Anyone with experience keeping MCAO mice with a small to medium infarct alive for more than a few days? Would like some insight into any pre or post-op care provided to the mice, especially immediately post-surgery.
Charles River /Surgical Pre-and Postoperative Care Technical Sheet.pdf
Here are instructions.
Look for any established pre/post-op monitoring guidelines from your university's animal care/welfare committees, those are really good for general monitoring. You could also reach out to the university vet
For immediate post-stroke care we ensure there is sufficient analgesic at wound sites so when they wake up they aren't scratching/irritating the wounds. We will often give a subcutaneous injection of saline after surgery to ensure they're hydrated when they are recovering but disoriented and unable/unlikely to drink. Once back in their home cage we sprinkle rat chow in the bottom of the cage so that it's easily accessible, and make some wet mash - think crushed wet (softened) rat chow (easy to eat),often mixed with peanut butter or small seeds in a little plastic weigh boat. You can give additional subcutaneous saline injections if hydration is still an issue when monitoring.
For stroke animals we usually tag them with a risk level (low, moderate, high) which determines how frequently we are monitoring them (once/day vs. every few hours). This also lets the facility animal care team gauge how severe the expected impairments are and when the animals might require immediate attention.
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