Clara's Dark Night

Clara is really, really trying. But she does not have much fight left in her. She is very aware of me when I talk to her and will lift up her head and crawl into my hand. I fear some of the noises she makes may be teeth grinding or respiratory distress.


"Do you mind?"

"I'm busy..."

"I just want to sleep for a little while longer..."

Clara's Winter

I decided to separate Clara from Curry. After a rough Monday night I came in Tuesday morning expecting to find Clara gone. I noticed a mound of bedding had been build near the water bottle and I prepared myself to find Clara. But she was not there and it was then I heard her chirping and chattering. I found her, laying on her back and kicking her back legs, in one of the tubes leading from the nest. I took her out and after cleaning her eyes spent all of the morning and most of the afternoon holding her with her resting in my palm or on my stomach or chest. Clara slept off and on the whole time, occasionally lifting up her head and chirping before going back to sleep

Later when I put Clara down on the table to examine her she would 'cry out' and try climbing back into my hands. Her right eye appears to work. But her left eye is discharging and clots over. I noticed some bloodied spots on her nose and her back paws but I suspect these are caused by her scratching. She hasn't a lot of strength and tends to flop over on one side while moving around. And then after going a short distance she will stop and nap.

Last night I set up a smaller cage for Clara with a low hanging water bottle and crumbled up food. She cried when I put in and it was had not to pick her up. Clara settled in after some fussing, managing to find some bits of food and even a nip off the water bottle.

Today I found Clara seemingly contented with her new home. It appeared she had eaten and drank a little more. She is still weak but responsive me, lifting her head up to look around or sniff at anything to comes close to her.

Clara the Stubborn

A week after her incident and (the little brown mouse) Clara, the Stubborn, is still with us. But I can see she is weakening and it appears that her sight is failing in her left eye. Her weight appears to be the same, that is, she does not appear to have lost a significant amount of weight (she has always been a small mouse.) She is not standing up as straight as she did after her slight recovery from her stroke. I have watched as Clara makes her way around the cages and tube system in starts and stops, crawling for a bit and then stopping to rest or even nap. Several times I was fearful that she would not go any further and when I went to check her she would chirp at me and start up again, climbing around in the tubes and going all the way back up into her nest. I am keeping the water bottle at an angle she can reach and crumbled up bits of food in the corners of the cage that are easy for her to grab onto.

Curly (the chubby brown mouse) often tends to Clara, bathing her and snuggling with her. But Curly is also eating up the smaller bits of food meant for Clara. One evening I watched as Curly bathed Clara from nose to tail and then covered her up with bedding before going out to get food.

Winners

Thinking back over this past year, losing so many of the furry friends we knew and loved, it was nice when Heavenly Heart Gerbilry had a 'best of show', the 'best of the best' from last year. Our friend didn't win, but they will always be winners in our hearts.

On the far right you can see Mabel and Quimby...

Wiggle Mice

Clara and Curly are very wigglely for their ages. Sometime it is impossible to get a clear picture.

Clara is still doing pretty well. I am slightly worried about her seeming to be a little weaker after her recovery. But she is very stubborn and persistent.


"We is too busy for this..."


"We don't need no stinking cheerios, we wants snuggles."


Time for snuggles.


Curly minding Clara.

New Pictures of "Living Fossil"

WARNING: Link contains pictures that some might find disturbing

The Laotian rock rat, a rodent that "came back from the dead" after supposedly going extinct millions of years ago appears to be more common than previously thought.

Read full story here...

Good morning, Clara.

This morning when interacting with Clara I noticed that she was more or less standing up on all her legs. Her head has a slight tilt to one side. But otherwise she seems to have had a recovery of sorts. Clara ate and drank with much gusto.

Clara

Clara is hanging in there. She nibbles on my fingers and eats her cheerios with gusto. And she knows her way around her cage.

The Perils Of Clara

Clara is putting up a good front. She pulls herself along very well and even makes her way to the food and water bottle. I reconfigured the cage and tubes to make it a little more easy for her to get around. But even before the changes she was navigating her way just fine after her incident. Clara still pulls offered cheerios out of my fingers and gobbles them down.

Clara is still a bit uncertain about some of the tube routes and I have seen her start her way up a sloped curve only to turn around and try another way. I changed the entrance to the nest to make it easier for her. But even then it took her awhile to remap her home. I watched over her for some time to make sure she could make it on her own.

Sad Little Brown Mouse

It appears that Little Brown Mouse Clara has had a stroke. She is still physically strong and strong-willed. But she has an obvious injury to the left side of her body. Her eyes are bright and her fur shiny. When I first suspected there was something wrong with her she evaded me with some skill until I caught her in a corner. After cuddling her and her sister for a while I put her back in the main cage and watched as she managed to crawl all the way back up to their preferred nest. I am a little fearful that the sibling mouse may bully her but I have I also seen this mouse clean and cuddle with Clara.