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SOP 14.3 - Clinical Health Reports - Rodent

University Animal Care Committee Standard Operating Procedure

Document No: 14.3

Subject: Clinical Health Reports - Rodent

Date Issued: July 11, 2013

Revision: 3

Location: Queen鈥檚 University

Responsibility: Principal Investigators (PI), Research Staff, Veterinary Staff

Purpose: The purpose of this Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) is to describe the procedure for reporting and monitoring rodent health issues.

 

Abbreviations:

Animal Care Services ACS, Principal Investigator PI, subcutaneous SC, intravenous IV, intraperitoneal IP, intramuscular IM, per os PO, per rectum PR

1. Introduction and Definitions:

Health Monitoring Reports (rodent) and medical red cards are created for all rodent health issues. This records, monitors and defines treatment for each animal as required.

2. Materials:

  • Rodent health monitoring reports (Appendix 1)
  • Duplicate stick-on labels with room number and report number
  • Medical red cage cards (Appendix 2)
  • Binder

3. Procedures

  • When a medical problem is identified while doing daily health checks, a health report is initiated. The health report is assigned a case number, sequentially numbered stickers are available for this purpose. A sticker is placed on both the red card and health report.
  • A dated, brief description of the problem is recorded on the red card, and the card is placed in the cage card holder on the animal鈥檚 cage.
  • The top portion of the rodent health report is filled out, identifying the animal by number, strain, Principal Investigator, cage location, protocol number, sex, date of birth, case initiation date, and person reporting.
  • If the person reporting the issue considers it an emergency, they should speak directly with the Animal Care Technician or Clinical Veterinarian for assessment.
  • Treatment will be entered on the medical red card with dates and circles for checking off when treatment is completed.
  • The rodent health report is then placed in a binder.
  • At a minimum, weekly checks are done by the Animal Care Technician or Clinical Veterinarian on all animals with red medical cards, and assessments and treatments are recorded on the health report sheet and/or red card. Critical cases are checked as required.
  • When the health problem is resolved, or the animal is euthanized due to study or humane endpoints, or spontaneous death occurs, the red card is attached to the rodent health report and the date and appropriate boxes are updated on the rodent health report.
  • The health report is returned to the office where the information is entered into a database.

Appendix 1

Rodent Health Report:
Form, Rodent Health Report

Appendix 2

Medical Red Cage Card:
Medical Red Cage Card

  

Date New Version
06/11/2013 Created
02/28/2019 Revised
12/06/2021 Revised
12/18/2024 Revised - updated format

 

SOP 14.3 - Clinical Health Reports - Rodent

Download SOP 14.3 (PDF 267 KB)