Rat

Report of the 2010 RSPCA/UFAW rodent welfare group meeting – The effect of husbandry on welfare and promoting good practice

The RSPCA/UFAW Rodent Welfare Group holds a one-day meeting every autumn so that its members can discuss current welfare research, exchange views on rodent welfare issues and share experiences of the implementation of the 3Rs of replacement, reduction and refinement...

Year Published: 2011Topics: Drug/Substance Administration, Handling, Husbandry & Management, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rabbit, Rat, Rodent

Citation: Hawkins, P., Burn, C., Hurst, J. et al. 2011. Report of the 2010 RSPCA/UFAW rodent welfare group meeting - The effect of husbandry on welfare and promoting good practice. Animal Technology and Welfare 10(2), 105-114.

Effects of wire-bottom caging on heart rate, activity and body temperature in telemetry-implanted rats

Some experimental procedures are associated with placement of animals in wire-bottom cages. The goal of this study was to evaluate stress-related physiological parameters (heart rate [HR], body temperature [BT], locomotor activity [LA], body weight [BW] and food consumption) in rats...

Year Published: 2011Topics: HousingAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Giral, M., García-Olmo, D., Kramer, K. 2011. Effects of wire-bottom caging on heart rate, activity and body temperature in telemetry-implanted rats. Laboratory Animals 45(4), 247-253.

Rats free each other from cages

Following a two-week introduction period, pairs of rats were put inside an arena. One was trapped inside a central restrainer, while the other roamed free in the larger space. By day six or seven, on average, the roaming rat learned...

Year Published: 2011Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Natural BehaviorAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Gewin, V. 2011. Rats free each other from cages. Nature News.

Using olive oil to orally dose laboratory rats

Many compounds are orally administered to laboratory rats using the gavage technique. This technique is stressful for the animal and can cause injury or death if performed incorrectly. Often compounds are suspended in food oils such as corn oil for...

Year Published: 2011Topics: Drug/Substance AdministrationAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Fitchett, A., Judge, S., Morris, C. 2011. Using olive oil to orally dose laboratory rats. Animal Technology and Welfare 10(1), 39-41.

Nylon cylinder: Safe and cost-effective chewable rat enrichment

Offering enrichment to stimulate chewing behavior in rats has been found to promote psychologic and physiologic wellbeing. While there are many commercially produced nylon products available for use as chewable enrichment, these items are costly, especially with current economic constraints....

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

Citation: Witt, S. L., Plews, C. A., Ruppert, G. et al. 2011. Nylon cylinder: Safe and cost-effective chewable rat enrichment. American Association for Laboratory Animal Science [AALAS] Meeting Official Program, 782 (Abstract #P174).

Serotonin transporter genotype x construction stress interaction in rats

A well-known example for gene x environment interactions in psychiatry is the one involving the low activity (s) allelic variant of the serotonin transporter (5-HTT) promoter polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) that in the context of stress increases risk for depression. In analogy,...

Year Published: 2011Topics: Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Schipper, P., Nonkes, L. J., Karel, P. et al. 2011. Serotonin transporter genotype x construction stress interaction in rats. Behavioural Brain Research 223(1), 169-175.

Epigenetic influence of stress and social environment

Animal models of early-life stress and variation in social experience across the lifespan have contributed significantly to our understanding of the environmental regulation of the developing brain. Plasticity in neurobiological pathways regulating stress responsivity, cognition, and reproductive behavior is apparent...

Year Published: 2012Topics: Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Mouse, Rat, Rodent

Citation: Gudsnuk, K., Champagne, F. A. 2012. Epigenetic influence of stress and social environment. ILAR Journal 53(3-4), 279-288.

Heart rates of male and female Sprague-Dawley and spontaneously hypertensive rats housed singly or in groups

This study was conducted to confirm our previous reports that group housing lowered basal heart rate and various evoked heart-rate responses in Sprague-Dawley male and female rats and to extend these observations to spontaneously hypertensive rats. Heart rate data were...

Year Published: 2011Topics: Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Azar, T., Sharp, J., Lawson, D. 2011. Heart rates of male and female Sprague-Dawley and spontaneously hypertensive rats housed singly or in groups. JAALAS 50(2), 75-84.

The effects of enriching laboratory cages using various physical structures on multiple measures of welfare in singly-housed rats

The single housing of laboratory rats may be recommended in some situations such as hypothesis-driven or test-specific studies, during electroencephalogram recording of phases of sleep and after surgical procedures. However, as single housing of laboratory rats has been shown to...

Year Published: 2011Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Abou-Ismail, U. A., Mahboub, H. D. 2011. The effects of enriching laboratory cages using various physical structures on multiple measures of welfare in singly-housed rats. Laboratory Animals 45(3), 145-153.

Effect of different frequencies of music on blood pressure regulation in spontaneously hypertensive rats

The effect of different frequencies of music on brain function was investigated through measurement of blood pressure in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Previous studies indicated that exposure to Mozart's music (K. 205) leads to increased calcium/calmodulin-dependent dopamine synthesis in the...

Year Published: 2011Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Akiyama, K., Sutoo, D. 2011. Effect of different frequencies of music on blood pressure regulation in spontaneously hypertensive rats. Neuroscience Letters 487(1), 58-60.