Baran, S. W., Froberg-Fejko, K., Lecker, J. et al. 2010. Post-surgical environmental enrichment in rodents. Enrichment Record 3, 4-6.

Environmental enrichment is a key component of rodent animal welfare since it influences the animal’s overall well-being, provides opportunities for activity, and encourages rodent appropriate behaviors. Many aspects of rodent enrichment have received a significant amount of attention during the last few years, which has lead to great advances in developing a beneficial enrichment program. AAALAC International encourages the implementation of rodent enrichment and many institutions require justification by scientists stating why animals should not receive environmental enrichment. One widely accepted reason for eliminating enrichment is surgery. Some Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUCs) state that withholding environmental enrichment, such as group or pair housing, during the post-surgical period does not require justification by the investigator because single housing is considered within the standard of normal post-operative care. In other words, it will create a safer recovery environment if this form of enrichment is withheld. Environmental enrichment is intended to decrease stress levels and provide opportunities for rodents to express species-typical behaviors. Therefore, it is possible that depriving an animal experiencing the added stress of isolation, coupled with the catabolic state the animal may already be in because of surgery, may turn an already physiologically abnormal animal more abnormal still. This obviously could lead to confounding data results as well as animal welfare issues.