Toward evidence-based severity assessment in rat models with repeated seizures: II. Chemical post-status epilepticus model.

The cumulative burden with temporary but not long-lasting phases of more pronounced impairment suggests a classification of severe as a basis for laboratory-specific prospective and retrospective evaluation. Among the parameters analyzed, burrowing behavior and saccharin preference stand out as candidate parameters that seem to be well suited to obtain information about animal distress in epileptogenesis models.