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. 
Nunes, S. 2023. Animal-friendly behavioral testing in field studies: Examples from ground squirrels. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 17.

Field studies of behavior provide insight into the expression of behavior in its natural ecological context and can serve as an important complement to behavioral studies conducted in the lab under controlled conditions. In addition...

Parsons, M. H., Stryjek, R., Fendt, M. et al. 2023. Making a case for the free exploratory paradigm: Animal welfare-friendly assays that enhance heterozygosity and ecological validity. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 17.

Rodents, laboratory rats and mice, have been used as models in experimental research for almost two centuries (Keeler, 1947; Bolles and Woods, 1964; Nishioka, 1995; Guénet and Bonhomme, 2003). During this time, it has been...

Rybalko, N., Suchánková, Š., Bureš, Z. et al. 2023. Mice prone to tinnitus after acoustic trauma show increased pre-exposure sensitivity to background noise. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 17.

Noise-induced tinnitus is generally associated with hearing impairment caused by traumatic acoustic overexposure. Previous studies in laboratory animals and human subjects, however, have observed differences in tinnitus susceptibility, even among individuals with similar hearing loss...

Siddall, R. 2023. Ethorobotic rats for rodent behavioral research: Design considerations. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 17.
Brown, A. 2023. Aced it! Performing large volume survival bleeds in rabbits. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 11(3) (May/June), 44-46.

New Zealand White rabbits are commonly used for polyclonal antibody production, which can require collecting no more than 10% of total body weight every two weeks (approximately 20 ml of blood for a 4 kg...

Anderson, B. J., Curtis, A. M., Jen, A. et al. 2023. Plasma metabolomics supports non-fasted sampling for metabolic profiling across a spectrum of glucose tolerance in the Nile rat model for type 2 diabetes. Lab Animal 52(11), 269–277.

Type 2 diabetes is a challenge in modern healthcare, and animal models are necessary to identify underlying mechanisms. The Nile rat (Arvicanthis niloticus) develops diet-induced diabetes rapidly on a conventional rodent chow diet without genetic...

Brereton, J. E., Brereton, S. 2023. The effect of basking light provision on sun beetle enclosure use. Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research 11(2), 283–288.

The effect of basking light provision on sun beetle enclosure use.

Cordoni, G., Ciarcelluti, G., Pasqualotto, A. et al. 2023. Is it for real? Structural differences between play and real fighting in adult chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). American Journal of Primatology 85(9), e23537.

In primates, as well as in other mammals, play fighting (PF) is a complex form of playful activity that is structurally similar to real fighting (RF) and may also be used in a competitive way...

Flewitt, A., Williams, L., Preziosi, R. et al. 2023. Tagging and location preferences to inform post-release monitoring of the Greater Bermuda land snail Poecilozonites bermudensis. Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research 11(3), 345–349.

The Greater Bermuda land snail Poecilozonites bermudensis was once thought to be extinct in the wild, however, recent captive population increases have allowed reintroductions to take place. Post-release monitoring of reintroduced individuals is a fundamental...

George, A. J., O’Malley, C. I., Bulock, R. E. et al. 2023. Implementation of an alternative training method for cardiac blood collection in mice. JAALAS 62(6), 487–493.

Training personnel to work with animals presents a variety of challenges, both logistically and with regard to animal welfare. These issues make training an ideal opportunity to evaluate practices and to implement the 3R principles...

Lelláková, M., Pavľak, A., Lešková, L. et al. 2023. Monitoring blinks and eyelid twitches in horses to assess stress during the samples collection process. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 26(4), 530–539.

To assess stress in horses, a method of monitoring eye blinks (full and half) and eyelid twitches while collecting saliva and blood samples before and after annual intensive police training was carried out. This noninvasive...

Rosati, A. G., Sabbi, K. H., Bryer, M. A. H. et al. 2023. Observational approaches to chimpanzee behavior in an African sanctuary: Implications for research, welfare, and capacity-building. American Journal of Primatology 85(9), e23534.

Research in African ape sanctuaries has emerged as an important context for our understanding of comparative cognition and behavior. While much of this work has focused on experimental studies of cognition, these animals semi-free-range in...

Chen, D. D., Molk, D. M., Palley, L. S. et al. 2023. Pinna edge biopsy of 7 and 21 day old C57BL/6 mice as a method for identification and genotyping. JAALAS 62(5), 438–448.

Identifying and genotyping mice prior to weaning can be useful for mouse colony management. Mice of an undesired genotype can be identified prior to weaning and removed from further study, resulting in a reduction of...

George, A. J., Harmsen, B. J., Ford, J. A. et al. 2023. Evaluation of submental blood collection in mice (Mus musculus). JAALAS 62(1), 92–98.

The submental route is an option for nonterminal and serial blood collection in mice. This study compared the submental route to the maxillary route (also referred to as the submandibular route). The study used male...

Butcher, G., Davidson, A., Sloanc, A. et al. 2021. An apparatus for automatically training and collecting individualized behavioral data with socially housed rodents. Journal of Neuroscience Methods 365, 109387.

Background: Conventional methods for individually housing, training, and testing rodents in behavioral assays can impose constraints that may limit some kinds of experimental external validity, preempt environmental enrichment, impose heavy experimenter time burdens that limit...

Neville, V., Mounty, J., Benato, L., Hunter, K. et al. 2022. Thinking outside the lab: Can studies of pet rats inform pet and laboratory rat welfare? Applied Animal Behaviour Science 246, 105507.

Surveys provide a low-cost means to obtain large amounts of data that are ideal for conducting exploratory research, and they are becoming an increasingly valuable tool in a veterinary context. We investigated whether surveys of...

Reuser, A., Wenzel, K., Felix, S. B. et al. 2022. Simultaneous assessment of spontaneous cage activity and voluntary wheel running in group-housed mice. Scientific Reports 12(1), 4444.

Small animal models are frequently used to improve our understanding of the molecular and biological signaling pathways underlying the beneficial effects of physical activity and exercise. Unfortunately, when running wheels are employed, mice and rats...

Torcivia, C., McDonnell, S. 2022. Efficacy of lidocaine topical solution in reducing discomfort reaction of horses to intramuscular vaccination. Animals 12(13), 1659.

Vaccinations via intramuscular injection are a key component of preventative health care in horses. Development of problematic behavioral aversion to injections is quite common. Our clinical impression has been that topical anesthetic applied to injection...

Gromov, V. 2022. Ecology and social behaviour of the Mongolian gerbil: A generalised review. Behaviour 159(5), 403-441.

The present review provides a compilation of the published data on the ecology and social behaviour of Mongolian gerbils. Behavioural observations in the wild show that the Mongolian gerbil is a diurnal social rodent living...

Kohler, J., Mei, J., Banneke, S. et al. 2022. Assessing spatial learning and memory in mice: Classic radial maze versus a new animal-friendly automated radial maze allowing free access and not requiring food deprivation. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 16, 1013624.

The radial arm maze (RAM) is a common behavioral test to quantify spatial learning and memory in rodents. Prior attempts to refine the standard experimental setup have been insufficient. Previously, we demonstrated the feasibility of...

Ahrens Kress, A. P., Zhang, Y., Kaiser-Vry, A. R. et al. 2022. A Comparison of blood collection techniques in mice and their effects on welfare. JAALAS 61(3), 287-295.

Multiple methods are used to collect blood from mice; these methods have different effects on animal welfare. This study compared blood collection from facial, chin, and saphenous locations with regard to various parameters, including the...

Barkus, C., Bergmann, C., Branco, T. et al. 2022. Refinements to rodent head fixation and fluid/food control for neuroscience. Journal of Neuroscience Methods 381, 109705.

The use of head fixation in mice is increasingly common in research, its use having initially been restricted to the field of sensory neuroscience. Head restraint has often been combined with fluid control, rather than...

Godoi, T. L. O. S., Nascimento de Souza, R., Nascimento de Godoi, F. et al. 2022. Physiological and behavioral response of foals to hot iron or freeze branding. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 48, 41-48.

Branding horses with permanent marks is still a routine for many breeders in many parts of the world. This method of identification is traditionally done with a hot iron, although cold or freeze branding with...

Riedesel, A.-K., Bach-Hagemann, A., Abdulbaki, A. et al. 2022. Burrowing behaviour of rats: Strain differences and applicability as well-being parameter after intracranial surgery. Laboratory Animals 56(4), 356-369.

In mice, burrowing is considered a species-typical parameter for assessing well-being, while this is less clear in rats. This exploratory study evaluated burrowing behaviour in three rat strains during training and in the direct postoperative...

Abazaris, J., Hashway, S. 2022. Vole husbandry at Colorado University Boulder. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 10(4) (July/August), 12-15.

Since they arrived at CU Boulder, we have learned a lot about the voles from the laboratory, other institutions, and our trial-and-error. We hope this information can be helpful to any considering adding voles to...