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. 
Jiron, J. M., Mendieta Calle, J. L., Castillo, E. J. et al. 2019. Comparison of isoflurane, ketamine-dexmedetomidine, and ketamine-xylazine for general anesthesia during oral procedures in rice rats (Oryzomys palustris). JAALAS 58(1), 40-49.

Rice rats (Oryzomys palustris) are an unconventional laboratory species that has been used to study photoperiodicity, periodontitis, and osteonecrosis of the jaw. Interventional procedures that require anesthesia, including oral procedures, are sometimes necessary in preclinical...

McKenzie, D. J., Sadoul, B., Geffroy, B. 2019. Measuring cortisol, the major stress hormone in fishes. Journal of Fish Biology 94(4), 540-555.

Stress in teleosts is an increasingly studied topic because of its interaction with growth, reproduction, immune system and ultimately fitness of the animal. Whether it is for evaluating welfare in aquaculture, adaptive capacities in fish...

Solås, M. R., Skoglund, H., Salvanes, A. G. V. 2019. Can structural enrichment reduce predation mortality and increase recaptures of hatchery-reared Atlantic salmon Salmo salar L. fry released into the wild? Journal of Fish Biology 95(2), 575-588.

Captive-reared fish often have poor survival in the wild and may fail to boost threatened populations. Enrichment during the nursery period can in some circumstances generate a broader behavioural repertoire than conventional hatchery production. Yet...

Watz, J. 2019. Structural complexity in the hatchery rearing environment affects activity, resting metabolic rate and post-release behaviour in brown trout Salmo trutta. Journal of Fish Biology 95(2), 638-641.

The effects of structural enrichment in the hatchery rearing environment of brown trout Salmo trutta was linked to post-release performance. Enrichment resulted in reduced swimming activity scored in an open field test and reduced movement...

Eichner, M., Garcia, K. 2019. Increase in morbidity and mortality in a shipment of red-eared slider turtles (Trachemys scripta elegans). Laboratory Animals 53(6), 634–640.

A cohort of captive-bred red-eared slider turtles, Trachemys scripta, was received from a commercial vendor. Shortly after arrival, several turtles presented as lethargic with subjectively pale skin and multifocal areas of cotton-like tufts in the...

Boileau, A., Farish, M., Turner, S. P. et al. 2019. Infrared thermography of agonistic behaviour in pigs. Physiology & Behavior 210, 112637.

Infrared thermography (IRT) or thermal imaging is increasingly being used as a non-invasive method to gain information on animals' physiological and emotional state. IRT has the potential to serve as a non-invasive quantitative assessment method...

Harikrishnan, V. S., Krishnan, L. K., Abelson, K. S. P. 2019. A novel technique to develop thoracic spinal laminectomy and a methodology to assess the functionality and welfare of the contusion spinal cord injury (SCI) rat model. PLOS ONE 14(7), e0219001.

This study reports the advantage of a novel technique employing a motorised dental burr to assist laminectomy over the conventional manual technique at T10-T11 vertebra level in a rat model of spinal cord injury. Twenty-four...

Rowland, N. E., Toth, L. A. 2019. Analytic and interpretational pitfalls to measuring fecal corticosterone metabolites in laboratory rats and mice. Comparative Medicine 69(5), 337–349.

Minimization and alleviation of stress are generally viewed as desirable aspects of laboratory animal management and use. However, achieving that goal requires an unambiguous and valid measure of stress. Glucocorticoid concentrations are commonly used as...

Skinner, M., Ceuppens, P., White, P. et al. 2019. Social-housing and use of double-decker cages in rat telemetry studies. Journal of Pharmacological and Toxicological Methods 96, 87-94.

Rat telemetry is widely used for biomedical research purposes and is used routinely in early pre-clinical drug development to screen for the potential cardiovascular risk of candidate drugs. Historically, these studies have been conducted in...

Lipták, B., Kaprinay, B., Gáspárová, Z. 2017. A rat-friendly modification of the non-invasive tail-cuff to record blood pressure. Lab Animal 46(6), 251-253.

In animal models, blood pressure measurement methods can be either invasive (direct) or non-invasive (indirect). The non-invasive alternative involves applying a tail-cuff for blood pressure measurement. Current standardized restraint methods involve confining the laboratory animal...

Simpson, D. 2017. Investigation of transportation on rat acclimatisation using novel cage side recording equipment (Rodent Big Brother). Animal Technology and Welfare 16(1), 1-12.

The transportation of animals from supplier to experimental facility is one of the biggest stressors to animals in research. Transportation unavoidably causes stress and when the animals arrive at the testing facility they require a...

Hawkins, P., McNeilly, A., Watson, J. et al. 2017. Report of the 2016 RSPCA/UFAW Rodent and Rabbit Welfare Group meeting. Animal Technology and Welfare 16(2), 77-86.

The RSPCA/UFAW Rodent (and now Rabbit) Welfare Group held a one-day meeting on 1 November 2016 at the University of Edinburgh and was attended by 70 delegates. Presentation topics included refinements in blood sampling rodents...

Stevens, C. H., Croft, D. P., Paull, G. C. et al. 2017. Stress and welfare in ornamental fishes: What can be learned from aquaculture? Journal of Fish Biology 91(2), 409-428.

The ornamental fish trade is estimated to handle up to 1.5 billion fishes. Transportation and handling of fishes imposes a range of stressors that can result in mortality at rates of up to 73%. Given...

Gabriel, S. M., Riley, K. M., Spinks, W. A. et al. 2017. Husbandry, care and enrichment of diabetic Sinclair swine in the laboratory environment. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 5(3) (September), 53-57.

Health monitoring, enrichment, training procedures and techniques, as well as instructions for the care of vascular access ports, are outlined in this paper. The procedures described herein helped maintain a successful, long-term research population of...

Monreal-Pawlowsky, T., Marco-Cabedo, V., Manteca, X. et al. 2017. Environmental enrichment facilitates release and survival of an injured loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) after ten years in captivity. Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research 5(4), 182-186.

In June 2006 a loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) was admitted to a rescue centre on the Mediterranean coast with severe fishing net entanglement in its fore right flipper. The flipper could not be saved...

Grant, C., Marks, L., Prior, H. 2017. Provision of food and water in rodent whole body plethysmography safety pharmacology respiratory studies – Impact on animal welfare and data quality. Journal of Pharmacological and Toxicological Methods 88(Part 1), 79-84.

Introduction: We evaluated the feasibility of providing food and water to rodents during whole body plethysmography (WBP) studies as a welfare improvement to standard conditions. Methods: Male Han Wistar rats or CD1 mice (n=8) were...

Kruger, M. C., Morel, P. C. H. 2016. Experimental control for the ovariectomized rat model: Use of sham versus nonmanipulated animal. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 19(1), 73-80.

One of 2 models required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for registration of a treatment for osteoporosis, the ovariectomized (OVX) rat model, is widely used in scientific studies investigating sex hormone-deficient bone loss...

Lidster, K., Jefferys, J. G., Blümcke, I. et al. 2016. Opportunities for improving animal welfare in rodent models of epilepsy and seizures. Journal of Neuroscience Methods 260, 2-25.

Animal models of epilepsy and seizures, mostly involving mice and rats, are used to understand the pathophysiology of the different forms of epilepsy and their comorbidities, to identify biomarkers, and to discover new antiepileptic drugs...

Prior, H., Bottomly, A., Champéroux, P. et al. 2016. Social housing of non-rodents during cardiovascular recordings in safety pharmacology and toxicology studies. Journal of Pharmacological and Toxicological Methods 81, 75-87.

Introduction: The Safety Pharmacology Society (SPS) and National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement & Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) conducted a survey and workshop in 2015 to define current industry practices relating to housing...

Lidster, K., Jefferys, J. G., Blümcke, I. et al. 2016. Opportunities for improving animal welfare in rodent models of epilepsy and seizures. Journal of Neuroscience Methods 260, 2-25.

Animal models of epilepsy and seizures, mostly involving mice and rats, are used to understand the pathophysiology of the different forms of epilepsy and their comorbidities, to identify biomarkers, and to discover new antiepileptic drugs...

Nääs, I. A., Garcia, R. G., Caldara, F. R. 2015. Infrared thermal image for assessing animal health and welfare. Journal of Animal Behaviour and Biometeorology 2(3), 66-72.

Infrared thermal imaging is a non-destructive testing technology that can be used to determine the superficial temperature of objects. This technology has an increasing use in detecting diseases and distress in animal husbandry within the...

Hawkins, P., Armstrong, R., Boden, T. et al. 2015. Applying refinement to the use of mice and rats in rheumatoid arthritis research. Inflammopharmacology 23, 131–150.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a painful, chronic disorder and there is currently an unmet need for effective therapies that will benefit a wide range of patients. The research and development process for therapies and treatments...

Wolfensohn, S., Hawkins, P., Lilley, E. et al. 2013. Reducing suffering in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Journal of Pharmacological and Toxicological Methods 67(3), 169-176.

This report is based on discussions and submissions from an expert working group consisting of veterinarians, animal care staff and scientists with expert knowledge relevant to the field. It aims to facilitate the implementation of...

Wolfensohn, S., Hawkins, P., Lilley, E. et al. 2013. Reducing suffering in animal models and procedures involving seizures, convulsions and epilepsy. Journal of Pharmacological and Toxicological Methods 67(1), 9-15.

This report is based on discussions and submissions from an expert working group consisting of veterinarians, animal care staff and scientists with expert knowledge relevant to the field and aims to facilitate the implementation of...

Reed, B., Hawkins, P., Latham, N. et al. 2008. Report of the 2006 RSPCA/UFAW Rodent Welfare Group meeting. Lab Animal 37(5), 216-222.

The RSPCA/UFAW Rodent Welfare Group holds a one-day meeting every autumn to discuss current welfare research and to exchange views on rodent welfare issues. A key aim of the group is to encourage people to...