Koken rat for teaching oral gavage and blood sampling

Scope of the method

The Method relates to
  • Animal health
  • Human health
  • Other
Education of persons working with laboratory animals
The Method is situated in
  • Education and training
Type of method
  • Other

Description

Method keywords
  • Oral gavage
  • blood sampling
  • Animal handling
Scientific area keywords
  • education
  • training
Method description

This silicone rat is designed for training persons to perform oral gavage of fluids and for learning how to perform blood sampling from the lateral tail vein.

Lab equipment
  • 26g needles ;
  • Syringes.
Method status
  • History of use

Pros, cons & Future potential

Advantages

It is possible to train persons for performing these techniques without sacrifying animals. It is a good start for people that have no experience at all and also nice to use in a practical where students that do not intend to ever work with rats (or other lab animals) are present.

Challenges

The model has only a limited value since there are quite a lot of differences with real rat tails and the flexibility of the rat is also very limited making it impossible to use certain gavage tubes. It is also quite expensive (certainly the spare tails) and not all tails are from equal quality.

Modifications

I do not have it yet, but I am thinking to possibly switch to the curvet rat, a similar model that can also be used to learn subcutaneous injections.

References, associated documents and other information

Links
Medical education in Haaltert, Belgium

Contact person

Katleen Hermans

Organisations

Ghent University (UGent)
Department of Pathology, Bacteriology and Avian Diseases
Belgium
Flemish Region