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. 
Kitchenham, L., MacLellan, A., Paletta, P. et al. 2024. Do housing-induced changes in brain activity cause stereotypic behaviours in laboratory mice? Behavioural Brain Research 462, 114862.

Abnormal repetitive stereotypic behaviours (SBs) (e.g. pacing, body-rocking) are common in animals with poor welfare (e.g. socially isolated/in barren housing). But how (or even whether) poor housing alters animals’ brains to induce SBs remains uncertain...

Island, H. D., Smith, B., Winn, E. M. et al. 2023. A longitudinal study of parenting conditions on two adult, North American river otters’ (Lontra Canadensis) repetitive behavior. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 26(1), 15–28.

Captive animal welfare research focuses on husbandry, enrichment, enclosure space, visitor effects, and opportunities for species-typical behavior (e.g., foraging, territoriality, and social interaction). And yet, one of the most biologically relevant opportunities for species-typical behavior...

Walldén, W. 2023. Giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis feeding: How stereotypies and other behaviours changed at Kolmårdens djurpark in Sweden. Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research 11(4), 393–399.

Kolmården djurpark keeps one of the most northern living giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis groups in the world, and this comes with its challenges. For a long part of the year, the outside temperature is too cold...

Gates, K. V., Alamaw, E., Jampachaisri, K. et al. 2023. Efficacy of supplemental diet gels for preventing postoperative weight loss in mice (Mus musculus). JAALAS 62(1), 87–91.

This study investigated whether the use of commercially available diet gels prevented the postoperative weight loss associated with major survival surgery in mice. C57BL/6 mice were divided into 3 groups (n = 9 per group)...

Reichert, M. N., Koewler, N. J., Hargis, A. M. et al. 2023. Effects of depilatory cream formulation and contact time on mouse skin. JAALAS 62(2), 153–162.

Depilatory creams are widely used in research to remove hair in preparation for surgery, imaging, and other procedures. However, few studies have evaluated the effects of these creams on mouse skin. We sought to determine...

Tirado-Muñiz, N., Spangler, T. L., Van Rooyen, H. et al. 2023. Evaluation of cage mate–induced postsurgical trauma in mice. JAALAS 62(2), 170–178.

Although mice are social animals, individual housing is sometimes requested after surgery. We questioned whether pair-housing mice after surgery resulted in greater trauma to the surgical site as compared with single housing. We further evaluated...

Yang, P., Hish, G., Lester, P. A. 2023. Comparison of systemic extended-release buprenorphine and local extended-release bupivacaine-meloxicam as analgesics for laparotomy in mice. JAALAS 62(5), 416–422.

Extended-release (ER) local anesthetics can be used in multi-modal analgesia or in situations in which systemic analgesics may alter animal physiology and thus introduce interpretational confounds. In this study, we compared the analgesic efficacy of...

Nicolis, I. N., Beale, C. N., Bidot, W. A. et al. 2022. Performance and consistency of circulating warm water blankets for rodents. JAALAS 61(1), 96-100.

General anesthesia as used for rodent research can have adverse effects on physiologic mechanisms. Thermoregulation is often greatly inhibited, with resultant deleterious effects on cardiac and respiratory function. These potential effects can be mitigated by...

Reichert, M., Koewler, N., Hargis, A. M. et al. 2022. Effects of hair removal creams on mouse skin. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 10(3) (May/June), 46-47.

Human hair removal brands such as Nair™ are sometimes used in research to remove hair from mice before surgery, imaging, and other procedures.1,3 While the use of these depilatory creams in rodent research is relatively...

Bailey, K. T., Jantre, S. R., Lawrence, F. R. et al. 2022. Evaluation of active warming and surgical draping for perioperative thermal support in laboratory mice. JAALAS 61(5), 482-494.

Surgical procedures are commonly performed using mice but can have major effects on their core body temperature, including development of hypothermia. In this study, we evaluated active perioperative warming with and without surgical draping with...

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...

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...

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...

Sørensen, D., Cloutier, S., Gaskill, B. (Eds.). 2021. Animal-centric Care and Management - Enhancing Refinement in Biomedical Research. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.

The concept of the 3Rs (Refinement, Reduction and Replacement) has been used as a framework for improving the welfare of laboratory animals for the last half century. By establishing an animal-centric view on housing and...

Celeste, N. A., Emmer, K. M., Bidot, W. A. et al. 2021. Effects of cling film draping material on body temperature of mice during surgery. JAALAS 60(2), 195-200.

General anesthesia induces many systemic effects, including thermoregulatory impairment and subsequent perioperative hypothermia. Due to the animals' small size, monitoring and maintaining body temperatures in laboratory rodents during anesthesia is important for successful surgical outcomes...

Garcia, T., Brown, C., Margolies, D. et al. 2021. Grinding on a last nerve: Attempting to curb food grinding in mice. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 9(6) (November/December), 34-36.

Food grinding, or chewing food without ingestion, is a topic of interest in the laboratory animal community. In addition to increased effort needed to deal with this excess waste and provide suitable microenvironment for animals...

Oralman, T. 2020. Confronting crunching: A refinement for the care of mice with the desire to crunch. Animal Technology and Welfare 19(1), 89-91.

‘Crunching’ is the term often used to describe the abnormal behaviour of mice that habitually crunch their pelleted diet, causing substrate levels to rise as the crumbs settle on the cage floor ultimately burying the...

Reinhardt, V. (ed.) 2020. It’s Okay to Cry - Discussions by the Laboratory Animal Refinement & Enrichment Forum [LAREF], Volume V. Animal Welfare Institute, Washington, DC.

This is the 5th volume of selected discussions that took place on the electronic Laboratory Animal Refinement & Enrichment Forum between February 2016 and December 2019. The forum was created in October 2002; it allows...

Theil, J. H., Ahloy-Dallaire, J., Weber, E. M. et al. 2020. The epidemiology of fighting in group-housed laboratory mice. Scientific Reports 10(1), 16649.

Injurious home-cage aggression (fighting) in mice affects both animal welfare and scientific validity. It is arguably the most common potentially preventable morbidity in mouse facilities. Existing literature on mouse aggression almost exclusively examines territorial aggression...

Eyer, A. E., Miller, L. J. 2020. Evaluating the influence of conspecifics on a male giant anteater’s (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) pacing behavior. Animal Behavior and Cognition 7(4), 556–566.

Stereotypic behavior has been studied in various species, but little information exists on stereotypies in giant anteaters (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) under professional care. Giant anteaters are known for their solitary nature and well-developed sense of smell...

Silber, S., Joshi, S., Pillay, N. 2019. Behavioural syndromes in stereotypic striped mice. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 212, 74-81.

Stereotypical behaviours (SBs) are abnormal, repetitive behaviours often observed in captivity. SBs are linked to impoverished captive conditions, and stereotypic individuals show a particular set of behaviours (e.g. bolder personality, greater activity) indicating proactive coping...

Fernandez, E. J., Timberlake, W. 2019. Foraging devices as enrichment in captive walruses (Odobenus rosmarus). Behavioural Processes 168, 103943.

Stereotypies in captive animals are typically defined as repetitive, invariant behavioral patterns with no obvious goal or function. They are often attributed to boredom or fear and treated by introducing occupational stimuli. The present work...

McMillan, F. D. (ed). 2019. Mental Health and Well-being in Animals (2nd ed). CABI, Wallingford, UK.

This second edition is fully revised, expanded, and comprehensively updated with the most current knowledge about the full array of mental health issues seen in animals. Written by key opinion leaders, internationally-recognized experts and specialists...

Bacon, H. 2018. Behaviour-based husbandry—A holistic approach to the management of abnormal repetitive behaviors. Animals 8(7), 103.

The field of zoo animal welfare science has developed significantly over recent years. However despite this progress in terms of scientific research, globally, zoo animals still face many welfare challenges. Recently, animal welfare frameworks such...

Liu, H., Duan H., Wang C. 2017. Effects of ambient environmental factors on the stereotypic behaviors of giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca). PLOS ONE 12(1), e0170167.

Stereotypies are commonly observed in zoo animals, and it is necessary to better understand whether ambient environmental factors contribute to stereotypy and how to affect animal welfare in zoo settings. This study investigated the relationships...