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. 
Eyre, R., Trehiou, M., Marshall, E. et al. 2022. Aging cats prefer warm food. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 47, 86-92.

The aim of this study was to determine if meal temperature of cat wet food affected the feeding preference of aging (>7 years of age) domestic short-haired cats. We examined a chunks in gravy product...

Stäbler, R., Patzkéwitsch, D., Reese, S. et al. 2022. Behavior of domestic pigs under near-natural forest conditions with ad libitum supplementary feeding. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 48, 20-35.

Today's livestock agriculture faces major changes in domestic pig husbandry—besides animal health and productivity, aspects of animal welfare and animal-friendly husbandry systems for pigs increasingly gain attention. To get a basic and current overview of...

Mastellone, V., Musco, N., Infascelli, F. et al. 2022. Higher forage:concentrate ratio and space availability may favor positive behaviors in dairy cows. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 51, 16-22.

A novel livestock management system (LMS) for dairy cows mainly based on a high forage:concentrate ratio, no silage, and large outdoor paddocks, has been introduced in Italy during the last five years. It was proved...

Zevnik, B., Jerchow, B., Buch, T. 2022. 3R measures in facilities for the production of genetically modified rodents. Lab Animal 51(6), 162-177.

Sociocultural changes in the human–animal relationship have led to increasing demands for animal welfare in biomedical research. The 3R concept is the basis for bringing this demand into practice: Replace animal experiments with alternatives where...

McLeod, A. R., Burton, J. A., Mackey, C. A. et al. 2022. An assessment of ambient noise and other environmental variables in a nonhuman primate housing facility. Lab Animal 51(8), 219-226.

Acoustic noise and other environmental variables represent potential confounds for animal research. Of relevance to auditory research, sustained high levels of ambient noise may modify hearing sensitivity and decrease well-being among laboratory animals. The present...

Jacob, G., Katti, H., Cherian, T. et al. 2021. A naturalistic environment to study visual cognition in unrestrained monkeys. eLife 10, e63816.

Macaque monkeys are widely used to study vision. In the traditional approach, monkeys are brought into a lab to perform visual tasks while they are restrained to obtain stable eye tracking and neural recordings. Here...

Abazaris, J., Hashway, S. 2022. Vole husbandry at Colorado University Boulder. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 10(4) (July/August), 12-15.

Since they arrived at CU Boulder, we have learned a lot about the voles from the laboratory, other institutions, and our trial-and-error. We hope this information can be helpful to any considering adding voles to...

Adams, C. R., Park, T. J. 2022. The husbandry and management of naked mole-rats (Heterocephalus glaber). Laboratory Animal Science Professional 10(4) (July/August), 16-18.

Naked mole-rats (NMRs) have unique husbandry requirements that need to be considered when maintaining them in captivity. We have successfully maintained NMRs at the University of Illinois at Chicago for more than 20 years. This...

Semus, H. 2022. Using restaurant glassware and flatware wash racks for washing water bottles and cage accessories. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 10(4) (July/August), 32-33.

In the event of an emergency resulting in our automatic watering system being shut off, we identified the need to increase the number of rodent water bottles we have on hand. Once we realized we...

Ulfhake, B., Lerat, H., Honetschlager, J. et al. 2022. A multicentre study on spontaneous in-cage activity and micro-environmental conditions of IVC housed C57BL/6J mice during consecutive cycles of bi-weekly cage-change. PLOS ONE 17(5), e0267281.

Mice respond to a cage change (CC) with altered activity, disrupted sleep and increased anxiety. A bi-weekly cage change is, therefore, preferred over a shorter CC interval and is currently the prevailing routine for Individually...

Henry, B. A., Power, M. L., Maslanka, M. T. et al. 2022. Challenges of devising a milk recipe in a hand‐reared hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius). Zoo Biology 41(4), 360-364.

In January 2017, a Nile hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibious) was born approximately six weeks premature at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. Due to the calf's weakened condition and lack of interest from the dam, management...

Kleiber, A., Le-Calvez, J. M., Kerneis, T. et al. 2022. Positive effects of bubbles as a feeding predictor on behaviour of farmed rainbow trout. Scientific Reports 12(1), 11368.

Occupational enrichment emerges as a promising strategy for improving the welfare of farmed animals. This form of enrichment aims to stimulate cognitive abilities of animals by providing them with more opportunities to interact with and...

Butler, S. 2022. Gardening for Gorillas. Orla Kelly Publishing, Dublin, Ireland. 369 p.

During the author's 37 years as Curator of Horticulture, Dublin Zoo transformed from an almost Victorian appearance to a verdant green ark. A progressive masterplan focused on animal welfare and themed habitats reflects the spirit...

Charbonneau, J. A., Amaral, D. G. Bliss-Moreau, E. 2022. Social housing status impacts rhesus monkeys’ affective responding in classic threat processing tasks. Scientific Reports 12(1), 4140.

Individuals’ social contexts are broadly recognized to impact both their psychology and neurobiology. These effects are observed in people and in nonhuman animals who are the subjects for comparative and translational science. The social contexts...

Baxter, E. M., Moustsen, V. A., Goumon, S. et al. 2022. Transitioning from crates to free farrowing: A roadmap to navigate key decisions. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 9, 998192.

There are animal welfare concerns about the continued use of permanent crating systems for farrowing and lactating sows, which is the most prevalent maternity system in global pig production. Greater societal attention in recent years...

Bonnefous, C., Collin, A., Guilloteau, L. A. et al. 2022. Welfare issues and potential solutions for laying hens in free range and organic production systems: A review based on literature and interviews. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 9, 952922.

In free-range and organic production systems, hens can make choices according to their needs and desires, which is in accordance with welfare definitions. Nonetheless, health and behavioral problems are also encountered in these systems. The...

Cellier, M., Nielsen, B. L., Duvaux-Ponter, C. et al. 2022. Browse or browsing: Investigating goat preferences for feeding posture, feeding height and feed type. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 9, 1032631.

Goats naturally browse different forages in various postures; this differs from typical farm practice, thus there are opportunities to improve goat welfare by understanding what and how they like to eat. We investigated if feeding...

de Jong, I. C., Schokker, D., Gunnink, H. et al. 2022. Early life environment affects behavior, welfare, gut microbiome composition, and diversity in broiler chickens. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 9, 977359.

This study aimed to identify whether early-life conditions in broiler chickens could affect their behavior and welfare, and whether or not this was associated with an altered gut microbiome composition or diversity. Broilers were tested...

Dickmann, J., Gonzalez-Uarquin, F., Reichel, S. et al. 2022. Clicker training mice for improved compliance in the catwalk test. Animals 12(24), 3545.

The CatWalk test relies on the run of mice across the platform to measure a constant speed with low variation. Mice usually require a stimulus to walk to the end of the catwalk. However, such...

Goldsmith, R., Wilson, C. 2022. Does environmental colour matter to Zebrafish. Animal Technology and Welfare 21(3), 234–237.

The aim of this study was to determine if environmental colour affects the Zebrafrish (Danio rerio) performance metrics of survival, growth rates, fecundity, and fertility. This study created tanks of different colours (green, blue, and...

Müller, K., Lengheimer, T., Kral-Pointner, J. B. et al. 2022. Exposure to soiled bedding reduces abnormal repetitive behaviors in mice. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 16, 1062864.

Hygiene management protocols in laboratory mouse husbandries worldwide most commonly employ soiled bedding-exposed sentinel mice to monitor the occurrence of infections in mouse colonies. Using this approach, sentinel mice repeatedly receive a mixture of used...

Orosz, G. 2022. Mouse food hopper dividers for a refined feeding method. Animal Technology and Welfare 21(3), 160–176.

This project aimed to establish whether a different method of presenting diet “ad-libitum” to laboratory mice could lower the negative consequences of exceess food, such as decreased quality, palatability and increased cost. The main aim...

Sohel Khan, A., Lea, S. E. G., Chand, P. et al. 2022. Predictors of psychological stress and behavioural diversity among captive red panda in Indian zoos and their implications for global captive management. Scientific Reports 12(1), 14034.

At high elevations, biodiversity is at elevated risk from extinctions due to rapid environmental changes. In the most of its range in Himalayas, the red panda, an endangered species, is struggling to survive in the...

Sonne, C., Alstrup, A. K. O., Pertoldi, C. et al. 2022. Cortisol in manure from cattle enclosed with nofence virtual fencing. Animals 12(21), 3017.

To increase the efficiency and geographic expansion of nature conservation, large grazers have recently been used, either in the form of wild hoof-bearing animals or as domesticated ruminants including cattle. Using physical fencing limits migrating...

Vanderzwalmen, M., Sánchez Lacalle, D., Tamilselvan, P. et al. 2022. The effect of substrate on water quality in ornamental fish tanks. Animals 12(19), 2679.

Almost all home aquaria contain substrate, either as intentional enrichment or for aesthetic purposes. For fishes, benefits of structural enrichment have been well considered, particularly in research and aquaculture settings. However, our understanding of the...