Developing guidelines for pet rat housing through expert consultation

Vikki M Neville; Kristina Hunter; Livia Benato; Michael T Mendl; E S Paul

doi:10.1002/vetr.1839

Developing guidelines for pet rat housing through expert consultation

Vikki M Neville^*
, Kristina Hunter
, Livia Benato
, Michael T Mendl
, E S Paul

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

293 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Background
Pet care guidelines play an important role in ensuring that owners are well informed about good husbandry practices, allowing them to provide the best care for their animals. However, the development of such guidelines is difficult when there is little appropriate empirical evidence on which to base guidelines, as in the case of pet rats. The consultation of multiple experts can help to surmount this challenge.

Methods
We developed a set of guidelines for pet rat housing by consulting with a group of experts, including veterinarians, veterinary nurses, animal welfare scientists and experienced pet rat owners. The consultation involved two rounds of online surveys (n = 13) and one online discussion (n = 8).

Results
The resulting guidelines cover a broad range of features within pet rat housing, including injury prevention, details of suitable refuges and substrates, and suitable cage sizing. The guidelines may evolve as more information about pet rats comes to light but may nonetheless provide a useful starting point for any future guidelines.

Conclusions
At present, these guidelines may not only be useful for pet rat owners and those advising pet rat owners, such as veterinarians, but may also be useful in the design of housing, including for laboratory rodents.

Original language	English
Article number	e1839
Number of pages	13
Journal	Veterinary Record
Early online date	16 Jul 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/vetr.1839
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 16 Jul 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We are very grateful to all the experts who took the time to contribute to the development of these guidelines. Vikki Neville and Elizabeth S. Paul are currently funded by a BBSRC grant, reference BB/T002654/1 (PI: Michael Mendl).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors. Veterinary Record published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Veterinary Association.

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title = "Developing guidelines for pet rat housing through expert consultation",

abstract = "Background Pet care guidelines play an important role in ensuring that owners are well informed about good husbandry practices, allowing them to provide the best care for their animals. However, the development of such guidelines is difficult when there is little appropriate empirical evidence on which to base guidelines, as in the case of pet rats. The consultation of multiple experts can help to surmount this challenge. Methods We developed a set of guidelines for pet rat housing by consulting with a group of experts, including veterinarians, veterinary nurses, animal welfare scientists and experienced pet rat owners. The consultation involved two rounds of online surveys (n = 13) and one online discussion (n = 8). Results The resulting guidelines cover a broad range of features within pet rat housing, including injury prevention, details of suitable refuges and substrates, and suitable cage sizing. The guidelines may evolve as more information about pet rats comes to light but may nonetheless provide a useful starting point for any future guidelines. Conclusions At present, these guidelines may not only be useful for pet rat owners and those advising pet rat owners, such as veterinarians, but may also be useful in the design of housing, including for laboratory rodents.",

author = "Neville, \{Vikki M\} and Kristina Hunter and Livia Benato and Mendl, \{Michael T\} and Paul, \{E S\}",

note = "Funding Information: We are very grateful to all the experts who took the time to contribute to the development of these guidelines. Vikki Neville and Elizabeth S. Paul are currently funded by a BBSRC grant, reference BB/T002654/1 (PI: Michael Mendl). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 The Authors. Veterinary Record published by John Wiley \& Sons Ltd on behalf of British Veterinary Association.",

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AU - Hunter, Kristina

AU - Benato, Livia

AU - Mendl, Michael T

AU - Paul, E S

N1 - Funding Information: We are very grateful to all the experts who took the time to contribute to the development of these guidelines. Vikki Neville and Elizabeth S. Paul are currently funded by a BBSRC grant, reference BB/T002654/1 (PI: Michael Mendl). Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Authors. Veterinary Record published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Veterinary Association.

PY - 2022/7/16

Y1 - 2022/7/16

N2 - Background Pet care guidelines play an important role in ensuring that owners are well informed about good husbandry practices, allowing them to provide the best care for their animals. However, the development of such guidelines is difficult when there is little appropriate empirical evidence on which to base guidelines, as in the case of pet rats. The consultation of multiple experts can help to surmount this challenge. Methods We developed a set of guidelines for pet rat housing by consulting with a group of experts, including veterinarians, veterinary nurses, animal welfare scientists and experienced pet rat owners. The consultation involved two rounds of online surveys (n = 13) and one online discussion (n = 8). Results The resulting guidelines cover a broad range of features within pet rat housing, including injury prevention, details of suitable refuges and substrates, and suitable cage sizing. The guidelines may evolve as more information about pet rats comes to light but may nonetheless provide a useful starting point for any future guidelines. Conclusions At present, these guidelines may not only be useful for pet rat owners and those advising pet rat owners, such as veterinarians, but may also be useful in the design of housing, including for laboratory rodents.

AB - Background Pet care guidelines play an important role in ensuring that owners are well informed about good husbandry practices, allowing them to provide the best care for their animals. However, the development of such guidelines is difficult when there is little appropriate empirical evidence on which to base guidelines, as in the case of pet rats. The consultation of multiple experts can help to surmount this challenge. Methods We developed a set of guidelines for pet rat housing by consulting with a group of experts, including veterinarians, veterinary nurses, animal welfare scientists and experienced pet rat owners. The consultation involved two rounds of online surveys (n = 13) and one online discussion (n = 8). Results The resulting guidelines cover a broad range of features within pet rat housing, including injury prevention, details of suitable refuges and substrates, and suitable cage sizing. The guidelines may evolve as more information about pet rats comes to light but may nonetheless provide a useful starting point for any future guidelines. Conclusions At present, these guidelines may not only be useful for pet rat owners and those advising pet rat owners, such as veterinarians, but may also be useful in the design of housing, including for laboratory rodents.

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SN - 0042-4900

JO - Veterinary Record

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M1 - e1839

ER -

Developing guidelines for pet rat housing through expert consultation

Abstract

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