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. 
Sandgren, R., Grims, C., Waters, J. et al. 2021. Using cage ladders as a handling device reduces aversion and anxiety in laboratory mice, similar to tunnel handling. Scandinavian Journal of Laboratory Animal Science 47(5), 31-41.

Handling laboratory animals for husbandry and other procedures can be an important source of anxiety and stress, compromising animal welfare as well as the reliability of research that is sensitive to background stressors. Studies have...

Ratuski, A. S., Makowska, I. J., Dvorack, K. R. et al. 2021. Using approach latency and anticipatory behaviour to assess whether voluntary playpen access is rewarding to laboratory mice. Scientific Reports 11(1), 18683.

Laboratory mice are typically housed in “shoebox" cages that limit the expression of natural behaviours. Temporary access to more complex environments (playpens) may improve their welfare. We aimed to assess if access to playpens is...

Furumoto, K., Ogita, K., Kamisaka, T. et al. 2021. Effects of multimodal analgesic protocol, with buprenorphine and meloxicam, on mice well-being: A dose finding study. Animals 11(12), 3420.

The anesthetic or analgesic agent of choice, route and frequency of anesthetic or analgesic administration, and stressors induce distress during the perioperative period. We evaluated a multimodal analgesic protocol using buprenorphine and meloxicam on the...

Ciborowska, P., Michalczuk, M., Bień, D. 2021. The effect of music on livestock: Cattle, poultry and pigs. Animals 11(12), 3572.

The welfare of animals, especially those kept in intensive production systems, is a priority for modern agriculture. This stems from the desire to keep animals healthy, to obtain a good-quality final product, and to meet...

Waterman, J. O., McNally, R., Harrold, D. et al. 2021. Evaluating environmental enrichment methods in three zoo-housed varanidae lizard species. Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens 2(4), 716–727.

Environmental enrichment has been shown to enhance the behavioural repertoire and reduce the occurrence of abnormal behaviours, particularly in zoo-housed mammals. However, evidence of its effectiveness in reptiles is lacking. Previously, it was believed that...

Li, C., Wang, J., Jin, S. et al. 2020. Artificial grooming during early life could boost the activity and human affinity of Holstein female calves. Animals 10(2), 302.

Early cow–calf separation management induced various welfare problems for dairy calves. We mimicked the maternal licking by manually brushing right after the Holstein female calves were born and during their first week of life, termed...

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...

Moncada, A. C., Neave, H. W., von Keyserlingk, M. A. G. et al. 2020. Use of a mechanical brush by dairy cows with chorioptic mange. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 223, 104925.

Mechanical brushes allow cows to groom. Mange is common in indoor-housed cattle, and this affliction may affect cow motivation to use a mechanical brush. The aim of this study was to assess changes in dairy...

Mertens, S., Gass, P., Palme, R. et al. 2020. Effect of a partial cage dividing enrichment on aggression-associated parameters in group-housed male C57BL/6NCrl mice. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 224, 104939.

Group-housing is highly important for social animals. Group-housing of male mice in captivity though often leads to aggression with partially disastrous consequences for the animals as well as for the quality of experimental data. In...

McAllister, B. B., Thackray, S. E., Garciá de la Orta, B. K. et al. 2020. Effects of enriched housing on the neuronal morphology of mice that lack zinc transporter 3 (ZnT3) and vesicular zinc. Behavioural Brain Research 379, 112336.

In the central nervous system, certain neurons store zinc within the synaptic vesicles of their axon terminals. This vesicular zinc can then be released in an activity-dependent fashion as an intercellular signal. The functions of...

Henderson, L. J., Smulders, T. V., Roughan, J. V. 2020. Identifying obstacles preventing the uptake of tunnel handling methods for laboratory mice: An international thematic survey. PLOS ONE 15(4), e0231454.

Handling of laboratory mice is essential for experiments and husbandry, but handling can increase anxiety in mice, compromising their welfare and potentially reducing replicability between studies. The use of non-aversive handling (e.g., tunnel handling or...

Ueno, H., Takahashi, Y., Suemitsu, S. et al. 2020. Effects of repetitive gentle handling of male C57BL/6NCrl mice on comparative behavioural test results. Scientific Reports 10(1), 3509.

Mice are the most commonly used laboratory animals for studying diseases, behaviour, and pharmacology. Behavioural experiment battery aids in evaluating abnormal behaviour in mice. During behavioural experiments, mice frequently experience human contact. However, the effects...

Crawford, L. E., Knouse, L. E., Kent, M. et al. 2020. Enriched environment exposure accelerates rodent driving skills. Behavioural Brain Research 378, 112309.

Although rarely used, long-term behavioral training protocols provide opportunities to shape complex skills in rodent laboratory investigations that incorporate cognitive, motor, visuospatial and temporal functions to achieve desired goals. In the current study, following preliminary...

Costa, R., Leite Tamascia, M., Sanches, A. et al. 2020. Tactile stimulation of adult rats modulates hormonal responses, depression-like behaviors, and memory impairment induced by chronic mild stress: Role of angiotensin II. Behavioural Brain Research 379, 112250.

Physical touch can help to decrease the effects of stress. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of tactile stimulation on the hormonal and behavioral responses of young adult rats submitted to...

Qu, C., Xu, L., Shen, J. et al. 2020. Protection of blood-brain barrier as a potential mechanism for enriched environments to improve cognitive impairment caused by chronic cerebral hypoperfusion. Behavioural Brain Research 379, 112385.

Chronic cerebral hypoperfusion (CCH) is a common pathophysiological basis for Alzheimer’s Disease and vascular dementia in the early stages. It has been confirmed that blood-brain barrier (BBB) destruction is a key factor in CCH-related cognitive...

Menezes, J., Souto das Neves, B.-H., Gonçalves, R. et al. 2020. Maternal deprivation impairs memory and cognitive flexibility, effect that is avoided by environmental enrichment. Behavioural Brain Research 381, 112468.

Maternal deprivation (MD) causes cognitive deficits that persist until adulthood. Thereby, the environmental enrichment (EE) is widely used to increase brain plasticity. Here, pregnant female rats were used and their offspring were submitted to neonatal...

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...

Petrović, T. G., Vučić, T. Z., Nikolić, S. Z. et al. 2020. The effect of shelter on oxidative stress and aggressive behavior in crested newt larvae (Triturus spp.). Animals 10(4), 603.

Shelters are important for animal survival. Provision of adequate hiding places allow animals to express their natural sheltering behavior and it can have different positive effects on cortisol levels, physiological processes and mental performance. Although...

Park, R. M., Foster, M., Daigle, C. L. 2020. A scoping review: The impact of housing systems and environmental features on beef cattle welfare. Animals 10(4), 565.

Housing systems and environmental features can influence beef cattle welfare. To date, little information has been synthesized on this topic. The aim of this scoping review was to examine the relationship between housing and welfare...

Thorpe, E. 2020. Alternative handling techniques to reduce anxiety in laboratory mice. Animal Technology and Welfare 19(1), 76-78.

Recent studies at Liverpool University have indicated that handling mice by their tails during routine cleaning and procedures induced aversion and high anxiety in many commonly used strains. The evidence from the Liverpool study suggests...

Watson, H. A study into viable wooden enrichment objects for Syrian hamsters. Animal Technology and Welfare 19(1), 86-88.

Failing to provide hamsters with a method to wear down their teeth can lead to detrimental behaviour such as bar chewing, and health issues, for example, overgrown teeth and tooth loss. However, hamsters use their...

Oralman, T. 2020. Confronting crunching: A refinement for the care of mice with the desire to crunch. Animal Technology and Welfare 19(1), 89-91.

‘Crunching’ is the term often used to describe the abnormal behaviour of mice that habitually crunch their pelleted diet, causing substrate levels to rise as the crumbs settle on the cage floor ultimately burying the...

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...

Park, R. M., Schubach, K. M., Cooke, R. F. et al. 2020. Impact of a cattle brush on feedlot steer behavior, productivity and stress physiology. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 228, 104995.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of environmental enrichment (EE), in the form of a cattle brush, on feedlot cattle behavior, productivity and stress physiology. Steers were blocked by weight...

Foley, P. L., Kendall, L. V., Turner, P. V. 2019. Clinical management of pain in rodents. Comparative Medicine 69(6), 468–489.

The use of effective regimens for mitigating pain remain underutilized in research rodents despite the general acceptance of both the ethical imperative and regulatory requirements intended to maximize animal welfare. Factors contributing to this gap...