# Why does cold air/drafts cause colds in mice?



## madmouse (May 19, 2012)

It seems that it's an accepted fact that exposure to cold air or drafts causes respiratory problems in mice. I don't doubt that it does, but I wonder what the exact mechanism is at work. The cold-induced infections can be treated with antibiotics, right? So then this is a bacterial issue? Does the cold lower their immunity to infection? Why don't larger creatures (such as me and my dogs) get such infections?


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## Paradigmatic (Jan 22, 2013)

Humans, dogs, other mammals, and most creatures DO get sick with prolonged exposure to cold and drafts.
Think about your size. You can warm up a lot faster than a mouse can with a small draft, but imagine if that draft was ratio'd to your size. You'd be freezing.


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## pro-petz (Nov 14, 2012)

I agree with Paradigmatic but looking at it in more depth, mice are prey and as such will mask any weakness for as long as possible, using antibiotics at the stage when we notice them may be too late as damage has already been caused and whilst antibiotics may bring back the mouse back to what appears to be full health we do not know of any internal damage done during the time the mouse was masking the illness.

Mice in their natural environment will not stay in places that have a constant draft, captive bred animals are placed in positions that suit us although we try to place them in draft free areas that may not always be the case as at the time of placing their enclosure we did not feel any kind of draft, that is not to say one will not be present during the night or even so slight that we do not feel it ourselves. A very fine line between good ventilation and draft.

Over the many decades we have selectively bred our mice to be bigger and of better type than their wild relatives in doing so the immune system may have been affected. We are at a constant disadvantage as the wild relative will instinctively seek out something that will aid its recovery to anything it has whilst still being able to mask the illness for lengths of time, as said earlier we can only treat them once the symptoms become apparent to us, hence the need for quarantine of any new mice before allowing mixture into the mousery.

There is an extensive list of the foods that our mice like to eat but little or no information regarding foods that mice eat rarely in the wild, is it these rarely eaten foods that help treat digestive problems or other illnesses that the wild mice is suffering from and that do not show the symptoms until sometimes weeks later when damage has been done?


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## Runaway Mousery (Jul 5, 2012)

I am of the camp that the vast majority of mice are carriers of mycoplasma, and healthy animals with a well functioning immune system will never exhibit symptoms. If that same immune system is compromised however, the already present bacteria will simply take advantage of the immune compromised host. Drafts are a stressful environmental factor for such a small animal to cope with. Whether it be moving to a new home, a new mate, breeding, weaning, fighting among cagemates, or environmental stress like drafts, stress seems to be a common denominator before illness mice. They are small and relatively fragile animals with a high metabolism. I don't think it takes much to weaken their little systems.


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