Rodent

Performance of severity parameters to detect chemotherapy-induced pain and distress in mice

According to European Union directive 2010/63/EU a severity classification of experimental procedures performed on laboratory animals is mandatory. This includes a prospective evaluation of all interventions performed within the experiment, as well as an assessment of the actual burden of...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Disease/Experimental Model, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Rix, A., Drude, N., Mrugalla, A. et al. 2020. Performance of severity parameters to detect chemotherapy-induced pain and distress in mice. Laboratory Animals 54(5), 452-460.

Progressing the care, husbandry and management of ageing mice used in scientific studies

Driven by the longer lifespans of humans, particularly in Westernised societies, and the need to know more about ‘healthy ageing’, ageing mice are being used increasingly in scientific research. Many departments and institutes involved with ageing research have developed their...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Disease/Experimental Model, Humane Endpoint, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Wilkinson, M. J. A., Selman, C., McLaughlin, L. et al. 2020. Progressing the care, husbandry and management of ageing mice used in scientific studies. Laboratory Animals 54(3) 225–238.

Protection of blood-brain barrier as a potential mechanism for enriched environments to improve cognitive impairment caused by chronic cerebral hypoperfusion

Chronic cerebral hypoperfusion (CCH) is a common pathophysiological basis for Alzheimer’s Disease and vascular dementia in the early stages. It has been confirmed that blood-brain barrier (BBB) destruction is a key factor in CCH-related cognitive impairment. Here we explored the...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Qu, C., Xu, L., Shen, J. et al. 2020. Protection of blood-brain barrier as a potential mechanism for enriched environments to improve cognitive impairment caused by chronic cerebral hypoperfusion. Behavioural Brain Research 379, 112385.

Manganese-free chow, a refined non-invasive solution to reduce gastrointestinal signal for T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging of the mouse abdomen

Commercial mouse chow is designed to provide a complete, nutrient-rich diet, and it can contain upwards of 100 mg/kg manganese, an essential mineral. Manganese acts as a relaxation time-shortening contrast agent for both T1 and T2, and where standard chow is...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Kersemans, V., Wallington, S., Allen, P. D. et al. 2020. Manganese-free chow, a refined non-invasive solution to reduce gastrointestinal signal for T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging of the mouse abdomen. Laboratory Animals 54(4), 353–364.

Now hear this: Caring for chinchillas in research

This article describes the authors’ experience with the housing, social housing, husbandry, handling, and environmental enrichment of chinchillas in laboratories.

Year Published: 2020Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Handling, Housing, Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Chinchilla

Citation: LaFleur, R. A., Williams-Fritze, M. J. 2020. Now hear this: Caring for chinchillas in research. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 8(5) (September/October), 8-12.

Maternal deprivation impairs memory and cognitive flexibility, effect that is avoided by environmental enrichment

Maternal deprivation (MD) causes cognitive deficits that persist until adulthood. Thereby, the environmental enrichment (EE) is widely used to increase brain plasticity. Here, pregnant female rats were used and their offspring were submitted to neonatal MD from post-natal day 1–10;...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Menezes, J., Souto das Neves, B.-H., Gonçalves, R. et al. 2020. Maternal deprivation impairs memory and cognitive flexibility, effect that is avoided by environmental enrichment. Behavioural Brain Research 381, 112468.

Nesting material enrichment reduces severity of overgrooming-related self-injury in individually housed rats

Individual or singly-housing laboratory rats is common in many animal facilities, but has an adverse impact on the welfare of this social species. It has previously been shown that a small proportion of individually housed mice (∼5%) engage in pathological...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Khoo, S. Y.-S., Correia, V., Uhrig, A. 2020. Nesting material enrichment reduces severity of overgrooming-related self-injury in individually housed rats. Laboratory Animals 54(6), 546-558.

Not all mice are alike: Mixed-strain housing alters social behaviour

The use of millions of mice in scientific studies worldwide emphasises the continuing need for a reduction of sample sizes, however, not at the expense of scientific validity. Split-plot designs have been suggested to enhance statistical power while allowing a...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Bodden, C., Wewer, M., Kästner, N. et al. 2021. Not all mice are alike: Mixed-strain housing alters social behaviour. Physiology & Behavior 228, 113220.

Rabbits, Guinea Pigs and Mice.

We, the people involved in animal care, are trying to develop improved methods of keeping our animals, methods which will take into account more of the animals' behavioral needs. We now have a large number of rabbits in runs which...

Year Published: 1988Topics: Housing, Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Guinea Pig, Mouse, Rabbit, Rodent

Citation: Love, J A., Gray, G., Boyd, J., Rabbits, Guinea Pigs and Mice. Humane Innovations and Alternatives Vol. 2, 1988, p.47-50

The nocturnal activity of a commonly housed rodent: How African pygmy dormice (Graphiurus murinus) respond to an enriched environment?

Exotic rodents are becoming increasingly popular in industry; however, there is limited empirical evidence to guide husbandry practices. African pygmy dormice (Graphiurus murinus) are typical in this respect. This research aimed to determine the effect of environmental enrichment on the...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Other Rodent, Rodent

Citation: Lang, G. P. S. A., Rose, P. E., Nash, S. M. et al. 2020. The nocturnal activity of a commonly housed rodent: How African pygmy dormice (Graphiurus murinus) respond to an enriched environment? Journal of Veterinary Behavior 38, 82-88.