Griffin Brenda
Scott-Ritchey Research Center, College of Veterinary Medicine, Auburn University, Alabama 36841, USA.
Contemp Top Lab Anim Sci. 2002 Mar;41(2):51-6.
The provision of proper social housing is a priority when designing an experiment using domestic cats as laboratory animals. When animals are group-housed, studies requiring analysis of stool samples from individual subjects pose difficulty in sample collection and identification. In this study, commercially available concentrated food colorings (known as bakers pastes) were used as fecal markers in group-housed cats. Cats readily consumed 0.5 ml of bakers paste food coloring once daily in canned cat food. Colorings served as fecal markers by imparting a distinct color to each cat s feces, allowing identification in the litter box. In addition, colored glitter (1/8 teaspoon in canned food) was fed to cats and found to be a reliable fecal marker. Long-term feeding of colorings and glitter was found to be safe and effective at yielding readily identifiable stools.
在设计以家猫作为实验动物的实验时，提供合适的社会住房是一个优先事项。当动物群居时，需要对个体受试者的粪便样本进行分析的研究在样本收集和识别方面存在困难。在这项研究中，市售的浓缩食用色素（称为面包师糊）被用作群居猫的粪便标记物。猫每天会欣然食用一次罐装猫粮中0.5毫升的面包师糊食用色素。食用色素通过使每只猫的粪便呈现独特颜色而作为粪便标记物，从而便于在猫砂盆中识别。此外，将彩色亮片（罐装食品中1/8茶匙）喂给猫，发现它是一种可靠的粪便标记物。研究发现，长期喂食食用色素和亮片在产生易于识别的粪便方面是安全有效的。
