Nest Building as an Indicator of Health and Welfare in Laboratory Mice

The minimization and alleviation of  suffering has moral and scientific implications. In order to mitigate this  negative experience one must be able to ...

Tufts University

Postoperative analgesia in the laboratory mouse, Mus musculus.

To determine whether rocuronium, a reversible neuromuscular blocking agent, would provide safe, short-term immobilization to facilitate endotracheal intubation in turtles.

Use of rocuronium for endotracheal intubation of North American Gulf Coast box turtles.

Recognizing signs of pain.

To compare the effects of caudal epidural xylazine versus saline on tolerance of paravertebral nerve block and flank surgery and on post-operative pain in heifers used for a veterinary student training laboratory.

Effect of caudal epidural xylazine on intraoperative distress and post-operative pain in Holstein heifers.

Pain is an undesirable potential consequence of many of the procedures conducted on animals in the course of scientific research, and in most cases it is unnecessary. The US Congress, the public, and laboratory animal medical professionals have indicated that pain should be prevented or minimized in laboratory animals, yet there is ample evidence to suggest that unalleviated pain is still a problem for some laboratory animals. This evidence is circumstantial to some extent but has its basis in problematic issues of pain control in both veterinary and human medicine. The author attempts to identify specific barriers to reduction of pain in laboratory animals. She then seeks to determine the relative importance of each obstacle and to develop approaches to overcoming each obstacle.

Barriers to assessment and treatment of pain in laboratory animals.

Anesthesia case of the month. Development of the Cushing reflex secondary to a dangerous increase in intracranial pressure.

To describe the administration of local anesthetic through wound soaker catheters for post-operative veterinary patients and to characterize complications.

Use of wound soaker catheters for the administration of local anesthetic for post-operative analgesia: 56 cases.

Pour d&eacute;crire l&#39;administration d&#39;anesth&eacute;sique local par l&#39;interm&eacute;diaire de cath&eacute;ters maturateur plaie postop&eacute;ratoire patients v&eacute;t&eacute;rinaires et de caract&eacute;riser les complications.

Utilisation de plaie maturateur cath&eacute;ters pour l&#39;administration d&#39;anesth&eacute;siques locaux pour l&#39;analg&eacute;sie postop&eacute;ratoire : 56 cas.

Per descrivere la somministrazione di anestetico locale attraverso cateteri soaker ferita post-operatoria nei pazienti veterinari e caratterizzare le complicazioni.

Uso di cateteri soaker ferita per la somministrazione di anestetico locale per analgesia postoperatoria: 56 casi.

Assessment of pain in rabbits is challenging, and studies of effective surgical analgesia are lacking for this species. Seeking potential indicators of postoperative pain, we performed ovariohysterectomy and telemeter placement as a form of moderate surgical injury in 20 female rabbits. Rabbits were assigned to 1 of 4 treatment groups (5 per group): buprenorphine (0.02 mg/kg SC every 12 h for 3 d); fentanyl (25-Î¼g patch placed 24 h preoperatively); ketoprofen (1 mg/kg SC every 24 h for 3 d), and control (no treatment given). Various physiologic and behavioral variables were recorded by blinded observers, including food and water consumption, fecal output, and remotely recorded behaviors during daily exercise in 1.2 Ã— 1.8 m floor pens. Compared with preoperative values, significant declines occurred in: food consumption (days 1 to 7), water consumption (days 1 to 4), fecal output (days 1 to 2), mean travel distance, and rearing (days 1 to 3 and day 7). No single treatment proved significantly better than another. Our results demonstrate substantial inappetance and reduction of normal activity levels in rabbits after surgery. Although results from rabbits treated with empirical doses (those typically recommended) of analgesics did not appear substantially better than those from the untreated control group, comparison of other doses and multimodal analgesic techniques by using these behavioral monitoring strategies may prove useful in future studies aimed at optimizing postoperative analgesia in rabbits.

A model for clinical evaluation of perioperative analgesia in rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus).

&Eacute;valuation de la douleur chez le lapin est un d&eacute;fi, et &eacute;tudes d&#39;analg&eacute;sie chirurgicale efficace font d&eacute;faut pour cette esp&egrave;ce. &Agrave; la recherche des indicateurs potentiels de la douleur postop&eacute;ratoire, nous avons effectu&eacute; Ovariohyst&eacute;rectomie et t&eacute;l&eacute;m&egrave;tre placement comme une forme de l&eacute;sion chirurgicale mod&eacute;r&eacute;e dans 20 lapines. Lapins ont &eacute;t&eacute; assign&eacute;s &agrave; 4 groupes de traitement (5 par groupe): bupr&eacute;norphine (0,02 mg/kg SC toutes les 12 h pendant 3 jours) ; fentanyl (25 &mu;g patch plac&eacute; 24h avant l&#39;op&eacute;ration) ; le k&eacute;toprof&egrave;ne (1 mg/kg SC toutes les 24 h pendant 3 jours) et le contr&ocirc;le (aucun traitement donn&eacute;). Diverses variables physiologiques et comportementales ont &eacute;t&eacute; enregistr&eacute;es par les observateurs aveugles, y compris la nourriture et l&#39;eau consommation, f&eacute;cale de sortie, et les comportements &agrave; distance enregistr&eacute;es pendant tous les jours exercent &agrave; 1,2 &times; 1,8 m stylos de plancher. Une baisse importante par rapport aux valeurs pr&eacute;op&eacute;ratoires, s&#39;est produite dans : la consommation d&#39;aliments (jours 1 &agrave; 7), la consommation d&#39;eau des selles (jours 1 &agrave; 4), (jours 1 &agrave; 2), voyage moyenne distance et d&#39;&eacute;levage (jours 1 &agrave; 3 et jour 7). Pas de traitement unique s&#39;est av&eacute;r&eacute;e nettement meilleure qu&#39;une autre. Nos r&eacute;sultats d&eacute;montrent l&#39;anorexie substantielle et la r&eacute;duction des niveaux d&#39;activit&eacute; normaux chez le lapin apr&egrave;s la chirurgie. Bien que les r&eacute;sultats des lapins trait&eacute;s avec des doses empiriques (ceux g&eacute;n&eacute;ralement recommand&eacute;) d&#39;analg&eacute;siques ne semblent pas sensiblement meilleures que celles du groupe t&eacute;moin non trait&eacute;e, la comparaison d&#39;autres doses et analg&eacute;sique multimodal techniques &agrave; l&#39;aide de ces strat&eacute;gies de surveillance comportementales peuvent &ecirc;tre utiles &agrave; l&#39;avenir des &eacute;tudes visant &agrave; optimiser l&#39;analg&eacute;sie postop&eacute;ratoire chez le lapin.

Un mod&egrave;le pour l&#39;&eacute;valuation clinique de l&#39;analg&eacute;sie p&eacute;riop&eacute;ratoire chez le lapin (Oryctolagus cuniculus).

La valutazione del dolore nei conigli &egrave; impegnativa, e mancano studi di analgesia chirurgica efficacia per questa specie. In cerca di potenziali indicatori di dolore postoperatorio, abbiamo eseguito ovarioisterectomia e telemetro posizionamento come una forma di ferita chirurgica moderata in 20 Conigli femmine. Conigli sono stati assegnati a 1 di 4 gruppi di trattamento (5 per ogni gruppo): buprenorfina (0,02 mg/kg SC ogni 12 h per 3 d); fentanil (25 &mu;g patch posto 24h preoperatoria); ketoprofene (1 mg/kg SC ogni 24 h per 3 d) e controllo (nessun trattamento). Diverse variabili fisiologiche e comportamentali sono state registrate dagli osservatori accecati, inclusi cibo e acqua consumi, fecali in uscita, e comportamenti da remoto registrati durante il quotidiano esercitano in 1,2 &times; 1,8 m penne di piano. Rispetto ai valori pre-operatorio, ribassi significativi si sono verificati: consumi alimentari (giorni 1-7), consumo di acqua (giorni 1-4), fecale output (giorni 1-2), viaggi di media distanza e allevamento (giorni 1-3 e 7 &deg; giorno). Nessun singolo trattamento si &egrave; rivelata significativamente migliore di un altro. Dopo l&#39;intervento chirurgico i nostri risultati dimostrano sostanziale inappetenza e riduzione dei livelli di attivit&agrave; normale nei conigli. Anche se i risultati da conigli trattati con dosi empiriche (quelli consigliati in genere) di analgesici non appare sostanzialmente migliori rispetto a quelli dal gruppo di controllo non trattato, confronto di altre dosi e analgesica multimodale tecniche utilizzando queste strategie di monitoraggio comportamentale possono rivelarsi utile in futuro studi finalizzati all&#39;ottimizzazione di analgesia postoperatoria nei conigli.

Un modello per la valutazione clinica dell&#39;analgesia perioperatoria nei conigli (Oryctolagus cuniculus).

Surgical management of the goat.

Traitement chirurgical de la ch&egrave;vre.

Gestione chirurgica della capra.

Identification of severe stress in hospitalized veterinary patients may improve treatment outcomes and welfare. To assess stress levels, in Study 1, we collected salivary cortisol samples and behavioral parameters in 28 healthy dogs hospitalized prior to elective procedures. Dogs were categorized into two groups; low cortisol (LC) and high cortisol (HC), based on the distribution of cortisol concentrations (< or ≥ 0.6 µg/dL). We constructed a stress research tool (SRT) based on three behaviors, (head resting, panting and lip licking) that were most strongly related to salivary cortisol concentrations. In Study 2, we collected salivary cortisol samples from 39 additional dogs, evaluated behavior/cortisol relationships, assigned each dog to an LC or HC group, and tested the ability of the SRT to predict salivary cortisol. Median (interquartile range) salivary cortisol concentrations were not different between Study 1 (0.43 µg/dL, 0.33 to 1.00 µg/dL) and Study 2 dogs (0.41 µg/dL, 0.28 to 0.52 µg/dL). The median salivary cortisol concentration was significantly lower (P ≤ 0.001) in LC versus HC dogs in each study; (Study 1 LC: 0.38 µg/dL, (0.19 to 0.44), n = 19, HC: 2.0 µg/dL, (1.0 to 2.8), n = 9, and Study 2 LC: 0.35 µg/dL, (0.25 to 0.48), n = 28, HC: 0.89 µg/dL, (0.66 to 1.4), n = 7). In Study 1, three behaviors were found to be associated with salivary cortisol concentrations. Duration of head resting was negatively associated with salivary cortisol (ρ = -0.60, P = 0.001), panting and lip licking were positively associated with cortisol (ρ = 0.39, P = 0.04, and 0.30, P = 0.05, respectively), Head resting (p = 0.001) and panting (p = 0.003) were also associated with LC/HC group assignment. In Study 2 dogs, the three behaviors correlated (but not significantly) with salivary cortisol concentration; of the three, only head resting was significantly associated with LC/HC group assignment (P = 0.03). The SRT derived from Study 1 was effective at prediction of salivary cortisol concentrations when applied to 20 min but not 2 min of behavioral data from Study 2. Additionally, we note that dexmedetomidine and butorphanol sedation more than 6 h prior to measurement was found to be significantly (P = 0.05) associated with lower salivary cortisol concentrations when compared to unsedated dogs. Our work offers support for eventual construction of a rating tool that utilizes the presence or absence of specific behaviors to identify higher salivary cortisol concentrations in dogs subjected to hospitalization, which may be tied to greater psychogenic stress levels. Future work to investigate the effects of stress on dogs and its mitigation in clinical situations may be approached by studying a combination o f parameters, and should consider the possible beneficial effects of sedatives.

Alicia Z. Karas

Department of Clinical Sciences

Tufts University

Nest Building as an Indicator of Health and Welfare in Laboratory Mice

Alicia Z. Karas

.css-o250i3{font-size:18px;font-family:Open Sans,sans-serif;line-height:21.6px;}Department of Clinical Sciences

Tufts University

Nest Building as an Indicator of Health and Welfare in Laboratory Mice

Department of Clinical Sciences