Rodent

Investigation of a novel refined oral dosing method

Over six days, male Lister Hooded rats wre trained to drink from a syringe containing either a 5-10% surose solution or 1mg/ml donepezil suspended in 5-10% sucrose solution. After just a few days training, there were significant reductions in the...

Year Published: 2007Topics: Drug/Substance AdministrationAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Rourke, C., Pemberton, D. J. 2007. Investigation of a novel refined oral dosing method. Institute of Animal Technology [IAT] Congress, 46 (Abstract).

Effect of noise on microvascular integrity in laboratory rats

Housing rats in an environment with high personnel activity increases microvascular leakiness to albumin in the mesenteric microcirculation and causes mast cell degranulation. ...All groups exposed to excess noise had significantly more leaks per venule length and greater leak area...

Year Published: 2007Animal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Baldwin, A. L., Bell, I. R. 2007. Effect of noise on microvascular integrity in laboratory rats. Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science [Contemporary Topics in Laboratory Animal Science] 46(1), 58-65.

Can sleep behaviour be used as an indicator of stress in group-housed rats (Rattus norvegicus)?

We assessed the value of sleep behaviour as a novel measure of stress in group-housed animals. We observed, non-invasively, sleep behaviour in 144 group-housed rats, and related it to other physiological and physical indicators of stress and welfare. Sleep frequency...

Year Published: 2007Animal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Abou-Ismail, U. A., Burman, O. H. P., Nicol, C. J. et al. 2007. Can sleep behaviour be used as an indicator of stress in group-housed rats (Rattus norvegicus)? Animal Welfare 16(2), 185-188.

What is it like to be a rat? Rat sensory perception and its implications for experimental design and rat welfare

This review of rat sensory perception spans eight decades of work conducted across diverse research fields. It covers rat vision, audition, olfaction, gustation, and somatosensation, and describes how rat perception differs from and coincides with ours. As Nagel's seminal work...

Year Published: 2008Animal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Burn, C. C. 2008. What is it like to be a rat? Rat sensory perception and its implications for experimental design and rat welfare. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 112(1-2), 1-32.

Life rafts for mice

A cage modification was designed for mice to escape in the unlikely event of a flood.

Year Published: 2008Animal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Butcher, T. 2008. Life rafts for mice. Animal Technology and Welfare 7(2), 61-63.

Effects of cage-cleaning frequency on laboratory rat reproduction, cannibalism, and welfare

Regular cage-cleaning is important for health, but for breeding rats it disrupts the nest and removes olfactory signals important for parental care. To investigate how different cage-cleaning frequencies affect breeding rats health and welfare, we monitored reproductive output, pup mortality,...

Year Published: 2008Animal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Burn, C. C., Mason, G. J. 2008. Effects of cage-cleaning frequency on laboratory rat reproduction, cannibalism, and welfare. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 114, 235-247.

Effects of indomethacin and buprenorphine analgesia on the postoperative recovery of mice

Effects of indomethacin and buprenorphineanalgesia on the postoperative recovery of mice

Year Published: 2008Animal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Blaha, M., Leon, L. R. 2008. Effects of indomethacin and buprenorphine analgesia on the postoperative recovery of mice. Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science 47, 8-19.

Effects of housing density on Long Evans and Fischer 344 rats

Results suggest that rats of these strains can be raised at the higher densities tested until any age and regrouped with unfamiliar cagemates without compromising the rats' welfare or subsequent experimental data.

Year Published: 2008Animal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Bean, K., Nemelka, K., Canchola, P. et al. 2008. Effects of housing density on Long Evans and Fischer 344 rats. Lab Animal 37(9), 421.

Social and Physical Environmental Enrichment Differentially Affect Growth and Activity of Preadolescent and Adolescent Male Rats

Environmental enrichment for laboratory animals is a widely accepted practice for many species, but few studies address the periods of preadolescence and adolescence. Provision of igloos, tunnels, nesting materials, and social or communal housing are commonly used enrichment strategies in...

Year Published: 2008Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Zaias, J., Queeney, T. J., Kelley, J. B. et al. 2008. Social and Physical Environmental Enrichment Differentially Affect Growth and Activity of Preadolescent and Adolescent Male Rats. Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science [Contemporary Topics in Laboratory Animal Science] 47(2).

Home improvement: mice with more naturalistic nesting materials build better nests

Environmental enrichment of laboratory mice can improve the quality of research, but debate arises over the means of enrichment and its ability to be used in a sterile environment. One important form of enrichment is nesting material. Mice in the...

Year Published: 2008Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Hess SE, Rohr S, Dufour B, et al. 2008. Home improvement: mice with more naturalistic nesting materials build better nests. J Am Assoc Lab Anim Sci. 47;25-31.