Sleep Little Mousie

[lilystcyr]

The baby mouse that we found in the cat food bag well over a year ago, who later became known as "Social Mousie", because she loved to be talked too, past away on January 3rd. Matt had bought her some toys, treats and a new wheel for Christmas. So, on Friday (Jan 4th) we took her cage into the bedroom (away from the kitties) so we could install the wheel and give her the new goodies. I had a towel covering almost all of the cage except for the front to keep her warm since it gets chilly in here during the winter, so when Matt was carrying her cage he did not see her. When he set the cage on the floor, all I saw was her tail lying across the front ramp of her little house. I covered my eyes and crawled across the room while asking Matt to tell me she was okay. But, in a low voice he said, "she isn't breathing". We both started to cry, it was such a shock to lose her so suddenly. We then took a good look at her in the cage to determine what may have happened. It didn't look like any type of accident had occurred. Also, since mice instinctively will crawl out of their nest when they are ill so they will not get the other mice sick, (even if she did live alone) was an indication that she died from an age related disease or a sudden illness. We are sure she had been running on her wheel sometime within three days prior to her death, so she couldn't have been sick very long... thank goodness. It's amazing how a tiny little animal can become such a big part of your life. She was and always will be very special to us. I'm just happy that we spoiled her and gave her the best life that we could. But, it doesn't make me miss her any less.
The icon is a picture I took of her with my phone about a month after we found her. She wasn't even full grown yet.