Refinement Database

Database on Refinement of Housing, Husbandry, Care, and Use of Animals in Research

This database, created in 2000, is updated every four months with newly published scientific articles, books, and other publications related to improving or safeguarding the welfare of animals used in research.

Tips for using the database:

  • This landing page displays all of the publications in the database.
  • Use the drop-down menus to filter these publications by Animal Type, Setting, and/or Topic.
  • Clicking on a parent category (e.g., Rodent) will include publications relating to all the items in that category (e.g., Chinchilla, Gerbil, Guinea Pig, etc.).
  • You may also add a keyword to further narrow your search.
  • Please note that at this time, only publications dated 2010 or later (with some exceptions) can be filtered by Animal Type and Topic, and only publications dated 2020 or later (with some exceptions) can be filtered by Setting. Most publications older than 2010 can only be searched by keyword. 
Mumm, L. E., Mans, C. 2022. Evaluation of dexmedetomidine-midazolam sedation in budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus). Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 260(10), 1194–1199.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the sedative effects of IM administration of a high or low dose of dexmedetomidine in combination with midazolam in budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus). ANIMALS 20 healthy adult budgerigars. PROCEDURES In a prospective, randomized...

Huss, M. K., Pacharinsak, C. 2022. A review of long-acting parenteral analgesics for mice and rats. JAALAS 61(6), 595–602.

Appropriate analgesia is a crucial part of rodent postoperative and postprocedural pain. Providing appropriate analgesia is an ethical obligation, a regulatory requirement, and an essential element of obtaining quality scientific results and conducting reproducible data...

Skade, L., Kristensen, C. S., Nielsen, M. B. F. et al. 2021. Effect of two methods and two anaesthetics for local anaesthesia of piglets during castration. Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica 63, 1.

Since January 2019, surgical castration of male piglets must be performed using local anaesthesia, if farmers deliver pigs to the primary exporting slaughterhouses according to the “Danish quality scheme”; a voluntary initiative taken by the...

Oliveira, A. R., Gozalo-Marcilla, M., Ringer, S. K. et al. 2021. Development, validation, and reliability of a sedation scale in horses (EquiSed). Frontiers in Veterinary Science 8, 611729.

The lack of standardization of sedation scales in horses limits the reproducibility between different studies. This prospective, randomized, blinded, horizontal and controlled trial aimed to validate a scale for sedation in horses (EquiSed). Seven horses...

Owen, J. P., Kelsh, R. N. 2021. A suitable anaesthetic protocol for metamorphic zebrafish. PLOS ONE 16(3), e0246504.

Zebrafish are frequently used as a means to investigate development. These studies increasingly require repeated anaesthesia of zebrafish during juvenile (i.e. metamorphic) stages. The effects of anaesthesia during this time remain poorly studied. The aim...

Navarro, K. L., Huss, M., Smith, J. C. et al. 2021. Mouse anesthesia: The art and science. ILAR Journal 62(1-2), 238-273.

There is an art and science to performing mouse anesthesia, which is a significant component to animal research. Frequently, anesthesia is one vital step of many over the course of a research project spanning weeks...

Blevins, C. E., Celeste, N. A., Marx, J. O. 2021. Effects of oxygen supplementation on injectable and inhalant anesthesia in C57BL/6 mice. JAALAS 60(3), 289-297.

Oxygen supplementation is rarely considered when anesthetizing laboratory mice, despite reports that mice become profoundly hypoxic under anesthesia. Little is known about the effects of hypoxia on anesthetic performance. This article focuses on the effects...

Chang, L.-J., Ko, J. C., Weil, A. B. et al. 2021. Comparison of anesthetic and cardiorespiratory effects of tiletamine-zolazepam-detomidine-butorphanol, tiletamine-zolazepam-xylazine-butorphanol, and ketamine-detomidine-butorphanol in pigs. Journal of the AVMA 258(8), 883-891.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate and compare the anesthetic, analgesic, and cardiorespiratory effects of tiletamine-zolazepam-detomidine-butorphanol (TZDB), tiletamine-zolazepam-xylazine-butorphanol (TZXB), and ketamine-detomidine-butorphanol (KDB) in pigs and to assess anesthetic recovery duration and quality following administration of tolazoline as a...

Argüelles, J., Echaniz, M., Bowen, J. et al. 2021. The impact of a stress-reducing protocol on the quality of pre-anaesthesia in cats. Veterinary Record 188(12), e138.

Introduction: Transport to the clinic is a major source of stress for cats. The process involves being put into a carrier, driven in a car and handled. Cats are therefore removed from the safe-haven of...

Small, A., Marini, D., Colditz, I. 2021. Local anesthetic delivered with a dual action ring and injection applicator reduces the acute pain response of lambs during tail docking. Animals 11(8), 2242.

Docking the tail of lambs is a standard husbandry procedure and is achieved through several techniques including clamps, hot or cold knives and latex rings, the last of which is the most popular. All tail...

Kälin, I., Henze, I. S., Ringer, S. K. et al. 2021. Comparison of recovery quality following medetomidine versus xylazine balanced isoflurane anaesthesia in horses: A retrospective analysis. Animals 11(8), 2440.

Medetomidine partial intravenous anaesthesia (PIVA) has not been compared to xylazine PIVA regarding quality of recovery. This clinical retrospective study compared recoveries following isoflurane anaesthesia balanced with medetomidine or xylazine. The following standard protocol was...

Sheil, M., De Benedictis, G. M., Scollo, A. et al. 2021. Efficacy of intra-operative topical wound anaesthesia to mitigate piglet castration pain—A large, multi-centred field trial. Animals 11(10), 2763.

Piglet castration results in acute pain and stress to the animal. There is a critical need for effective on-farm methods of pain mitigation. Local anaesthesia using Tri-Solfen® (Animal Ethics Pty Ltd., Melbourne, Australia), a topical...

Camargo-dos-Santos, B., Carlos, C. L., Favero-Neto, J. et al. 2021. Welfare in Nile tilapia production: Dorsal fin erection as a visual indicator for insensibility. Animals 11(10), 3007.

In aquaculture, to ensure animal welfare in pre-slaughter and slaughter stages, it is fundamental that fish are insensible. A method for evaluating fish insensibility is based on visual sensibility indicators (VSI) assessment (i.e., self-initiated behavior...

Schmid, S. M., Steinhoff-Wagner, J. 2021. Behavior and body temperature alterations in piglets anesthetized for castration during a four-hour recovery phase. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 245, 105497.

One way to eliminate pain during surgical castration is to provide general anesthesia by intramuscular injection. However, its disadvantage is the long recovery phase, during which anesthetized piglets have to be separated from the sow...

Abbo, L. A., Himebaugh, N. E., DeMelo, L. M. et al. 2021. Anesthetic efficacy of magnesium chloride and ethyl alcohol in temperate octopus and cuttlefish species. JAALAS 60(5), 556-567.

Cephalopods are important in biologic and biomedical research, yet relatively little objective information is available to guide researchers and veterinarians regarding the best methods for anesthetizing these animals for various experimental procedures. Recent studies demonstrate...

Kinaci, A., Vaessen, K., Redegeld, S. et al. 2021. Minimizing complications in a porcine survival craniotomy model. Laboratory Animals 55(5), 435-442.

A large craniotomy survival porcine model is useful for scientific research. The surgical approaches and complications of craniotomies in pigs have not been published before. This study describes how large craniotomies were performed in 46...

White, K. L., Hird, J. F. R., Taylor, P. M. 2021. Sevoflurane or isoflurane anaesthesia? A prospective, randomised blinded clinical trial in horses undergoing elective surgery. Veterinary Record 189(3), e507.

Background: Isoflurane is the only volatile anaesthetic agent licensed for equine use in the United Kingdom, but sevoflurane is also commonly used. The two agents have rarely been compared for use in clinical elective surgery...

Jorge, S., Ferreira, J. M., Olsson, I. A. S. et al. 2021. Efficacy and behavioral recovery of different anesthetics. Zebrafish 18(5), 330-337.

The use of proper anesthesia in zebrafish research is essential to ensure fish welfare and data reliability. However, anesthesia long-term side effects remain poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to assess anesthesia quality...

Espinoza, C., Lomax, S., Windsor, P. 2020. The effect of topical anaesthesia on the cortisol responses of calves undergoing dehorning. Animals 10(2), 312.

Dehorning causes pain and distress to cattle, and there is a need to provide effective and practical analgesia to improve animal welfare. We conducted an experiment to determine the effect of a modified post-operative topical...

Lervik, A., Toverud, S. F., Krontveit, R. et al. 2020. A comparison of respiratory function in pigs anaesthetised by propofol or alfaxalone in combination with dexmedetomidine and ketamine. Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica 62(1), 1-9.

Background: General anaesthesia in pigs maintained with intravenous drugs such as propofol may cause respiratory depression. Alfaxalone gives less respiratory depression than propofol in some species. The aim of the investigation was to compare respiratory...

Botman, J., Hontoir, F., Gustin, P. et al. 2020. Postanaesthetic effects of ketamine–midazolam and ketamine–medetomidine on gastrointestinal transit time in rabbits anaesthetised with isoflurane. Veterinary Record 186(8), 249.

Gastrointestinal stasis is a common perianaesthetic complication in rabbits. The objective of this study was to assess the impact on gastrointestinal transit time of ketamine–midazolam (KMZ) versus ketamine–medetomidine (later antagonised by atipamezole) (KMT-A) in rabbits...

Yaw, T. J., Mans, C., Johnson,S. et al. 2020. Evaluation of subcutaneous administration of alfaxalone-midazolam and dexmedetomidine-midazolam for sedation of ball pythons (Python regius). Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 256(5), 573-579.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate SC administration of alfaxalone-midazolam and dexmedetomidine-midazolam for sedation of ball pythons (Python regius). ANIMALS: 12 healthy juvenile ball pythons. PROCEDURES: In a randomized crossover study, each snake was administered a combination of...

Alemán-Laporte, J., Bandini, L. A., Garcia-Gomes, M. S. et al. 2020. Combination of ketamine and xylazine with opioids and acepromazine in rats: Physiological changes and their analgesic effect analysed by ultrasonic vocalization. Laboratory Animals 54(2), 171–182.

In this study, the effect of four anaesthetic protocols that included the combination of xylazine (X) and ketamine (K) with acepromazine (A) and opioids (methadone (Me), morphine (Mo) or tramadol (T)) was evaluated in laboratory...

Hempstead, M. N., Waas, J. R., Stewart, M. et al. 2020. Can isoflurane and meloxicam mitigate pain associated with cautery disbudding of 3-week-old goat kids? Animals 10(5), 878.

We evaluated the effect of pain mitigation strategies (isoflurane and meloxicam) on the behaviour and physiology of 3-week-old disbudded goat kids. Fifty Saanen does (mean ± SD, 21 ± 3 days old) were randomly allocated...

Ballantine, A., Rodgers, D., Watts, C. et al. 2020. The cotton rat – a new challenge. Animal Technology and Welfare 19(1), 92-95.

This poster describes how the Animal Technologists at Envigo adapted their current practices and procedures for a new species at their laboratory: the cotton rat. The paper describes cotton rat biology and behaviour; housing; environmental...