The impact of bedding volumes on laboratory mice

Freymann, Jennifer; Tsai, Pei-Yu; Stelzer, H. D.; Hackbarth, Hansjoachim

doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2016.11.004

Cited by 12 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…When considering the severity of animal research, emphasis has mostly been put on the evaluation of experimental procedures. However, refining housing routines is presumably as important for welfare as refining experimental techniques [e.g., see (3,4)]. In this respect, meeting species-specific nutritional demands may represent one of the most central factors in an animal's life that contributes to good welfare.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effects of Different Feeding Routines on Welfare in Laboratory Mice

et al. 2020

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The accepted norm in most laboratories around the globe is feeding laboratory mice an ad libitum diet, although several health impairments are well-established. In contrast, reducing the animals' body weight by feeding them less food once per day (referred to as 24 h schedule) has been shown to enhance life span and reduce disease susceptibility. Against this background, this study aimed at systematically investigating the effects of different feeding routines. Therefore, three feeding routines were compared to the standard ad libitum feeding and effects on body weight development and welfare were investigated in male C57BL/6J mice. In particular, a 24 h schedule group, an AUTO group, characterized by an automated supply of small pieces of food all over the day, and a 4 h removal group, characterized by daily removal of food for 4 h, were studied. While the removal of food for 4 h per day did not lead to a reduction of body weight, and hence is unlikely to prevent negative effects of overfeeding, both the 24 h schedule group and the AUTO group led to the aspired body weight reduction. In the AUTO group, however, higher levels of corticosterone metabolites and stereotypies were observed, implying a rather negative impact on welfare. By contrast, no distinct negative effects of a 24 h schedule were found. Studies like this underline the general need for evidence-based severity assessments of any procedure involving living animals.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effects of Different Feeding Routines on Welfare in Laboratory Mice

et al. 2020

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“…Lastly, although previous studies evaluating various bedding types have reported higher ammonia concentrations with male mice than female mice, we noted no such sex-associated differences in our current study. 13 As previously mentioned, throughout this study, cages housing mice that consumed the P1 diet had a large accumulation of powdered fines at the bottom of the cages. These powdered fines add to the normal cage soilage (that is, feces, urine) and allow fluids such as water and urine to be further absorbed into both the bedding and the feed, leading to additional moisture accumulation within the cage.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 59%

“…To our knowledge, no previous studies have assessed the effect of diet form on intracage ammonia concentrations. 13,35 In the current study, we assessed the effects of extruded and pelleted diets on feed disappearance, body weight, and cage score, which was based on the degree of cage soilage. We also evaluated whether these effects were influenced by the strain or stock or sex of the mice.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Extruded Compared with Pelleted Diets on Laboratory Mice Housed in Individually Ventilated Cages and the Cage Environment

Levy¹,

Flores²,

García³

et al. 2018

j am assoc lab anim sci

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The physical form of the diet fed to laboratory animals should be evaluated to reduce experimental variations and confoundingfactors. This 14-d study evaluated the effects of diet form (pelleted or extruded) on intracage ammonia concentrations,feed disappearance, body weight, cage weight, and the degree of cage soilage and whether these effects were influenced bystrain or stock or sex. Mice (C57BL/6, ICR, and nude; age, 4 wk) were randomly assigned to 4 treatment groups representingpelleted and extruded diets from each of 2 vendors (pelleted diet groups, P1 and P2; extruded diet groups, E1 and E2).Intracage ammonia concentrations depended on strain or stock, diet, and day and were higher in cages housing nude micethat consumed P1. Diet type did not affect the weight of mice at the end of the study. Feed disappearance was dependent ondiet type and mouse strain or stock and was greatest in the cages of mice that consumed P1. In addition, the greatest feeddisappearance was seen with ICR mice, whereas the least was seen with C57BL/6 mice. Cages housing male nude mice hadgreater cage soilage than those housing female nude mice. The degree of cage soilage was influenced by diet type and dayalso. These results show that diet form and mouse strain or stock significantly affect intracage ammonia concentrations, feeddisappearance, cage weight, and the degree of cage soilage.

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“…Unlike in the complex system, where faeces and urine spots occurred in the same location, faeces in the standard system were dispersed throughout all locations, likely because of mixing and moving of bedding during activity 34 . Moreover, mice in the complex system moved the bulk of the bedding from the nesting and neutral cages to the latrine cage, perhaps as a way to further dilute the scent of their waste products: prolonged exposure to high ammonia levels leads to epithelial degeneration, necrosis of the olfactory epithelium and inflammatory lesions in the nasal passages 27 and deeper bedding has been shown to reduce ammonia levels within a cage 35 . Thus, segregation of nesting and elimination sites appears to be highly motivated in mice.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Standard laboratory housing for mice restricts their ability to segregate space into clean and dirty areas

Makowska

Franks

El-Hinn

et al. 2019

Sci Rep

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Laboratory mice (Mus musculus) are typically housed in simple cages consisting of one open space. These standard cages may thwart mouse ability to segregate resting areas from areas where they eliminate, a behaviour that is prevalent across the animal kingdom. No scientific work has directly tested whether mice engage in such segregation behaviour, or whether the ability to do so may have welfare consequences. Here we show that mice, whether housed in standard cages or a complex housing system consisting of three interconnected standard cages, kept nesting and elimination sites highly segregated, with nest and urine co-occurring in the same location only 2% of the time. However, mice in the complex system established these clean and dirty sites in separate cages instead of separate locations within one cage, and carried bedding materials (cellulose pellets) from their nesting cages to their latrine cage. Moreover, mice in the complex system displayed more behaviours associated with positive welfare and were less disturbed by weekly husbandry procedures. We conclude that mice find waste products aversive, and that housing mice in a way that facilitates spatial segregation provides a simple way of allowing the expression of natural behaviours and improving welfare.

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The impact of bedding volumes on laboratory mice

Cited by 12 publications

References 47 publications

The Effects of Different Feeding Routines on Welfare in Laboratory Mice

The Effects of Different Feeding Routines on Welfare in Laboratory Mice

Effects of Extruded Compared with Pelleted Diets on Laboratory Mice Housed in Individually Ventilated Cages and the Cage Environment

Standard laboratory housing for mice restricts their ability to segregate space into clean and dirty areas

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