 144, 66-71.

Advances in animal welfare and scientific outcomes of the bile duct cannulated rat model utilised in ADME studies

Since rats lack a gall bladder, they are an ideal model for investigating continuous biliary excretion and biotransformation. The design and implementation of a modified tail cuff and cannula system introduced at Covance permits the animal's own bile to be...

Year Published: 2018Topics: Cannulation, Catheterization, & Intubation, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: van Wijk, H., Crossman, L., Adjin-Tettey, G. et al. 2018. Advances in animal welfare and scientific outcomes of the bile duct cannulated rat model utilised in ADME studies. Animal Technology and Welfare 17(1), 64-67.

Investigation of transportation on rat acclimatisation using novel cage side recording equipment (Rodent Big Brother)

The transportation of animals from supplier to experimental facility is one of the biggest stressors to animals in research. Transportation unavoidably causes stress and when the animals arrive at the testing facility they require a period of acclimatisation, which is...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Relocation & TransportAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Simpson, D. 2017. Investigation of transportation on rat acclimatisation using novel cage side recording equipment (Rodent Big Brother). Animal Technology and Welfare 16(1), 1-12.

Effect of moderate environmental enrichment on commonly used behavioural tests in rats

The environment that laboratory animals are housed in should reflect their natural habitats in a manner that can satisfy their innate physiological and behavioural needs. This includes nest building, hiding, exploring and foraging. Providing environmental enrichment (EE) in order to...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Kleefeld, S., Bannerton, K., Kelly, J.2017. Effect of moderate environmental enrichment on commonly used behavioural tests in rats. Animal Technology and Welfare 16(1), 75-76.