Publications

Where to do number two: Lizards prefer to defecate on the largest rock in the territory

Many animals use their excrements to communicate with others. In order to increase signal efficacy, animals often behaviourally select for specific defecation sites that maximize the detectability of their faecal deposits, such as the tip of rocks by some lizard...

Year Published: 2019Topics: Housing, Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Lizard, Reptile

Citation: Baeckens, S., De Meester, W., Tadić, Z. et al. 2019. Where to do number two: Lizards prefer to defecate on the largest rock in the territory. Behavioural Processes 167, 103937.

Assessing the affective component of pain, and the efficacy of pain control, using conditioned place aversion in calves

Pain in animals is typically assessed using reflexive and physiological responses. These measures allow inferences regarding nociception but provide little basis for conclusions about the affective component of pain (i.e. how negatively the experience is perceived). Calves routinely undergo painful...

Year Published: 2019Topics: Analgesia, Body Modification/MutilationAnimal Type: Cattle

Citation: Ede, T., von Keyserlingk, M. A. G., Weary, D. M. 2019. Assessing the affective component of pain, and the efficacy of pain control, using conditioned place aversion in calves. Biology Letters 15(10), 20190642.

Goats prefer positive human emotional facial expressions

Domestication has shaped the physiology and the behaviour of animals to better adapt to human environments. Therefore, human facial expressions may be highly informative for animals domesticated for working closely with people, such as dogs and horses. However, it is...

Year Published: 2018Topics: Human-Animal InteractionAnimal Type: Goat

Citation: Nawroth C., Albuquerque N., Savalli C. et al. 2018. Goats prefer positive human emotional facial expressions. Royal Society Open Science 5(8), 180491.

Interest in non-social novel stimuli as a function of age in rhesus monkeys

Human cognitive and affective life changes with healthy ageing; cognitive capacity declines while emotional life becomes more positive and social relationships are prioritized. This may reflect an awareness of limited lifetime unique to humans, leading to a greater interest in...

Year Published: 2019Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Macaque, Nonhuman Primate

Citation: Bliss-Moreau, E., Baxter, M. G. 2019. Interest in non-social novel stimuli as a function of age in rhesus monkeys. Royal Society Open Science 6(9), 182237.

The activated newborn neurons participate in enriched environment induced improvement of locomotor function in APP/PS1 mice

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an age‐related neurodegenerative disorder. One of the pathological features of AD is neuronal loss in brain regions associated with cognition, particularly the hippocampus. An enriched environment (EE) can facilitate neuronal plasticity and improve behaviors such as...

Year Published: 2019Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Wang, H., Li, Q, Tang, H. et al. 2019. The activated newborn neurons participate in enriched environment induced improvement of locomotor function in APP/PS1 mice. Brain and Behavior 9(7), e01316.

Pen enrichment and sex interaction on growth performance and metabolite concentrations of autochthonous Windsnyer pigs kept in a high stocking density

The objective of the study was to determine the interaction of pen enrichment and sex on growth performance and blood metabolite concentrations of Windsnyer pigs. Forty-eight growing Windsnyer pigs of both sexes, with an average initial body weight of 21.6...

Year Published: 2018Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Pig

Citation: Mkwanazi, M. V., Kanengoni, A. T., Chimonyo, M. 2018. Pen enrichment and sex interaction on growth performance and metabolite concentrations of autochthonous Windsnyer pigs kept in a high stocking density. Canadian Journal of Animal Science 98(4), 826-832.

Does pellet size affect the ability of beef heifers to consume a pelleted supplement in a simulated grazing model?

The objective was to evaluate pellet consumption and refusals as affected by pellet size. Six ruminally cannulated heifers were used in a replicated 3 × 3 Latin square. Heifers were individually housed and fed a diet of grass hay (57.5%),...

Year Published: 2019Topics: Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Cattle

Citation: Kelln, L., Newkirk, R. W., Smillie, J. et al. 2019. Does pellet size affect the ability of beef heifers to consume a pelleted supplement in a simulated grazing model? Canadian Journal of Animal Science 99(4), 943-950.

Minimally invasive lumbar port system for the collection of cerebrospinal fluid from rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta)

Biomedical translational research frequently incorporates collection of CSF from NHP, because CSF drug levels are used as a surrogate for CNS tissue penetration in pharmacokinetic and dynamic studies. Surgical placement of a CNS ventricular catheter reservoir for CSF collection is...

Year Published: 2016Topics: Biological Sampling & Physiological MeasurementAnimal Type: Macaque, Nonhuman Primate

Citation: MacAllister, R. P., Lester McCully, C. M., Bacher, J. et al. 2016. Minimally invasive lumbar port system for the collection of cerebrospinal fluid from rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). Comparative Medicine 66(4), 349–352.

Sustained-release buprenorphine improves postsurgical clinical condition but does not alter survival or cytokine levels in a murine model of polymicrobial sepsis

Cecal ligation and perforation (CLP) is a common technique for studying sepsis in mice. Because of the invasiveness of the procedure and its effects on clinical condition, many animal care and use committees require the use of analgesics with CLP....

Year Published: 2016Topics: Analgesia, Disease/Experimental ModelAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Herndon, N. L., Bandyopadhyay, S., Hod, E. A. et al. 2016. Sustained-release buprenorphine improves postsurgical clinical condition but does not alter survival or cytokine levels in a murine model of polymicrobial sepsis. Comparative Medicine 66(6), 455–462.

The interplay of ethics, animal welfare, and IACUC oversight on the reproducibility of animal studies

Reproducibility in animal studies has been defined as the ability of a result to be replicated through independent experiments within the same or among different laboratories. Over the past few years, much has been written and said about the lack...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Regulations & Ethical ReviewAnimal Type: All/General

Citation: Pritt, S. L., Hammer, R. E. 2017. The interplay of ethics, animal welfare, and IACUC oversight on the reproducibility of animal studies. Comparative Medicine 67(2), 101–105.