ABSTRACT

Pair housing of rabbits and variation in serum chemistry

Timo Nevalainen1,3,4,, Jaakko Nevalainen2, Faisal A. Guhad1, Theresa Kothstein1 and C. Max Lang1

1Department of Comparative Medicine, The Pennsylvania State University, MSHMC, Hershey, PA, USA; 2 Biometrics, Clinical Research, R & D, Leiras, Helsinki; 3National Laboratory Animal Center, University of Kuopio and 4Department of Basic Veterinary Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland.

New regulations will allow housing two rabbits in a cage meant for one, provided there is an elevated platform. This study was designed to assess compatibility and reduction outcome of pair housing. Six sets of four female siblings of Crl:KBL(NZW)BR rabbits were used. The animals were 10-12 weeks old on arrival. Two siblings of each set were allocated to pair housing, two to single housing. Perforated floor, stainless steel cages (120cm x 60cm x 60cm) with a shelf (60cm x 30cm) at 30cm height from the floor were used. The rabbits were given an aspen cube (5cm cube), one item per animal. A blood sample was taken from auricular central artery four times during the study. Blood sera were assayed for ALT, AST, APHOS, BUN, Cholesterol and PROT. Standard deviation of a serum chemistry parameter measured from a pair of rabbits, was analyzed by repeated measures ANOVA (SAS 6.12, MIXED Procedure). The statistical model included the factors time (in weeks), housing and the interaction between time and housing. The assumptions of normal distribution and the homogeneity of variances were examined by residual diagnostics. Increase in variation was detected in APHOS (p<0.05) and cholesterol (p<0.01) while PROT variation decreased (p<0.05) in singly housed as compared to pair housed. During the 4.5 month study occasional fighting between the pair housed rabbits were seen, but after sexual maturity second major fighting necessitated cessation of the study. In conclusion, pair housing appears to have an effect on variation in serum chemistry, and fighting remains a problem.
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