Chapter 7.3. Oral Drug Administration? How to minimize Stress Reactions (2007)

LAREF [Laboratory Animal Refinement and Enrichment Forum]

Abstract

Our vervet monkeys voluntarily swallow drugs when we mix these with their regular diet, consisting on pre-cooked maize, fortified with vitamins, minerals and other ingredients. The dry ingredients are blended with water and form a stiff putty-like paste, which is an ideal vehicle for mixing in test substances. If the flavor needs to be masked, there are a variety of possibilities, such as honey and syrup, depending on what the protocol permits. We usually administer the compound in about a third of the morning feed. The bulk of the food is offered after this portion has been consumed. Some substances we even mix into the entire bulk of the morning feed. Keeping the compound too long in cheek pouches or spitting it out has never been a problem. We have used this simple oral administration technique for pharmacokinetic studies very successfully. Over a time period of 20 years, we have not had to deal with any substance that we could not feed to the vervets, including bitter herbal mixtures in fairly high concentrations.