Rodent

Going outside ASPA guidelines

This article will discuss an improved and refined technique used for working and caring for a group of diabetic mice. As a team of animal technologists, academics and named veterinary surgeon, we developed a new husbandry care regime to improve...

Year Published: 2016Topics: Disease/Experimental Model, Drug/Substance Administration, Environmental Enrichment, Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Gardiner, P. 2016. Going outside ASPA guidelines. Animal Technology and Welfare 15(1), 47-52.

Refinement in post-surgical recovery

Pre- and post-surgical care includes providing the animals with a soft version of their standard Irradiated diet. Food pellets are soaked in sterile water and this turns into a mash. This ensures that the animals are well hydrated prior to...

Year Published: 2016Topics: Disease/Experimental Model, Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Robertson, A. 2016. Refinement in post-surgical recovery. Animal Technology and Welfare 15(1), 62-63.

Do different strains prefer different enrichments?

This study was aimed at discovering if C57BL/6J and BALB/c mice have a preferred type of enrichment. The findings will help identify the right type of enrichment for each strain and ultimately aid in keeping laboratory mice happy and healthy....

Year Published: 2016Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Atkinson, R. 2016. Do different strains prefer different enrichments? Animal Technology and Welfare 15(2), 133-135.

Social and environmental enrichment has different effects on ethanol and sucrose consumption in mice

Factors leading to the harmful consumption of substances, like alcohol and sucrose, involve a complex interaction of genes and the environment. While we cannot control the genes we inherit, we can modify our environment. Understanding the role that social and...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Holgate, J. Y., Garcia, H., Chatterjee, S. et al. 2017. Social and environmental enrichment has different effects on ethanol and sucrose consumption in mice. Brain and Behavior 7(8), e00767.

Environmental enrichment in the absence of wheel running produces beneficial behavioural and anti-oxidative effects in rats

The effects of early environmental enrichment (EE) when solving a simple spatial task in adult male rats were assessed. After weaning, rats were housed in pairs in enriched or standard cages (EE and control groups) for two and a half...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Mármol, F., Sánchez, J., Torres, M. N. et al. 2017. Environmental enrichment in the absence of wheel running produces beneficial behavioural and anti-oxidative effects in rats. Behavioural Processes 144, 66-71.

Advances in animal welfare and scientific outcomes of the bile duct cannulated rat model utilised in ADME studies

Since rats lack a gall bladder, they are an ideal model for investigating continuous biliary excretion and biotransformation. The design and implementation of a modified tail cuff and cannula system introduced at Covance permits the animal's own bile to be...

Year Published: 2018Topics: Cannulation, Catheterization, & Intubation, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: van Wijk, H., Crossman, L., Adjin-Tettey, G. et al. 2018. Advances in animal welfare and scientific outcomes of the bile duct cannulated rat model utilised in ADME studies. Animal Technology and Welfare 17(1), 64-67.

Investigation of transportation on rat acclimatisation using novel cage side recording equipment (Rodent Big Brother)

The transportation of animals from supplier to experimental facility is one of the biggest stressors to animals in research. Transportation unavoidably causes stress and when the animals arrive at the testing facility they require a period of acclimatisation, which is...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Relocation & TransportAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Simpson, D. 2017. Investigation of transportation on rat acclimatisation using novel cage side recording equipment (Rodent Big Brother). Animal Technology and Welfare 16(1), 1-12.

Time for change? Practicalities of implementing non-aversive methods for handling mice

Recent studies have shown that the method choice for handling laboratory mice is important to animal welfare. In 2015, 60% of all animals used in Home Office procedures were laboratory mice. Given the large number of mice within global facilities,...

Year Published: 2017Topics: HandlingAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Waters, J. 2017. Time for change? Practicalities of implementing non-aversive methods for handling mice. Animal Technology and Welfare 16(1), 47-56.

Effect of moderate environmental enrichment on commonly used behavioural tests in rats

The environment that laboratory animals are housed in should reflect their natural habitats in a manner that can satisfy their innate physiological and behavioural needs. This includes nest building, hiding, exploring and foraging. Providing environmental enrichment (EE) in order to...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Kleefeld, S., Bannerton, K., Kelly, J.2017. Effect of moderate environmental enrichment on commonly used behavioural tests in rats. Animal Technology and Welfare 16(1), 75-76.

Report of the 2016 RSPCA/UFAW Rodent and Rabbit Welfare Group meeting

The RSPCA/UFAW Rodent (and now Rabbit) Welfare Group held a one-day meeting on 1 November 2016 at the University of Edinburgh and was attended by 70 delegates. Presentation topics included refinements in blood sampling rodents, reducing suffering in projects involving...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Biological Sampling & Physiological Measurement, Disease/Experimental Model, Husbandry & Management, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rabbit, Rat, Rodent

Citation: Hawkins, P., McNeilly, A., Watson, J. et al. 2017. Report of the 2016 RSPCA/UFAW Rodent and Rabbit Welfare Group meeting. Animal Technology and Welfare 16(2), 77-86.