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. 
Grover-Johnson, N., Spencer, P. S. 1981. Peripheral nerve abnormalities in aging rats. Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology 40, 155-165.

Rats kept on wire-mesh flooring for a long time develop striking morphological changes in the distal sciatic/tibial/plantar never complex.

Dawkins, M. 1981. Priorities in the cage size and flooring preferences of domestic hens. British Poultry Science 22, 255-263.

The experiments described demonstrate that hens prefer larger to smaller cages and litter floors to wire ones, but that they give highest priority to flooring. ...As far as the hens' immediate response to their environment...

Chamove, A. S. 1981. Deep litter: Experiments with seven species of primates in Edinburgh Zoo. Annual Report of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, 40-41 (Abstract).

The presence of woodchip litter decreased inactivity and fighting in group-housed animals. With time, the litter became increasingly inhibitory to bacteria.

Castro, M. I., Rose, J., Green, N. et al. 1981. Ketamine-HC1 as a suitable anesthetic for endocrine, metabolic, and cardiovascular studies in Macaca fascicularis. Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine 168, 389-394.

Findings make it clear that ketamine itself is unlikely to affect stress-sensitive research data.

Buré, R. G. 1981. Animal well-being and housing systems for piglets. In: The Welfare of Pigs. Sybesma, W. (ed), 198-207. Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, Netherlands.

Weaned piglets housed with straw performed less tail-biting, rooting, massaging, and nibbling of pen-mates than pigs reared without straw.

Buhot-Averseng, M. C. 1981. Nest-box choice in the laboratory mice: Preference for nest-boxes differing in design (size and/or shape) and composition. Behavioural Processes 6, 337-384.

Mice had a strong preference for nest boxes which allowed visual cues to pass and which had a rectangular shape. Highest in order of preference were small narrow-sided nest-boxes, followed by small square ones, then...

Anderson, J. R., Chamove, A. S. 1981. Self-aggressive behaviour in monkeys. Current Psychological Reviews 1, 139-158.

Self-aggression is most often reported in some Old World monkeys that have been reared under conditions of social deprivation, and rarely occurs in the wild. It may also appear in normal animals under very stressful...

Aidara, D., Tahiri-Zagret, C., Robyn, C. 1981. Serum prolactin concentrations in mangabey (Cercocebus atys lunulatus) and patas (Erythrocebus patas) monkeys in response to stress, ketamine, TRH, sulpiride and levodopa. Journal of Reproduction and Fertility 62, 165-172 .

Injection of ketamine resulted in a significant increase in serum prolactin. The stress related to the i.m. injection itself could have been the cause of this increase.

Wheatley, B. P. 1980. Feeding and ranging of East Bornean Macaca fascicularis. In: The Macaques: Studies in Ecology, Behavior and Evolution. Lindburg, D. G. (ed), 215-246. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, NY.

Photographic documentation of a typical sleeping tree. The study troop spent more than 97 percent of their time in the trees.

Wickings, E. J., Nieschlag, E. 1980. Pituitary response to LRH and TRH stimulation and peripheral steroid hormones in conscious and anaesthetized adult male rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). Acta Endocrinologica 93, 287-293.

Adult male rhesus monkeys are aggressive animals and very difficult to handle. Hence experimental manipulations necessarily involve the use of restraint procedures, either chemical or physical, which may influence endocrine functions. ... The male rhesus...

Tolan, J. C., Malone, D. R., Rogers, C. M. 1980. An exercise cage for monkeys. Laboratory Primate Newsletter 19(1), 3-5.

The design of an exercise cage for rhesus macaques is described.

Teas, J., Richie, T., Taylor, H. et al. 1980. Population patterns and behavioral ecology of rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) in Nepal. In: The Macaques: Studies in Ecology, Behavior and Evolution. Lindburgh, D. G. (ed), 247-262. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, NY.

Activity budgets of feral rhesus troops are described. Adult females were ... three times more active [in grooming] than males. Adults spend about 16% of the time grooming each other.

Taub, D. M. 1980. Testing the agonistic buffering hypothesis: The dynamics of participation in the triadic interaction. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 6, 187-197.
Sticher, M., Abramovits, W., Newcomer, V. D. 1980. Trichotillomania in adult. Cutis 26, 90-101.

Since this behavior is seldom associated with psychosis, we suggest the term hair plucking be used to describe this syndrome.

Simpson, M. 1980. Self-mutilation as indirect self-destructive behavior. In: The Many Faces of Suicide. Farberow, N. L. (ed), 257-283. McGraw-Hill, New York.
Rosenberg, D. P., Loomis, M. R. 1980. Apparent psychogenic polydipsia in a rhesus monkey. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 177, 940-941.
Rose, V., Sloop, W., Baker, P. 1980 . Elimination of chronic self-injurious behavior by withdrawal of staff attention. Psychological Reports 46, 327-330.
Pond, C. L., Rush, H. G. 1980. Self-aggressive behavior in nonhuman primates. American Association for Laboratory Animal Science [AALAS] Meeting Official Program, 46.

Pharmocological treatment alleviated but failed to eliminate self-injurious biting.

Panksepp J., Bean, N. J., Bishop, P. et al. 1980. Opioid blockade and social comfort in chicks. Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior 13(5), 673-83.

When young animals are separated from their normal social environment in groups they distress vocalize (DV) less than when isolated alone. Opioid blockade with naloxone (1 mg/kg peripherally, and 1 microgram centrally) increased crying more...

Panksepp, J., Herman, B. H., Vilberg, T. et al. 1980. Endogenous opioids and social behavior. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 4(4), 473-487.

Evidence for the hypothesis that brain-opioids mediate social affect and social attachments is summarized. Opiates and opioids are very effective in reducing social separation-induced distress vocalizations (DVs), in puppies, young guinea pigs and chicks, while...

Mitchell, D. S., Wigodsky, H. S., Peel, H. H. et al. 1980. Operant conditioning permits voluntary, noninvasive measurement of blood pressure in conscious, unrestrained baboons (Papio cynocephalus). Behavior Research Methods and Instrumentation 12, 492-498.

Training technique is described for voluntary cooperation during blood pressure measurement.

Loomis, M. R., Henrickson, R. V., Anderson, J. H. 1980. Effects of ketamine hydrochloride on the hemogram of rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). Laboratory Animal Science 30, 851-853.

Restraining a monkey in its cage represents a stressful situation which may result in a physiological leukocytosis and hemoconcentration in the sample collected.

Kemnitz, J. W. 1980. Various factors influence feeding behavior, obesity. Primate Record 8(2), 3-5.

Photographic demonstration of inadequate lighting conditions in double-tier isolation cages.

Kaplan, J. R., Manning, P., Zucker, E. 1980. Reduction of mortality due to fighting in a colony of rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). Laboratory Animal Science 30, 565-570.

Mortality resulting from fighting [17 deaths per 100 females per year] in a breeding colony of rhesus monkeys living in groups was an important management problem. It was found that the cause of the fighting...

Jensen, G. D., Blanton, F. L., Gribble, D. H. 1980. Older monkeys' (Macaca radiata) response to new group formation: Behavior, reproduction and mortality. Experimental Gerontology 15, 399-406.

Groups were formed without any preliminaries. Trauma did not play a role in the death [23%] of older [12-19 yrs of age] animals. A group of younger bonnets (5 males and 33 females under 10...