1st Edition

Critical Care Management for Laboratory Mice and Rats

By F. Claire Hankenson Copyright 2014
    272 Pages 69 Color Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    272 Pages
    by CRC Press

    For critical care of laboratory rodents, there is a scarcity of sources for comprehensive, feasible, and response-oriented information on clinical interventions specific to spontaneous and induced models of disease. With the more complex cases that need critical care management, many treatment approaches to veterinary emergencies cannot be applied directly to the laboratory rodent. The first text of its kind devoted to the challenges of critical care management for laboratory rodents, Critical Care Management for Laboratory Mice and Rats provides a specialized resource for all veterinary, husbandry, technical, and research professionals who utilize rodent models for biomedical research.

    The book covers the varied approaches to laboratory rodent patient care, health assessments, characteristics of specific disease models, monitoring and scoring of disease parameters, and humane interventions. Giving primary consideration to preservation of animal health and welfare, the text also considers how best to balance welfare with the achievement of proposed scientific objectives. Organized into five chapters, this full-color book covers the following topics:

    • General Approaches for Critical Care
    • Critical Care Management for Laboratory Mice
    • Critical Care Management for Laboratory Rats
    • Special Considerations for Critical Care Management in Laboratory Rodents
    • Resources and Additional Information

    The author provides treatment guidelines with the expectation that they will be applied with apt professional judgment, allowing for further modification of clinical recommendations for improved patient-based care and welfare for research animals.

    general approaches for critical care
    overview
    obtaining a clinical history and medical records
    body condition scoring
    relocation for physical examinations
    monitoring critically ill rodents
    pain recognition and assessments
    supportive care for surgical procedures
    supplemental heat provision
    drug therapy
    references

    critical care management for laboratory mice
    introduction
    overall assessments
    general medical approaches to physical examination and health assessments
    veterinary care measures
    abnormal, critical, and emergent conditions
    research-related medical issues
    euthanasia
    references

    critical care management for laboratory rats
    introduction
    overall assessments
    general medical approaches to physical examination and health assessments
    veterinary care measures
    abnormal, critical, and emergent conditions
    research-related medical issues
    euthanasia
    references

    special considerations for critical care management in laboratory rodents
    introduction
    aging animal model considerations
    blood loss considerations
    chronic indwelling device considerations
    depilatory cream considerations
    equipment considerations for rodent surgery
    and emergency procedures
    euthanasia considerations
    experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis and demyelinating disease model considerations
    fasting considerations
    fluid therapy considerations
    food and fluid regulation procedures
    humane or "clinical" endpoint considerations
    nutritional therapy considerations
    perioperative care considerations
    regulatory considerations
    restraint collar considerations
    tracheostomy considerations
    tumor development and monitoring considerations
    wound management considerations
    references

    resources and additional information
    introduction
    organizations
    publications
    electronic resources
    commercial resources

    appendix A: glossary of acronyms and terms
    appendix B: suggested medical supplies for rodent
    critical care
    appendix C: rodent formulary
    Index

    Biography

    F. Claire Hankenson, DVM, MS, is the senior associate director in University Laboratory Animal Resources, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and is an associate professor of laboratory animal medicine in the Department of Pathobiology at the School of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Hankenson obtained her veterinary degree from Purdue University. Following veterinary school, she completed her laboratory animal medicine residency and graduate work (MS, microbiology) at the University of Washington, Seattle. She became a Diplomate of the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine (ACLAM) in 2002. Her own research studies involve investigations of refinements in the care and use of laboratory rodents, particularly blood sampling, tail biopsy evaluations, and humane endpoints.