Voluntary drug ingestion as a refinement method for laboratory rats скачать в хорошем качестве

Voluntary drug ingestion as a refinement method for laboratory rats

Oral administration of drugs to laboratory rats may be done via drinking water, food or an oropharyngeal gavage. Experts in the field of laboratory animal science (GV-SOLAS; TVT) stress that the most gentle method should be performed. Instead of spending some time to think about a more animal-friendly way, the long-established oropharyngeal gavage is still widely used. The benefits of the gavage are that it is traditional, it allows the application of a very exact amount and once the technique is mastered it can be performed very quickly. However, if the experimenter has not master the gavage perfectly, the well-being of the rat may be impaired by stress. Additionally, a serious risk of injuries in the upper gastro-intestinal tract is given. The refinement method of choice is to teach the rats to cooperate and freely feed on drug- feed mix right out of a pipette. This method is not just cruelty-free but can provide an exciting part in the life of the laboratory rat. It forces the experimenter to create a relationship of trust that will benefit the well-being of the rats throughout the whole experiment. I created the demonstrated protocol for the scientist of our department.