Hematology Sprague Dawley Rat
Hematology Sprague Dawley Rat
Hematology is the branch of internal medicine focusing mainly on the blood and diseases affecting it. Findings in this particular branch of medicine depend largely on extensive laboratory work, including experiments, tests, and clinical studies.
As regards experiments, the hematology Sprague Dawley rat is the general model used by hematologists who study blood health and diseases. This outbred rat serves as an excellent model for toxicology, reproduction, pharmacology, and behavioral research areas.
Here are some of the common characters of the hematology Sprague Dawley rat:
The adult female hematology Sprague Dawley rat has a bodyweight of 300 grams while the male ranges from 450 to 520 grams. The species has a general lifespan of about 2.5 to 3.5 years. Its respiratory rate is 70 to 115 breaths per minute and heart rate 250 to 450 beats per minute.
The hematology Sprague Dawley rat is the outbred multipurpose model of choice. Hence, not only hematologists use them for laboratory work but also other subspecialists in medicine.
Although generally even-tempered, hematology Sprague Dawley rats may bite or “pinch” if mishandled. The dental formulae is 2 (I 1/1, M 3/3) = 16. Its incisors are open-rooted, thus, they grow continuously throughout the rat’s life.
The hematology Sprague Dawley rat has one odd characteristic – it is unable to vomit. The reason is that its esophagus enters the stomach at the lesser curvature through a fold of tissue of the stomach. This fold of tissue blocks the musculature of the esophagus, preventing regurgitation of food.
In addition, the hematology Sprague Dawley rat does not have a gall bladder. In this regard, it is much similar to a horse. It has a pair of lungs but with differing number of lobes. The left lung has only one lobe while the right consists of four lobes.
Its five pairs of mammary glands are distributed and diffused in the ventral midline of the rat’s body. More specifically, they are located over the flanks, thorax, and portions of the neck.
The hematology Sprague Dawley rat exhibits responses if the ambient temperature is decreased. These include nonshivering thermogenesis. On the other hand, if the ambient temperature is increased, the hematology Sprague Dawley rat responds by increasing the vascularization of its long tail.
The hematology Sprague Dawley rat is fed with a commercial rat or rodent diet. For liquid sustenance, it requires water ad lib. Supplementation is not usually required as these diets are nutritionally complete.
At 65 to 100 days of age, the hematology Sprague Dawley rat reaches that stage where it is capable of reproduction. Since rats are polyesterous, they breed year round with spontaneous ovulation in females. The duration of the estrous cycle is four to five days and estrous itself lasts about 12 hours. Breeding occurs only in the evening.
