![]() The result that the highest prevalence of pup mortality occurred during the first four days after birth, leads to the conclusion, that if the usually counting of pups at weaning is going on, a huge amount of infant death is not recorded. The most prominent finding was the detrimental high litter losses and the delayed pup development in the impoverished condition. The superenriched condition did provide more unpalatable results concerning litter loss and pup growth. A solid and constant breeding success was discovered in the standard enriched cage. In detail, the present study evaluated the impact of an impoverished, a super-enriched and a standard-enriched condition from the prenatal period until weaning of the offspring. The evaluation of different breeding conditions is consistent with data found in literature that in not profitable conditions postnatal litter loss reaches numbers up to 50 percent. The first part aims to refine the breeding methods and the second part is a new approach to create a mouse-human relationship as well as to add a new form of enrichment - cognitive enrichment. The experimental aspect of the thesis consists of two parts that both contribute to gain knowledge about minimizing the lifelong experience of pain, suffering, distress or long-lasting harm for laboratory mice. ![]() But some of the basic changes coming along with domestication are applicable for laboratory mice as well, as they are usually less aggressive and more easily to tame than their wild relatives. The domestication did not change much in the behavior of mice as they still are nocturnal animals with a strong basic need for living in a group. ![]() They are still living among us as wild mice with either a feral, non-commensal way of life or they live as commensals associated with humans. To understand the basic needs of laboratory mice it is essential to have a closer look at their ancestors. The necessity of mouse models becomes visible when keeping in mind that almost 90% of the 106 Nobel Prizes awarded for Physiology or Medicine included research relying on them. This launched a cascade that enables researchers today to draw on a reservoir of over 450 inbred strains of mice. Subsequent and more and more professional breeding led to the emerging of the first inbred mouse strains in 1909. In Great Britain mice were already in the focus as objects of study, but they were as well popular within amateur breeders that created the so-called “fancy mice”. The domestication of mice started at the beginning of the 17th century, when mice were kept and bred for different intentions and led to its proceeding domestication. Almost all used laboratory mice are descendants of the house mouse (Mus musculus). In Germany a majority of 72,83 percent of all vertebrates used in experiments are mice, totaling over two million individuals. Furthermore, Refinement is one of the three Rs proclaimed by Russel and Burch in 1959 that found their way into the current European legislative on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes. Refinement strategies in breeding and keeping of laboratory mice play a pivotal role in assuring the best possible solution as long as animal based research is indispensable.
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