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. 
Wasko, K., Acklin, C. J. 2013. Fresh façades for rodent homes: Revisiting enrichment naturally. Enrichment Record 16, 9-11.

Currently, enrichment consists of a variety of plastic toys to promote natural behaviors, but why use artificial devices when you could use natural materials like the animals experience in their native environment? ... From these...

Hrapkiewicz, K., Colby, L. A., Denison, P. 2013. Clinical Laboratory Animal Medicine: An Introduction (4th Ed). Wiley-Blackwell, Ames, IA.

Clinical Laboratory Animal Medicine: An Introduction, Fourth Edition offers a user-friendly guide to the unique anatomy and physiology, care, common diseases, and treatment of small mammals and nonhuman primates. Carefully designed for ease of use...

Grimm, J. W., Weber, R., Barnes, J. et al. 2013. Brief exposure to novel or enriched environments reduces sucrose cue-reactivity and consumption in rats after 1 or 30 days of forced abstinence from self-administration. PLOS ONE 8(1), e54164.

Environmental enrichment (EE) reduces drug and sucrose cue-reactivity in rats. In a previous study we reported that 1 month of EE (large cage, toys, and social cohorts) significantly reduced sucrose cue-reactivity. In the present study...

Fares, R. P., Belmeguenai, A., Sanchez, P.E. et al. 2013. Standardized environmental enrichment supports enhanced brain plasticity in healthy rats and prevents cognitive impairment in epileptic rats. PLOS ONE 8(1): e53888.

Environmental enrichment of laboratory animals influences brain plasticity, stimulates neurogenesis, increases neurotrophic factor expression, and protects against the effects of brain insult. However, these positive effects are not constantly observed, probably because standardized procedures of...

Azar, T. A., Sharp, J. L., Lawson, D. M. 2012. Effects of cage enrichment on heart rate, blood pressure, and activity of female Sprague-Dawley and spontaneously hypertensive rats at rest and after acute challenges. JAALAS 51(3), 339-344.

Here we sought to determine whether a nonsocial cage enrichment program, identical to one we previously used with male rats, was effective in reducing heart rate or systolic blood pressure (SBP) in female Sprague-Dawley rats...

Abelson, K. S. P., Jacobsen, K. R., Sundbom, R. et al. 2012. Voluntary ingestion of nut paste for administration of buprenorphine in rats and mice. Laboratory Animals 46(4), 349-351.

An adequate analgesic strategy is important to improve the postoperative recovery and welfare of laboratory rats and mice. It is desirable that the method for administering the drug is non-invasive and stress-free. We have previously...

Olivo, D. 2012. The benefits of adding a little color to a monkey's environment. Enrichment Record 10, 7.

Imagine if your everyday world was boring, blah and completely sterile looking with limited amounts of color. Unimaginable, right? Here at Legacy Schering Plough/Merck, we thought the same about our nonhuman primates who look at...

Froberg-Fejko, K. M., Lecker, J. L. 2012. Going back to nature: The benefits of wood enrichment. Lab Animal 41(11), 345-347.

Environmental enrichment can be defined as altering the living environment of captive animals in order to provide them with opportunities to express more of their natural behavioral repertoire. The challenge of providing effective enrichment in...

Corbett, A., McGowin, A., Sieber, S. et al. 2012. A method for reliable voluntary oral administration of a fixed dosage (mg/kg) of chronic daily medication to rats. Laboratory Animals 46(4), 318-324.

Stress can influence a number of physiological processes including adult neurogenesis, metabolism, cardiovascular function, immune function, neurophysiological function, endocrine function and inflammatory processes following injury. In testing drugs which may be used to treat various...

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...

Luchins, K. R., Baker, K. C., Gilbert, M. H. et al. 2011. Manzanita wood: A sanitizable enrichment option for nonhuman primates. JAALAS 50(6), 884-887.

Wooden objects are often used as nonhuman primate enrichment to provide variety and novelty, promote exploratory behavior, and supply an outlet for curiosity. However, concerns have been raised regarding the ability to sanitize wood by...

Abou-Ismail, U. A., Mahboub, H. D. 2011. The effects of enriching laboratory cages using various physical structures on multiple measures of welfare in singly-housed rats. Laboratory Animals 45(3), 145-153.

The single housing of laboratory rats may be recommended in some situations such as hypothesis-driven or test-specific studies, during electroencephalogram recording of phases of sleep and after surgical procedures. However, as single housing of laboratory...

Akiyama, K., Sutoo, D. 2011. Effect of different frequencies of music on blood pressure regulation in spontaneously hypertensive rats. Neuroscience Letters 487(1), 58-60.

The effect of different frequencies of music on brain function was investigated through measurement of blood pressure in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Previous studies indicated that exposure to Mozart's music (K. 205) leads to increased...

Abou-Ismail, U. A. 2011. Are the effects of enrichment due to the presence of multiple items or a particular item in the cages of laboratory rat? Applied Animal Behaviour Science 134(1-2), 72-82.

Although the effects of environmental enrichment on laboratory rodents have been extensively described, it is not yet known whether these effects were simply due to the presence of multiple items in the cage or due...

Wood, L. L., Boyd, A. M., Rose, R. et al. 2011. Implementation of an enrichment rack for singly housed male nonhuman primates. American Association for Laboratory Animal Science [AALAS] Meeting Official Program, 732 (Abstract #PS54).

The racks provide four different levels of horizontal bars where manipulanda can be hung. .. The racks are positioned in front of a 4-caged housing system. .. The enrichment racks have produced an increase in...

Seier, J., de Villiers, C., van Heerden, J. et al. 2011. The effect of housing and environmental enrichment on stereotyped behavior of adult vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus aethiops). Lab Animal 40(7), 218-224.

Little information is available on the response of vervet monkeys to different housing conditions or on the suitability of enrichment devices or methods for vervet monkeys. In this study, the authors evaluated the occurrence of...

Huber, H. F., Lewis, K. P. 2011. An assessment of gum-based environmental enrichment for captive gummivorous primates. Zoo Biology 30(1), 71-78.

In the wild, many primates consume gums exuded from trees, and many species are gum specialists. In spite of this, few data exist concerning gum feeding in captivity. Using a web-based survey of 46 zoos...

Witt, S. L., Plews, C. A., Ruppert, G. et al. 2011. Nylon cylinder: Safe and cost-effective chewable rat enrichment. American Association for Laboratory Animal Science [AALAS] Meeting Official Program, 782 (Abstract #P174).

Offering enrichment to stimulate chewing behavior in rats has been found to promote psychologic and physiologic wellbeing. While there are many commercially produced nylon products available for use as chewable enrichment, these items are costly...

Neubauer, T., Buckmaster, C. 2011. Decline in aggression in cotton rats through enrichment. Tech Talk [The Newsletter for Laboratory Animal Science Technicians] 16(4), 2-3.

The tubes provide shelter and nesting material to the rats, allowing them to exhibit species-specific behaviors. The change in the animals' behavior has been overwhelming. The rats are much less aggressive; in one year, fight...

Krohn, T. C., Salling, B., Kornerup Hansen, A. 2011. How do rats respond to playing radio in the animal facility? Laboratory Animals 45(3), 141-144.

In the animal facility, a range of different sounds are present. On the one hand, rats and humans will regard sound and noise differently even within the audible range, but on the other hand mice...

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...

Cruden, J. 2011. Improvement and refinement in husbandry processes and environmental enrichment for ferrets housed at CL1 levels of containment. Animal Technology and Welfare 10, 177-200.

The aims of this paper are to discuss the most appropriate housing, husbandry routine and enrichment for ferrets .. without compromising science.

Buck, C., Pittman, P., Coburn, A. et al. 2011. Primate foraging ice blocks: Cool treats and interactive eats. Tech Talk [The Newsletter for Laboratory Animal Science Technicians] 16(3), 2.

The [ice] blocks provide a stimulating foraging experience for the NHPs. The blocks last up to an hour fully melting; however, most NHPs have them broken apart and are eating them within 15 minutes. Some...

Brydges, N. M., Leach, M., Nicol, K. et al. 2011. Environmental enrichment induces optimistic cognitive bias in rats. Animal Behaviour 81(1), 169-175.

People's affective or emotional state can alter their cognitive processing, biasing interpretation of ambiguous stimuli. Those in a more positive state interpret such stimuli in a more optimistic manner than those in a negative state...