DISEASES ENCOUNTERED DURING THE CONDITIONING OF 
RANDOM SOURCE DOGS AND CATS 
A. E. Palmer* 
Random source dogs and cats are used extensively in 
biomedical research. They originate from a wide vari- 
ety of sources and represent the surplus products of un- 
controlled breeding. Frequently they have undesirable 
conformation or temperament and are afflicted with. 
diseases. 
Between the time of purchase by the dealer and de- 
livery to the research laboratory, random source ani- 
mals are subjected to several environmental and food 
changes, contact with sick animals, and exposure to nu- 
merous pathogenic agents. A period of conditioning is 
therefore necessary to allow the animals to overcome or 
coexist with their pathogenic flora and to adjust to their 
new environment prior to their introduction into re- 
search programs. 
This presentation will describe the quarantine and 
conditioning program for dogs and cats at the NIH and 
describe some of the disease conditions seen among 
quarantined animals. 
INTRODUCTION 
Several hundred thousand dogs and cats are 
used annually for research in the United 
States. ^"^ According to data reported by The 
Institute of Laboratory Animal Resources, 8.4 
percent of the cats and 11.7 percent of the dogs 
used during 1969 were bred specifically for re- 
search use. The remaining animals which origi- 
nated from a variety of sources including 
pounds, animal auctions, or private kennels 
were designated "random source." Their back- 
ground varied from urban to rural, and their 
experience with pathogenic agents was exten- 
sive. The purpose of this report is to describe 
some of the quarantine procedures of the NIH 
Animal Center and to review some of the prob- 
lems encountered in dealing with a highly 
stressed, hyperexposed and unstable animal 
population before it is ready to be used in labo- 
ratory experimentation. 
• National Institutes of Health Division of Research Services 
Bethesda, Maryland 20014. 
NIH ANIMAL CENTER 
The NIH purchases dogs from a USDA class 
B animal dealer who obtains animals primarily 
from the east-central states. Cats are acquired 
from a licensed dealer who buys them primarily 
from dairy farms within a 50 mile radius from 
his Maryland holding facility. During fiscal 
year 1971, 87 percent of 2,401 cats and 52.5 per- 
cent of 1,837 dogs used at the NIH were ran- 
dom source animals. 
The history of the random source dog quar- 
antine program at NIH has been described by 
Zinn.* The canine breeding and blood donor col- 
onies are described by Potkay and Bacher.^ 
Dogs and cats are presently conditioned for a 
45-day period. Dogs are purchased after 30 
days of conditioning by the vendor and held 15 
days in the quarantine colony. Cats are pur- 
chased in an unconditioned state and quaran- 
tined for 45 days. 
The National Heart-Lung Institute (NHLI) 
uses about 87 percent of the dogs, 63 percent of 
the cats and 95 percent of the canine blood pro- 
duced. Because the dogs are used primarily in 
cardiovascular surgical procedures, large, adult 
dogs, weighing more than 40 pounds, are used 
almost exclusively. 
Facilities 
All dog and cat quarantining is performed in 
a kennel complex located at the NIH Animal 
Center. A floor plan of this complex is shown in 
Figure 1. The building provides a central serv- 
ice area which has, in addition to service facili- 
ties, 6 animal rooms, each containing 40 stain- 
less steel and aluminum cages. Two wings, each 
containing 100 animal runs, project perpendicu- 
larly from the central service area. The primary 
animal enclosures conform to the recommenda- 
tions of the Institute of Laboratory Animal Re- 
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