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. 
Costa, J. H. C., Cantor, M. C., Adderley, N. A. et al. 2019. Key animal welfare issues in commercially raised dairy calves: social environment, nutrition, and painful procedures. Canadian Journal of Animal Science 99(4), 649-660.

Dairy calf welfare concerns are growing and new evidence suggests that the early life environment influences appropriate physical, behavioral, and cognitive development lasting into adulthood. This review highlights key evidence for the impacts of housing...

Cowley, P. M., Roberts, C. R., Baker, A. J. 2019. Monitoring the health status of mice with bleomycin-induced lung injury by using body condition scoring. Comparative Medicine 69(2), 95–102.

Well-defined, humane endpoints aid in monitoring animal health status during disease development. Body condition scoring (BCS) is a method for assessing health status in mouse studies where wasting and death are potential endpoints. Whether BCS...

Chatigny, F. 2019. The controversy on fish pain: A veterinarian’s perspective. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 22(4), 400-410.

Fish welfare is still a relatively new field. As such, regulations and protocols to ensure fish welfare are currently limited and vary considerably in different jurisdictions. This is in part because of the ongoing controversy...

Sloman, K, A., Bouyoucos, I. A., Brooks, E. J. et al. 2019. Ethical considerations in fish research. Journal of Fish Biology 94(4), 556-577.

In this review, we focus primarily on the refinement of common methods used in fish research based on emerging knowledge with the aim of improving the welfare of fish used in scientific studies. We consider...

ur Rahman, M. A., Xia, C., Ji, L. et al. 2019. Nutrient intake, feeding patterns, and abnormal behavior of growing bulls fed different concentrate levels and a single fiber source (corn stover silage). Journal of Veterinary Behavior 33, 46-53.

Twenty-eight bulls weighing 227 ± 6.8 (SD) kg were randomly assigned to four concentrate levels (1-1.5 kg [low level of concentrate {LC}], 1.5-2 kg [medium level of concentrate], 2-2.5 kg [high level of concentrate {HC}]...

Resasco, A., Carranza Martin, A. C., Ayala, M. A. et al. 2019. Non-aversive photographic measurement method for subcutaneous tumours in nude mice. Laboratory Animals 53(4), 352–361.

We have developed a new method for the measurement of subcutaneous tumour volume which consists in taking photographs of mice in their home cages, to refine the standard method of measurement with calipers. We consider...

Bauer, C., Schillinger, U., Brandl, J. et al. 2019. Comparison of pre-emptive butorphanol or metamizole with ketamine +medetomidine and s-ketamine + medetomidine anaesthesia in improving intraoperative analgesia in mice. Laboratory Animals 53(5), 459–469.

In accordance with the ‘refinement’ component of the 3Rs, the primary aim of this study was to investigate and compare ketamine + medetomidine (KM) and s-ketamine + medetomidine (SKM) anaesthetic protocols in C57BL/6J mice (both sexes). We sought to...

Jensen, T. L., Kiersgaard, M. K., Mikkelsen, L. F. et al. 2019. Fasting of male mice – Effects of time point of initiation and duration on clinical chemistry parameters and animal welfare. Laboratory Animals 53(6), 587–597.

Fasting of mice is a common procedure, which can affect the outcome of the study as well as animal welfare. In this study, we assess the effects of fasting, fasting duration and fasting initiation time...

Redaelli, V., Papa, S., Marsella, G. et al. 2019. A refinement approach in a mouse model of rehabilitation research. Analgesia strategy, reduction approach and infrared thermography in spinal cord injury. PLOS ONE 14(10), e0224337.

The principles of Refinement, Replacement and Reduction (3R’s) should be taken into account when animals must be used for scientific purpose. Here, a Reduction / Refinement approach was applied to the procedure of spinal cord...

Koski, S. K., Leino, S., Rannanpää, S. et al. 2019. Implementation of improved postoperative care decreases the mortality rate of operated mice after an abundant 6-hydroxydopamine lesion of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons. Scandinavian Journal of Laboratory Animal Science 45(1).

A mouse model of Parkinson’s disease with an abundant lesion of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons can be achieved by stereotactic injection of 6-hydroxydopamine into the medial forebrain bundle. However, postoperative mortality can be excessively high without...

Abdelrahman, A., Kumstel, S., Zhang, X. et al. 2019. A novel multi-parametric analysis of non-invasive methods to assess animal distress during chronic pancreatitis. Scientific Reports 9, 14084.

Ethical responsibility, legal requirements and the need to improve the quality of research create a growing interest in the welfare of laboratory animals. Judging the welfare of animals requires readout parameters, which are valid and...

Ritchie, A., Collier, P., Clare, P. et al. 2019. Food for thought: The development of drug loaded diets improve both science and welfare. Animal Technology and Welfare 18(3), 222-224.

In our facility, we use several hormone dependent tumour models with supplementation delivered via slow release subcutaneously implanted pellets, implanted via trochar. For example, breast tumours which rely on 17-β-Estradiol. Administration of E2 supplementation can...

Percie du Sert, N., Rudd, J. A, Apfel, C. C. et al. 2011. Cisplatin-induce emesis: Systematic review and meta-analysis of the ferret model and the effects of 5-HT3 receptor antagonists. Cancer Chemotherapy and Pharmacology 67(3), 667-686.

Purpose: The ferret cisplatin emesis model has been used for ~30 years and enabled identification of clinically used anti-emetics. We provide an objective assessment of this model including efficacy of 5-HT3 receptor antagonists to assess...

McMillan, F. D. (ed). 2019. Mental Health and Well-being in Animals (2nd ed). CABI, Wallingford, UK.

This second edition is fully revised, expanded, and comprehensively updated with the most current knowledge about the full array of mental health issues seen in animals. Written by key opinion leaders, internationally-recognized experts and specialists...

Van der Saag, D., Lomax, S., Windsor, P. A. et al. 2018. Evaluating treatments with topical anaesthetic and buccal meloxicam for pain and inflammation caused by amputation dehorning of calves. PLOS ONE 13(6), e0198808.

To assess the effects of a topical anaesthetic (TA) and buccal meloxicam (BM) on behaviour, maximum wound temperature and wound morphology following amputation dehorning of beef calves, 50 unweaned Hereford calves were randomly allocated to...

Lofgren, J., Miller, A. L., Shan Lee, C. C. et al. 2018. Analgesics promote welfare and sustain tumour growth in orthotopic 4T1 and B16 mouse cancer models. Laboratory Animals 52(4), 351-364.

Murine orthotopic cancer models often require surgery, potentially causing pain or distress. However, analgesics are often withheld because they may alter tumour development. Two orthotopically implanted cancers were investigated in mice pre-treated with meloxicam (10...

Hoffmann, M., Schwertassek, U., Seydel, A. et al. 2018. A refined and translationally relevant model of chronic DSS colitis in BALB/c mice. Laboratory Animals 52(3), 240-252.

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are chronic relapsing disorders of the gastrointestinal tract. Several mouse models for IBD are available, but the acute dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis model is mostly used for preclinical studies. However...

Naylor, A. J., Desanti, G., Saghir, A. N. et al. 2018. TNFα depleting therapy improves fertility and animal welfare in TNFα-driven transgenic models of polyarthritis when administered in their routine breeding. Laboratory Animals 52(1), 59-68.

Transgenic tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFα)-driven models of polyarthritis such as the TNFΔARE mouse have proven to be invaluable in delineating aspects of inflammatory disease pathophysiology in humans. Unfortunately, the onset of joint destruction and...

Van der Saag, D., White, P., Ingram, L. et al. 2018. Effects of topical anaesthetic and buccal meloxicam treatments on concurrent castration and dehorning of beef calves. Animals 8(3), 35.

The use of pain relief during castration and dehorning of calves on commercial beef operations can be limited by constraints associated with the delivery of analgesic agents. As topical anaesthetic (TA) and buccal meloxicam (MEL)...

Evangelista-Vaz, R., Bergadano, A., Arras, M. et al. 2018. Analgesic efficacy of subcutaneous–oral dosage of tramadol after surgery in C57BL/6J mice. JAALAS 57(4), 368-375.

This study investigated the analgesic activity of tramadol in female C57BL/6J mice by using a single subcutaneous injection (25 mg/kg) of tramadol combined with the same dose given in drinking water for 24 h. We...

Beninson, J. A., Lofgren, J. L., Lester, P. A. et al. 2018. Analgesic efficacy and hematologic effects of robenacoxib in mice. JAALAS 57(3), 258-267.

NSAID analgesics may confound models that require inflammation to mimic disease development in humans. This effect presents a challenge for veterinary staff and investigators, because surgery is often necessary to create mouse models of disease...

Doerning, C. M., Burlingame, L. A., Lewis, A. G. et al. 2018. Refinement of perioperative feeding in a mouse model of vertical sleeve gastrectomy. JAALAS 57(3), 295-301.

Provision of liquid enteral nutrition (LEN) during the perioperative period is standard practice for rodents undergoing bariatric surgery, yet these diets are associated with several challenges, including coagulation of the liquid diet within the delivery...

Chatigny, F., Creighton, C. M., Stevens, E. D. 2018. Updated review of fish analgesia. JAALAS 57(1), 5-12.

Analgesics are an integral part of routine pain management in mammals, yet their use in fish is still limited. Some recommendations on the use of analgesics in fish are currently in the literature; however, information...

Jirkof, P., Arras, M., Cesarovic, N. 2018. Tramadol:Paracetamol in drinking water for treatment of post-surgical pain in laboratory mice. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 198, 95-100.

In the search for stress-free analgesia administration for laboratory mice suffering pain, oral delivery of Tramadol:Paracetamol (T:P) shows great promise. Here, we monitored the analgesic efficacy and side effects of a T:P combination administered solely...

Mellor, E., Brilot, B., Collins, S. 2018. Abnormal repetitive behaviours in captive birds: a Tinbergian review. Applied Animal Behaviour Science. 198, 109-120.

Abnormal repetitive behaviours (ARBs) are associated with past, or present, welfare problems and are common elements of the behavioural repertoire of some captive animals, including birds. Millions of birds from hundreds of species are held...