training-laboratory-rabbits-to-refine-routine-husbandry-procedures

Training Laboratory Rabbits to Refine Routine Husbandry Procedures

Non-aversive handling and training techniques for laboratory animals are required to facilitate experimental and routine husbandry procedures, improving ...

German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment

Boredom is an emotional state that occurs when an individual has nothing to do, is not interested in the surrounding, and feels dreary and in a monotony. While this condition is usually defined for humans, it may very well describe the lives of many laboratory animals housed in small, barren cages. To make the cages less monotonous, environmental enrichment is often proposed. Although housing in a stimulating environment is still used predominantly as a luxury good and for treatment in preclinical research, enrichment is increasingly recognized to improve animal welfare. To gain insight into how stimulating environments influence the welfare of laboratory rodents, we conducted a systematic review of studies that analyzed the effect of enriched environment on behavioral parameters of animal well-being. Remarkably, a considerable number of these parameters can be associated with symptoms of boredom. Our findings show that a stimulating living environment is essential for the development of natural behavior and animal welfare of laboratory rats and mice alike, regardless of age and sex. Conversely, confinement and under-stimulation has potentially detrimental effects on the mental and physical health of laboratory rodents. We show that boredom in experimental animals is measurable and does not have to be accepted as inevitable.

Bored at home?-A systematic review on the effect of environmental enrichment on the welfare of laboratory rats and mice.

Traditionally, in biomedical animal research, laboratory rodents are individually examined in test apparatuses outside of their home cages at selected time points. However, the outcome of such tests can be influenced by various factors and valuable information may be missed when the animals are only monitored for short periods. These issues can be overcome by longitudinally monitoring mice and rats in their home cages. To shed light on the development of home cage monitoring (HCM) and the current state-of-the-art, a systematic review was carried out on 521 publications retrieved through PubMed and Web of Science.

Article	Year
Bored at home?-A systematic review on the effect of environmental enrichment on the welfare of laboratory rats and mice. Frontiers in veterinary science\| PubMed ID: 36061113	2022
A systematic review of the development and application of home cage monitoring in laboratory mice and rats. BMC biology\| PubMed ID: 37953247	2023

Jenny Wilzopolski

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