Rodent

Small changes, big results

This paper examines how weaning age influences the welfare of laboratory mice. Results indicate that delaying weaning reduces adult anxiety, as measured by an elevated plus-maze. In females, weaning at a later age seems to decrease the prevalence of both...

Year Published: 2007Animal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Bechard, A. 2007. Small changes, big results. Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) Quarterly 56(3), 17.

Enforced restraint of rodents: A discussion by the Refinement & Enrichment Forum

The question was asked: "Rodents are often restrained for data collection procedures, such as blood collection and injection, by coaxing them into tubes, for example syringe cylinders or perspex tubes. What can be done to buffer the stress response of...

Year Published: 2007Topics: Animal Training, RestraintAnimal Type: Guinea Pig, Mouse, Rat, Rodent

Citation: Barley, J., Mikkelsen, L. F., Francis, R. et al. 2007. Enforced restraint of rodents: A discussion by the Refinement & Enrichment Forum. Animal Technology and Welfare 6(1), 11-13.

Quality of life and the rodent laboratory

Preference studies show that lab mice and rats value opportunities to take cover, build nests, explore, forage, and gain social contact, behavioural needs that are by and large thwarted by standard laboratory housing systems. Eighty additional studies were reviewed to...

Year Published: 2007Animal Type: Mouse, Rat, Rodent

Citation: Balcombe, J. P. 2007. Quality of life and the rodent laboratory. Animal Welfare 16 Supplement(Poster abstract), 166.

Use of a conditioning technique to reduce stress associated with repeated intra-peritoneal injections in laboratory rats

The chromodacryorrhea results suggest that handling restraint produced short-term stress and that an additional stressor (injection) superimposed upon handling did not generally result in a stronger stress response. Pairing of rewards with injection did not alleviate the stress response of...

Year Published: 2008Animal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Cloutier, S., Newberry, R. C. 2008. Use of a conditioning technique to reduce stress associated with repeated intra-peritoneal injections in laboratory rats. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 112(1-2), 158-173.

A targeted approach to developing environmental enrichment for two strains of laboratory mice

Previous studies on environmental enrichment have generally placed a purported enrichment in the cage and observed changes in behavioural and physiological indicators of welfare. However, many of these enrichments are not purposely designed, or appear to be designed with anthropomorphic...

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

Citation: Nicol, C. J., Brocklebank, S., Mendl, M. et al. 2008. A targeted approach to developing environmental enrichment for two strains of laboratory mice. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 110(3-4), 341-353.

Animal Research Review Panel [ARRP] Guideline 20: Guidelines for the Housing of Rats in Scientific Institutions

Year Published: 2008Animal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: NewSouthWales [NSW] Agriculture 2008. Animal Research Review Panel [ARRP] Guideline 20: Guidelines for the Housing of Rats in Scientific Institutions. NSW Department of Primary Industries, Orange, NSW.

Effects of a gentling programme on the behaviour of laboratory rats towards humans

The present study investigated the effects of a gentling programme on the later behaviour of laboratory rats towards humans. For that purpose, 24 female Wistar rats were purchased from a laboratory animal breeding facility at the age of 21 days...

Year Published: 2008Topics: Handling, Human-Animal InteractionAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Maurer, B. M., Doring, D., Scheipl, F. et al. 2008. Effects of a gentling programme on the behaviour of laboratory rats towards humans. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 114, 554-571.

Effects of music composed by Mozart and Ligeti on blood pressure and heart rate circadian rhythms in normotensive and hypertensive rats

There is continuing discussion on the effect of music ( Mozart effect ) on numerous functions in man and experimental animals. Radiotelemetry now allows one to monitor cardiovascular functions in freely-moving unrestrained experimental animals. Radiotelemetry was used to monitor systolic...

Year Published: 2008Animal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Lemmer, B. 2008. Effects of music composed by Mozart and Ligeti on blood pressure and heart rate circadian rhythms in normotensive and hypertensive rats. Chronobiology International 25, 971-986.

Identification of appropriate measures for the assessment of laboratory mouse welfare

A Delphi consultation process was used to examine the validity and feasibility of potential resource-input and animal-based outcome measures of laboratory mouse welfare identified by a comprehensive literature search. The consultation was an iterative two-stage technique that used web and...

Year Published: 2008Animal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Leach, M. C., Thornton, P. D., Main, D. C. J. 2008. Identification of appropriate measures for the assessment of laboratory mouse welfare. Animal Welfare 17, 161-170.

Can we improve the welfare of laboratory mice by cleaning their cages less frequently? Lab Animal 37(5), 216-217

Preliminary results suggest that the frequency of cage cleaning did not affect the stress response in the mice studied.

Year Published: 2008Animal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Latham, N., Mason, G., Dawkins, M. 2008. Can we improve the welfare of laboratory mice by cleaning their cages less frequently? Lab Animal 37(5), 216-217.