An alternative method for oral drug administration by voluntary intake in male and female mice.

ABSTRACT

Drug administration to experimental rodents is often invasive and stressful, thus reducing animal welfare and potentially confounding experimental results. Methods of oral drug delivery in which rodents cooperate voluntarily minimize stress, pain and morbidity. We herein describe a method for oral administration through voluntary intake of strawberry jam, developed for C57BL/6J mice. During a 3-day habituation period, animals were placed in individual cages once daily and presented with a drop of jam. Five days later, the jam was again offered with admixed drug. Mice ingested it in less than 5 min, with latency times below 1 min, confirming the suitability of the administration method.