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 rang

SUBMITTER: Neville V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10084028 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature