Which of the following is a correct statement about baseline pain assessment in mice?

• A. The signs observed on normal, untreated animals
• B. The signs observed only after treatment
• C. The signs observed in diseased animals
• D. The signs observed in any single individual

Answer: (A)

Baseline pain assessment is about what a mouse looks like when it is healthy and untreated. Establishing this reference point for a specific strain, age, and sex lets you know what normal behavior and physiology look like before any procedure or illness. With that in place, you can detect deviations after surgery or during disease and determine if pain management is needed. So the signs you observe in untreated animals serve as the standard against which all later changes are measured, rather than signs that appear only after treatment, only in diseased states, or from a single individual's behavior.