Rat

Rats demand social contact

Most of the rats in this experiment showed a persistent demand for social contact but not for physical cage improvements. These data suggest that social enrichment should be given the highest priority as a source of environmental enrichment for laboratory...

Year Published: 2002Topics: Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Patterson-Kane, E. G., Hunt, M., Harper, D. 2002. Rats demand social contact. Animal Welfare 11, 327-332.

Environmental enrichment for rats

My personal research has shown that as colony-dwelling animals, rats require contact with their own kind; as small burrowing animals they want a secure nest-box more than a novel object to investigate; as a prey species they prefer cages that...

Year Published: 2002Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Patterson-Kane, E. 2002. Environmental enrichment for rats. Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) Quarterly 51(2), 9.

Cage size preference in rats in the laboratory

Ten rats of one strain and age showed they had a preference [p

Year Published: 2002Animal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Patterson-Kane, E. G. 2002. Cage size preference in rats in the laboratory. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 5, 63-72.

Music, immunity and cancer

The effects of music on the immune system and cancer development were evaluated in rodents subjected to sound stress. Animals were exposed daily to broad band noise around midnight and/or music for 5 hours on the following morning. Thymus and...

Year Published: 2002Animal Type: Mouse, Rat, Rodent

Citation: Nunez, M. J., Mana, P., Linares, D. et al. 2002. Music, immunity and cancer. Life Science 71, 1047-1057.

A gavage dosing apparatus with flexible catheter provides a less stressful gavage technique in the rat

Oral dosing of rats using a stainless-steel gavage needle can be difficult and, if done improperly, can cause esophageal puncture. The author describes the use of a gavage dosing apparatus that uses a flexible catheter rather than the traditional needle.

Year Published: 2002Animal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Wheatley, J. L. 2002. A gavage dosing apparatus with flexible catheter provides a less stressful gavage technique in the rat. Lab Animal 31(7), 53-56.

Intervention with environmental enrichment after experimental brain trauma enhances cognitive recovery in male but not female rats

Motor function was assessed both pre-injury and for the first 5 days after injury. Spatial memory was assessed beginning 14 days after injury.Placement in an EE [environmental enrichment] after TBI [traumatic brain injury] enhanced spatial memory performance in male but...

Year Published: 2002Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Wagner, A. K., Kline, A. E., Sokoloski, J. et al. 2002. Intervention with environmental enrichment after experimental braintrauma enhances cognitive recovery in male but not female rats. Neuroscience Letters 334, 165-168.

Involvement of the brain oxytocin system in stress coping: interactions with the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis

Increase in oxytocin relases from the hypothalamus inhibits HPA axis activation.

Year Published: 2002Animal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Neumann, I. D. 2002. Involvement of the brain oxytocin system in stress coping: interactions with the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis. Progress in Brain Research 139, 147-162.

Rodent environmental enrichment – animal welfare or human feel-good factor

This article discusses environmental enrichment for rodents, mainly mice and rats housed in conventional caging, in U.K. research facilities. Environmental enrichment should allow and encourage animals to perform normal behavioural patterns. Cage furniture cannot be a substitute for poor quality...

Year Published: 2002Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rat, Rodent

Citation: Applebee, K. A. 2002. Rodent environmental enrichment - animal welfare or human feel-good factor. Animal Technology and Welfare 1(2), 65-69.

Environmental enrichment lowers stress-responsive hormones in singly housed male and female rats

This study examined the physiological effects of environmental enrichment (EE) with Kong Toys and Nestlets on stress-responsive hormones of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis under basal and mild stress conditions in singly housed, jugular vein-cannulated, male and female rats. Animals of...

Year Published: 2003Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Belz, E. E., Kennell, J. S., Czambel, R. K. et al. 2003. Environmental enrichment lowers stress-responsive hormones in singly housed male and female rats. Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior 76, 481-486.

Enriched environment delays the onset of hippocampal damage after global cerebral ischemia in rats

An enriched environment has been shown to improve cognitive, behavioral and histopathological outcome after focal cerebral ischemia and head trauma. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of an enriched environment on histopathology following global cerebral ischemia....

Year Published: 2003Animal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Belayev, A., Saul, I., Liu, Y. et al. 2003. Enriched environment delays the onset of hippocampal damage after global cerebral ischemia in rats. Brain Research 21, 121-127.