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. 
Coleman, K. 2012. Individual differences in temperament and behavioral management practices for nonhuman primates. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 137(3-4), 106-113.

This review will examine how individual differences in temperament might affect, or be affected by, behavioral management practices for captive primates. Measuring temperament may help us predict the outcome of social introductions. It can also...

Blyth, L. 2012. A safe, gentle and effective method of oral dosing guinea-pigs. Animal Technology and Welfare 11, 187-188.

Guinea pigs are difficult to oral gavage dose. Previous adverse effects from this dosing method, using rigid catheters, had caused an earlier endpoint to studies and loss of data. We therefore developed a prototype gag...

Bechard, A., Nicholson, A., Mason, G. 2012. Litter size predicts adult stereotypic behavior in female laboratory mice. JAALAS 51(3), 407-411.

Stereotypic behaviors are repetitive invariant behaviors that are common in many captive species and potentially indicate compromised welfare and suitability as research subjects. Adult laboratory mice commonly perform stereotypic bar-gnawing, route-tracing, and back-flipping, although great...

Ali, A., Dua, Y., Constance, J. E. et al. 2012. A once-per-day, drug-in-food protocol for prolonged administration of antiepileptic drugs in animal models. Epilepsia 53(1), 199-206.

Purpose: Convenient and effective methods for administering potential antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) chronically should facilitate many experiments in animal models of chronic epilepsy with spontaneous recurrent seizures. This proof-of-principle study aimed to optimize a once-per-day, drug-in-food...

Pomerantz, O., Terkel, J., Suomi, S. J. et al. 2012. Stereotypic head twirls, but not pacing, are related to a ‘pessimistic’-like judgment bias among captive tufted capuchins (Cebus apella). Animal Cognition 15(4), 689–698.

Abnormal stereotypic behaviour is widespread among captive non-human primates and is generally associated with jeopardized well-being. However, attributing the same significance to all of these repetitive, unvarying and apparently functionless behaviours may be misleading, as...

Zahorsky-Reeves, J. 2011. The choice of bedding substrate, route of blood collection, and method of glucose determination all affect fasting blood glucose levels in C57BL/6 mice. American Association for Laboratory Animal Science [AALAS] Meeting Official Program, 738 (Abstract #PS80).

This study compared 4 bedding substrates (corncob, paper, hardwood chip, and wire-bottomed cage inserts) and 2 routes of blood collection (lateral tail vein and retroorbital sinus) in 6 male C57BL/6NCrl mice. Mice were maintained with...

Bechard, A., Meagher, R., Mason, G. 2011. Environmental enrichment reduces the likelihood of alopecia in adult C57BL/6J mice. JAALAS 50(2), 71-74.

Barbering (incessant grooming) is an abnormal behavior causing alopecia and commonly affects various strains of laboratory mice, including C57BL/6J. Barbering-induced alopecia is a potential symptom of brain impairment and can indicate a stressful environment. We...

Tosa, N., Yoshimatsu, K., Arikawa, J. 2011. Effect of environmental enrichment after the occurrence of wet bedding created by mice and abnormal fur in mice. American Association for Laboratory Animal Science [AALAS] Meeting Official Program, 779-780 (Abstract #P161).

In management of laboratory animals, wet bedding created by mice and abnormal fur in mice cause problems on housing, leading to negative effects both on the wellbeing of mice and on the validity of experimental...

Nam-Mi Gross, A., Engela, A. K. J., Würbel, H. 2011. Simply a nest? Effects of different enrichments on stereotypic and anxiety-related behaviour in mice. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 134(3-4), 239-245 .

Improving the home cages of laboratory mice by environmental enrichment has been widely used to reduce cage stereotypies and anxiety-related behaviour in behavioural tests. However, enrichment studies differ substantially in type, complexity and variation of...

Mathieu, C. 2011. Comparative analysis of blood sampling techniques in the rat. American Association for Laboratory Animal Science [AALAS] Meeting Official Program, 738 (Abstract #PS81).

Blood sampling is one of the most common procedures performed on laboratory animals as part of scientific research. As an ongoing commitment, our institution has identified a need to improve the current blood sampling method...

Hawkins, P., Burn, C., Hurst, J. et al. 2011. Report of the 2010 RSPCA/UFAW rodent welfare group meeting - The effect of husbandry on welfare and promoting good practice. Animal Technology and Welfare 10(2), 105-114.

The RSPCA/UFAW Rodent Welfare Group holds a one-day meeting every autumn so that its members can discuss current welfare research, exchange views on rodent welfare issues and share experiences of the implementation of the 3Rs...

Fitchett, A., Judge, S., Morris, C. 2011. Using olive oil to orally dose laboratory rats. Animal Technology and Welfare 10(1), 39-41.

Many compounds are orally administered to laboratory rats using the gavage technique. This technique is stressful for the animal and can cause injury or death if performed incorrectly. Often compounds are suspended in food oils...

Zhang, L. 2011. Voluntary oral administration of drugs in mice. Protocol Exchange [version 1, protocol preprint].

Oral administration of substances is a common procedure in scientific experiments using laboratory animals and typically is achieved in conscious animals by using the intragastric gavage technique. While highly effective, this method can be technically...

Aasland, K. E., Skjerve, E., Smith, A. J. 2010. Quality of blood samples from the saphenous vein compared with the tail vein during multiple blood sampling of mice. Laboratory Animals 44(1), 25-29.

A large number of methods for obtaining blood from mice have been published. In our facility, saphenous venepuncture is considered the method of choice for bleeding mice and is believed to have a number of...

Reamer, L., Tooze, Z., Coulson, C. et al. 2010. Correlates of self-directed and stereotypic behaviours in captive red-capped mangabeys (Cercocebus torquatus torquatus). Applied Animal Behaviour Science 124(1-2), 68-74.

The quantification of behaviours linked to anxiety or stress provides a powerful means to address applied questions related to the well-being of captive animals. This study explored correlates of two such behaviours: self-directed (SDB) and...

Lutz, C. K., Condel, L. L., Ponce, F. B. 2010. A survey of alopecia in group-housed baboons. American Journal of Primatology 72(S1), 35. (33rd Meeting of the American Society of Primatologists Scientific Program, Abstract #32)

Although alopecia may arise from a variety of causes, it is often viewed as an indicator of impaired wellbeing, frequently becoming a focus of regulators or facility managers. However, the extent of alopecia in populations...

Fultz, A., Brent, L., Loeser, E. 2010. Abnormal behaviors in sanctuary chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). American Journal of Primatology 72(S1), 28-29. (33rd Meeting of the American Society of Primatologists Scientific Program, Abstract #10)

Chimp Haven has retired 153 chimpanzees, the majority from biomedical research, and abnormal behavior patterns have been reported. Abnormal behaviors are well described in chimpanzees and usually related to early rearing environment, social isolation and...

Egeler, J. L., Hoekwater, S., Hoffman, H. D. 2010. Monitoring program for the treatment of nonhuman primates with behavioral disorders. American Association for Laboratory Animal Science [AALAS] Meeting Official Program, 717 (Abstract #P113).

Maintaining the psychologic wellbeing of nonhuman primates housed in a laboratory setting is an important aspect in providing the best possible care for these animals. Nonhuman primates kept in captivity can begin to display abnormal...

De Villiers, C., Seier, J. V. 2010. Stopping self injurious behaviour of a young male chacma baboon (Papio ursinus). Animal Technology and Welfare 9(2), 77-80.

While access to a foraging log had no curative effect on serious self-injurious biting of a single-caged subadult male baboon, transferring the animal to an outdoor section with compatible females in adjacent cages (allowing grooming...

Van Dyk, A., Rickers, M. 2010. A technique for single-person oral gavage in rabbits. American Association for Laboratory Animal Science [AALAS] Meeting Official Program, 749 (Abstract #P215).

The physiologic and anatomic structure of rabbits can cause high mortality rates in rabbit oral gavage. Rabbits are capable of a wide variety of jaw movement due to 3 jaw-closing muscle groups (masseter, temporalis, pterygoid)...

Turner, P. V., Ovari, J., Pinelli, C. et al. 2010. Long-term effects of housing and enrichment on affective behavior and responsiveness of Sprague-Dawley rats. American Association for Laboratory Animal Science [AALAS] Meeting Official Program, 658-659 (Abstract #PS12).

Most rodent studies evaluate different caging paradigms over short periods of time, which may not be realistic for typical colony settings. Inappropriate housing may lead to boredom, aggression, stereotypies, and altered metabolism, which in turn...

Tilly, S.-L. C., Dallaire, J., Mason, G. J. 2010. Middle-aged mice with enrichment-resistant stereotypic behaviour show reduced motivation for enrichment. Animal Behaviour 80(3), 363-373.

For captive animals, living in barren conditions leads to stereotypic behaviour that is hard to alleviate using environmental enrichment. This resistance to enrichment is often explained via mechanisms that decouple abnormal behaviour from current welfare...

Fernandez, I., Pena, A., Del Teso, N. et al. 2010. Clinical biochemistry parameters in C57BL/6J mice after blood collection from the submandibular vein and retroorbital plexus. JAALAS 49(2), 202-206.

Collection of blood from the submandibular vein allows simple and rapid processing of many animals without anesthesia and facilitates rapid recovery with no signs of pain and discomfort in the mice. Here we compared the...

Pawlowicz, A., Demner, A., Lewis, M. H. 2010. Effects of access to voluntary wheel running on the development of stereotypy. Behavioural Processes 83(3), 242-246.

Stereotyped motor behaviors are a common consequence of environmental restriction in a wide variety of species. Although environmental enrichment has been shown to substantially reduce stereotypy levels, the various components of enrichment have not been...

Nelson, E. A., Keller, G. L., Mitchell, T. W. et al. 2010. A jugular bleeding technique in rabbits. Lab Animal 39(1), 17-22.

When studying pharmacokinetics in rabbits, researchers must often take multiple blood samples from conscious rabbits. Researchers usually collect these samples via the auricular vein, typically through a port or an indwelling catheter. The authors have...