Clinical observation of rodent experimental animals: abnormal clinical signs of animal signs (2)

Clinical observation of rodent experimental animals: abnormal clinical signs of animal signs (2)

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Finding animal behavior or abnormal changes in the body is an important part of the daily work of experimental animal users. In your daily work, you have many opportunities to observe the normal performance and behavior of animals. When observing, the mind needs to know what is the normal performance of a particular group, a particular group or a particular type of animal. When we find that an animal behaves differently than normal, then the change can be called a clinical symptom because it may be a sign of a clinical (or visible) disease. Sneezing, dysentery or loss of appetite are also areas of clinical symptoms, and we can also refer to these abnormal changes as abnormal findings. This issue mainly introduces you to some clinical symptoms of the head of a rodent experimental animal.

Head tilt
Define the animal's head to one side.
The cause of ear infection is the most common cause of tilting of the animal's head. In addition, brain damage or genetic changes in the structure of the ear can also cause this symptom, but it is not very common. These animals may only move to one side of the cage or when you pick up your tail.

Figure 1 The mouse appears to have a head tilt.

Hemispherical head (brain edema, hydrocephalus)
An animal with a hemispherical head is defined, usually accompanied by strabismus, short, and abnormal behavior. It is common when animals are weaned or shortly after weaning.
Causes There is fluid accumulation around the brain and spine. The fluid is produced by the brain and circulates freely through passages in the brain and spinal cord. When the channel is blocked, the liquid accumulates in the brain, causing the brain to swell and compress the brain tissue. There are genetic factors in both brain edema in rabbits and rodents. Among them, rabbit brain edema may also be caused by the lack of a certain vitamin in the diet.

In Figure 2, the upper rat's head is convex and convex, which is significantly smaller than the mouse below the same litter. The smaller rat weighed 83 g, while the normal rat had a body weight of 131 g.

Too long teeth (poor occlusion, runny)
Define animal teeth too long. The arrangement is usually not neat.
Causes Rodents and rabbit teeth are continuously growing. They wear their teeth by rubbing their teeth or eating hard food. If the animal's teeth or ankles are damaged or malocclusion, the teeth will continue to grow and will not wear properly. Malocclusion of mice, rats, and rabbits usually occurs in the front teeth (incisors). Powder or soft materials tend to keep the teeth of animals growing too long. The occlusion of guinea pigs is more common in the posterior teeth (caries). This problem is usually inherited from the parent in rabbits, while rodents may be partially attributed to genetic factors.

Figure 3 The mouse has too long lower teeth.

Facial swelling <br>Defining an animal's nose is larger than normal and edema.
If the cause of the animal is malocclusion or damage to the ankle, it may appear as swelling of the face. If the animal is kept in a cage with a metal wire or a perforated metal plate base (which reminds you of particular attention), the teeth are likely to be caught by the bottom of the cage. This condition can cause damage to the upper jaw or lower jaw. (See teeth are too long)

Figure 4 This mouse shows facial swelling. It is caused by a subcutaneous abscess.

Rogue (too much saliva)
Define the animal's saliva to be excessive and wet or adhere to the hair around the mouth.
When the causative animal cannot swallow saliva, it may appear to be excessively secreted. Rogue may also occur when the mouth and throat are sore. Rogue sometimes reflects poor occlusion of animals. For rats and mice, salivation also occurs when overheated.

Figure 5 Overheating performance of mice. Because large mice can't sweat, they use saliva to wet their hair to cool down.

Booger (runny nose, stuffy nose)
Define the fluid flowing out of the animal's nose. The snot may be red, clear, yellow, white or green. It can also be described as being thin or viscous.
When the cause of the animal's nose, sinus, eyes or lungs is infected, nosebleeds (rarely occurring) or nasal discharge may occur. A runny nose may also occur if certain ingredients in the environment cause discomfort to the nasal mucosa or if there is a foreign body in the animal's nose. Rats, mice, gerbils, and hamsters have a gland (Hard's gland) behind their eyes, which normally produces a substance called porphyrin. When exposed to light, the substance darkens and looks very similar to blood. The gland has been producing porphyrins all the time, but when the animal is sick or stressful and stops grooming, the secretions accumulate and form a hard skin around the eyes and at the edges of the nose. Porphyrins can illuminate under black light, but blood does not. For rats, red snot is usually caused by stress or dehydration, but may also symbolize a serious viral infection.

Figure 6 The secretion of exudates from the eyes and nose of the mouse (for a full version of the picture, see the Manual on Rodent and Rabbit Clinical Symptoms)

If a virus or other pathogen causes infection, I am afraid that animals will also want to bring their own eyepieces and mini masks as shown above. The monitoring of pathogens in animal experimental facilities is indispensable. Please pay attention to the contents of Weitong Technology and Weitong Encyclopedia to provide information for the safety management of your facility!

§ More references

These are just the "Icebergs" of Charles River Laboratories, "Handbook of Clinical Signs in Rodents and Rabbits." In recognition of the support of many customers in the life sciences industry for many years, from January 2016, Weitong Lihua has exclusively issued a limited edition Chinese version in mainland China, which will provide you with valuable experimental reference materials. The series is limited to the Chinese version of the limited edition, if you need the book, you can consult the regional manager in your area to get the internal publication.

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