Refinement: Handling, housing, procedures

Culture of Care is an important principle that expresses a commitment to improving animal welfare, scientific quality, appreciation of staff and transparency for all stakeholders.

Swiss Working Group Culture of Care

International CoC Network

The 3H Initiative (Housing, Handling and Habituation)

Information on general refinement techniques

The 3Hs Initiative (3hs-initiative.co.uk)

Stressfree handling of mice: Cup- or tunnel handling

how-to-pick-up-a-mouse (NC3Rs)

mouse handling video-clips (NC3Rs)

Refined Handling Overview - The 3Rs Collaborative (na3rsc.org)

Poster in German, English and French available at our office

Video: Gentle mouse handling and training (Rise)

Rat tickling

Webinar

Tutorial video

Systematic review

Poster in German, English and French available at our office

Rat handling

Video: Gentle rat handling and training (Rise)

Application methods

Safe i.p. injection with Stop-Cap method (PDF, 220 KB)

Alternative scruff method for s.c. injection, mouse

Diverse training videos (procedures with care)

Why needles should not be used multiple times

Training models for intravenous injections on mice

Voluntary oral intake (gavage alternatives, injection alternatives)

Voluntary oral intake of substances avoids handling stress and can replace injections and oral gavages. Here are some examples:

Pipette Feeding with condensed milk (Mouse, UZH, Institute of Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology)

Gelatine Cubes (Mouse)

Instillation with honey (Mouse)

Nutella and Analgesia (Rat)

Nutella and Analgesie (Mouse)

Blood sampling

Refinement of blood sampling (NC3Rs)

Decision Tree (NC3Rs)

Asepsis

Aseptic techniques for rodent surgery (procedures with care)

Housing of laboratory animals

NC3Rs ressources

Article: A good life for laboratory rodents?

Recommendations for enrichment for single housed mice at UZH (PDF, 210 KB)

Recommendations to reduce male mouse aggression at UZH (PDF, 206 KB)