| Do you provide animals in which obesity
can be induced by high-calorie diet? |
| Yes. We have numerous mouse and rat models which become obese
when fed a high-calorie or high-fat diet. The customer determines species
and strain, the age at setup, the diet, and the length of time the animal will
be fed the diet. |
| Will the preconditioning of animals be
done in a barrier room? |
| Yes. Following IACUC-approved protocols, we have
established a program in which barrier rooms are used for preconditioning
animals. |
| Can I purchase DIO animals from
inventory? |
| You cannot purchase DIO animals directly from inventory, as
animals are set up on request only. Typically, each project has different
requirements for stock or strain, diet, age at setup, cage densities, and
length of time set aside. |
| How long will you hold my
animals? |
| We will hold animals for whatever time period you require,
from a period of a few days to several months. |
| How do you determine which diet you’ll be
using? |
| You determine the diet to be used. However, if you need
help in determining which diet would best fit your research needs, we can put
you in touch with technical representatives from different feed manufacturers
who can help you determine your dietary needs. When appropriate, we will
share control data on various model / diet combinations. |
| Will Charles River order the diet for
me? |
|
Charles River can order the diet for you. We charge the
project the cost of the diet and shipping, plus 10%.
|
| Can I order the diet
myself? |
| Yes. You can order the diet and have it shipped to
us. The diet you send must be irradiated prior to arriving at Charles
River. We cannot introduce any feed into our barrier rooms unless it is
irradiated or autoclaved. |
| Who determines if the diet will be in a
pellet, powder, or liquid form? |
| Normally, a pelleted diet will be fed. However, you will
make the final decision on the form of the diet. |
| How will my animals be housed? |
| All animals are housed in polycarbonate micro-isolator
cages. |
| Can I specify the cage densities the
animals should be housed at? |
| Animals are housed in whatever densities you require, provided
they fall within the NIH Guide recommendations. If you do not have
specific cage requirements, animals will be housed according to those
guidelines. |
| Is the health status of the animals on my
project monitored while undergoing the preconditioning process, and will I get
health reports when my animals ship? |
| The Preconditioning Services rooms are handled just like all
of our other barrier rooms. A routine health monitoring program for the
area using sentinels is in place. Health reports are provided when animals
ship. |
| I know to precondition animals you will
be feeding them special diets, but what else can you do? |
| In addition to feeding special diets and aging animals, we can
also measure food and water intake, record body weights, dose animals, measure
physiological parameters, and monitor blood chemistry. |
| Are there aspects of preconditioning that
may not be available from Charles River? |
| Unfortunately, there will be certain limitations, such as the
administration of biological agents, the use of radioisotopes, etc. |
| Can you receive animals from my facility
or another commercial supplier for preconditioning? |
| No. Our biosecurity practices limit this service offering to
animals produced by Charles River at a facility where the preconditioning
service room is located. |
| Can you provide GLP
documentation? |
| GLP documentation can be provided upon request for a
fee. Generally, projects will be provided with basic documentation that
details the items requested in the scope of work. |
