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. 
Estrada, C., Cuenca, L., Cano-Fernandez, L. et al. 2019. Voluntary exercise reduces plasma cortisol levels and improves transitory memory impairment in young and aged Octodon degus. Behavioural Brain Research 373, 112066.

Sleep deprivation (SD) has been reported to induce transient cognitive impairment in functional domains commonly affected in dementia, including memory. Indeed, sleep disturbance has been proposed as an early marker for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). SD...

Browning, G. R., Eshar, D., Beaufrere, H. 2019. Comparison of dexmedetomidine-ketamine-midazolam and isoflurane for anesthesia of black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus). JAALAS 58(1), 50-57.

Few studies evaluate anesthesia in black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus). Isoflurane inhalant anesthesia is used in this species most commonly, but injectable protocols are poorly described. Here we compared the physiologic effects, including anesthetic depth...

Heyworth, C., Owens, D. 2019. Eureka! Enhanced water recipe and enrichment for oocyte quality and embryo development in the African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis). Laboratory Animal Science Professional 7(1) (March), 43-45.

Husbandry staff set a goal to develop a health monitoring program for a Xenopus laevis colony that included not only specific pathogen freedom, but wellness. This article describes environmental enrichment and a water recipe for...

Cooke, G. M., Tonkins, B. M., Mather, J. A. 2019. Care and enrichment for captive cephalopods. In: The Welfare of Invertebrate Animals. Carere, C., Mather, J. (eds), 179-208. Springer, Cham.

Cephalopods have become an archetype for invertebrate cognition, sentience and welfare studies. Their convergence with so-called ‘higher’ vertebrates (birds, mammals) in memory, learning, problem-solving, tool use and likely sentience has made biologists completely rethink the...

Cooke, G. M. 2018. Use of a translucent refuge for Xenopus tropicalis with the aim of improving welfare. Laboratory Animals 52(3), 304-307.

Xenopus tropicalis is an increasingly important animal model in a variety of biological research fields. In many countries legislation exists to promote and increase welfare wherever possible, including the ability to view animals during daily...

Smith, B. D., Vail, K. J., Carroll, G. L. et al. 2018. Comparison of etomidate, benzocaine, and MS222 anesthesia with and without subsequent flunixin meglumine analgesia in African clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis). JAALAS 57(2), 202-209.

Often few alternative anesthetics for exotic species are available, due to the small numbers of these animals used in research. In this study, we evaluated the depth and duration of anesthesia in Xenopus laevis after...

Gut, W., Crump, L., Zinsstag, J. et al. 2018. The effect of human interaction on guinea pig behavior in animal-assisted therapy. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 25, 56-64.

Guinea pigs are included in various animal-assisted interventions (AAIs), but no research has been published to date on behavioral changes in guinea pigs interacting with humans. The goal of this study was to evaluate the...

Schmitz, S., Tacke, S., Guth, B. et al. 2017. Repeated anaesthesia with isoflurane and medetomidine-midazolam-fentanyl in guinea pigs and its influence on physiological parameters. PLOS ONE 12(3), e0174423.

Repeated anaesthesia may be required in experimental protocols and in daily veterinary practice, but anaesthesia is known to alter physiological parameters in GPs (Cavia porcellus, GPs). This study investigated the effects of repeated anaesthesia with...

Chatigny, F., Kamunde, C., Creighton, C. M. et al. 2017. Uses and doses of local anesthetics in fish, amphibians, and reptiles. JAALAS 56(3), 244-253.

Local anesthetics are an integral part of routine pain management in mammals, yet their use is relatively limited in fish, amphibians and reptiles. These animals frequently undergo potentially painful surgical procedures and therefore could possibly...

Parkinson, L., Mans, C. 2017. Anesthetic and postanesthetic effects of alfaxalone–butorphanol compared with dexmedetomidine–ketamine in chinchillas (Chinchilla lanigera). JAALAS 56(3), 290-295.

Effective and safe anesthetic protocols are required for a variety of surgical and diagnostic procedures in chinchillas. Alfaxalone, a new anesthetic agent in the United States, can be administered intramuscularly and subcutaneously and is therefore...

de Lima Rocha, A. D., Menescal-de-Oliveira, L., da Silva, L. F. S. 2017. Effects of human contact and intra-specific social learning on tonic immobility in guinea pigs, Cavia porcellus. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 191, 1-4.

Social learning is the capacity of animals to acquire adaptive information from others. In the case of fear responses, animals can learn fearful or non-fearful responses by observing the behavior of conspecifics. Tonic immobility (TI)...

Lopes, V. M., Sampaio, E., Roumbedakis, K. et al. 2017. Cephalopod biology and care, a COST FA1301 (CephsInAction) training school: Anaesthesia and scientific procedures. Invertebrate Neuroscience 17, 8.

Cephalopods are the sole invertebrates included in the list of regulated species following the Directive 2010/63/EU. According to the Directive, achieving competence through adequate training is a requisite for people having a role in the...

Tucker, R. D. 2017. Woodchuck College. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 5(2) (June), 33-36.

Marmota monax is a valuable laboratory animal species used in studies of Hepatitis B virus (HBV), food intake, obesity, hibernation, and circannual cycles. This article describes the woodchuck’s (also known as groundhog) natural behavior and...

Schmitz, S., Tacke, S., Guth, B. et al. 2016. Comparison of physiological parameters and anaesthesia specific observations during isoflurane, ketamine-xylazine or medetomidine-midazolam-fentanyl anaesthesia in male guinea pigs. PLOS ONE 11(9), e0161258.

Guinea pigs (GPs) are difficult to anaesthetize successfully, the choices for anaesthesia are limited and physiological parameters are likely to be influenced substantially under anaesthesia. We implanted blood pressure radio-telemetry devices into 16 male GPs...

Byrd, C. P., Winnicker, C., Gaskill, B. N. 2016. Instituting dark-colored cover to improve central space use within guinea pig enclosure. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 19(4), 408-413.

Domestic guinea pigs (Cavia aperea f. porcellus) in laboratories have been shown to actively avoid the centers of their cages. This experiment tested a novel, dark-colored “shader” placed over the central portion of a cage...

Winnicker, C., Gaskill, B., Garner, J. P. et al. 2016. A Guide to the Behavior & Enrichment of Laboratory Rodents. Charles River Laboratories.

Covering species-typical behavior as well as abnormal/malfunctional behavior and stereotypes observed in mice, rats, hamsters and gerbils, this is an excellent resource for those looking to implement or enhance an existing behavioral husbandry and enrichment...

Morrison, K.E., Strahl-Heldreth, D. Clark-Price, S.C. 2016. Isoflurane, sevoflurane and desflurane use in cane toads (Rhinella marina). Veterinary Record Open 3(1), e000185.

Anaesthetic chamber concentrations of isoflurane, sevoflurane and desflurane that resulted in loss of righting reflex within 15 minutes in 50 per cent of toads (Rhinella marina) exposed (ED50-LRR

Tonkins, B. M., Tyers, A. M., Cook G. M. 2015. Cuttlefish in captivity: An investigation into housing and husbandry for improving welfare. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 168, 77-83.

The European cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) is often kept in public aquaria, is becoming more common in aquaculture, and is also the most frequently used cephalopod in European research. Since 1st January 2013, all cephalopods (Mollusca)...

Bayne, K. A., Beaver, B. V., Mench, J. A. et al. 2015. Laboratory animal behavior. In: Laboratory Animal Medicine, 3rd edition. Fox, J. G., Anderson, L., Otto, G., et al. (eds). Elsevier, Inc., Amsterdam, NL. pp. 1617-1651.

The study of laboratory animal behavior has increased steadily over the last decade, with expanding emphasis on a variety of commonly used species. In the United States, this trend was initially focused on species for...

Bethell, E. J., Koyama, N. F. 2015. Happy hamsters? Enrichment induces positive judgement bias for mildly (but not truly) ambiguous cues to reward and punishment in Mesocricetus auratus. Royal Society Open Science 2, 140399.

Recent developments in the study of animal cognition and emotion have resulted in the ‘judgement bias’ model of animal welfare. Judgement biases describe the way in which changes in affective state are characterized by changes...

Brewer, J. S., Bellinger, S. A., Prianca, J. et al. 2014. Enriched open field facilitates exercise and social interaction in 2 strains of guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus). JAALAS 53(4), 344-355.

Current housing guidelines for laboratory rodents include recommendations for enrichment. Working with guinea pigs, we have developed an open-field enrichment paradigm that provides several aspects of this species' natural environment. These naturalistic aspects include access...

Bode, A. E., Barber, H. 2014. Use of vinyl nonadhesive tape as an alternative for positioning rodents in small animal imaging. American Association for Laboratory Animal Science [AALAS] Meeting Official Program, 597-598. (Abstract #P185).

Specific positioning for different imaging modalities is essential in our small animal imaging core. While we have different animal holders designed to position the animal inside the MRI, additional securing of the animal to the...

Qi, K., De-mi, S., Chuan, Q. 2014. Current understanding and use of environmental enrichment in China. Enrichment Record 20, 8-11.

In practice, consideration is given to providing most of the species used in research,testing and education withsome level of environmental enrichment. However, although the current level of awareness and understanding about the benefits of environmental...

Therrian, S. 2014. Environmental enrichment for Xenopus laevis. American Association for Laboratory Animal Science [AALAS] Meeting Official Program, 583. (Abstract #P133).

Environmental enrichment has become an important aspect of animal husbandry within research facilities. Such enrichment has been shown to improve the quality of life for research animals and provide a more natural habitat. Different enrichment...

Grippo, A. J., Ihm, E., Wardwell, J. et al. 2014. The effects of environmental enrichment on depressive and anxiety-relevant behaviors in socially isolated prairie voles. Psychosomatic Medicine 76(4), 277-284.

Social isolation is associated with depression, anxiety and negative health outcomes. Environmental enrichment, including environmental and cognitive stimulation with inanimate objects and opportunities for physical exercise, may be an effective strategy to include in treatment...