Alpha2-adrenoceptor agonists (α2-agonists) are widely used in animals as sedatives and for pre-anaesthetic medication. Medetomidine has often been given subcutaneously (SC) to rats, although its absorption rate is slow and the individual variation in serum...
We aimed to assess whether object play can be used as a positive emotional state indicator for farmed spotted pacas (Cuniculus paca) by examining its association with other positive welfare markers including affiliative behavior and...
The development of realistic dummies for training the distal phalanx amputation (DPA) technique in mouse pups is a promising alternative to reduce and replace animals in training for research and teaching. To test this, we...
Maintaining healthy and consistent levels of physical activity (PA) is a clinically proven and low-cost means of reducing the onset of several chronic diseases and may provide an excellent strategy for managing mental health and...
Fueled by the recent and controversial brain-wide association studies in humans, the animal neuroimaging community has also begun questioning whether using larger sample sizes is necessary for ethical and effective scientific progress. In this opinion...
Neuroscience heavily relies on animal welfare in laboratory rodents as it can significantly affect brain development, cognitive function and memory formation. Unfortunately, laboratory animals are often raised in artificial environments devoid of physical and social...
The highly virulent Toxoplasma gondii RH strain is maintained through successive passages in mice, but there is still a lack of studies that refine these procedures from a 3Rs perspective, where humanitarian ideals aim to...
Being awake but motionless, inactive-but-awake (IBA), has been suggested to reflect low arousal negative affect in several species. This preliminary study investigated IBA in rats exposed to Chronic Unpredictable Stress (CUS), opportunistically (to comply with...
Animal play encompasses a variety of aspects, with kinematic and social aspects being particularly prevalent in mammalian play behaviour. While the developmental effects of play have been increasingly documented in recent decades, understanding the specific...
The Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals recommends mice be pair or group housed and provided with nesting materials. These provisions support social interactions and are also critical for thermoregulatory behaviors such...