Jugular Blood Collection in a Conscious Rat

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Jugular Blood Collection in a Conscious Rat
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Calm the rat down before restraining by gently
stroking the animal.
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Restrain the rat by grasping the skin over the
nape of the neck and shoulder region with your
thumb and index finger (scruffing).
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Once you have scruffed the neck, gently turn your
hand over so the rat is lying comfortly in the
palm of your hand. Do not squeeze the rat around
the thorax region because that could cause
difficulty breathing. Make sure the rats body is
straight and not bent or curled in your palm.
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With your other hand, use index finger to
lightly hold head out of way. Do not put to much
pressure on rats head or neck. With thumb, hold
forelimbs back, while another technician shaves
the area.
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Have other technician wipe down the shaved area
with an alcohol swab.
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With your other hand, use index finger to lightly
hold head. Do not put to much pressure on rats
head or neck. With thumb, apply slight pressure
on vein proximal to the collection site so it
will distend. This will make the jugular vein
more prominent for easier visualization. The
bottom half of rat is still just resting in palm
of hand.
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Have the technician drawing blood get the syringe
and needle ready. We use a 1 ml syringe with a 23
gauge needle.
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Insert needle through skin right around the
middle point between the sternum and shoulder
area, where you should see the vein. Advance
slowly. Create a slight vacuum within the
syringe, while advancing your needle.
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Once you hit the vein, a small drop of blood will
leak into the hub of the needle. Try not to let
your syringe move around and keep drawing back on
the plunger. Do not pull back too fast because it
might cause the vein to collapse.
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Once you have obtained desired amount of blood,
apply a slight amount of pressure to the puncture
site.