In Memory of my beloved Little Mouse who died this morning
Feisty. Spunky. Extremely intelligent. Quirky. Mischievous. Loving. A champion who overcame so many great odds in his short life and brought so much happiness, comfort, and fall on the floor laughing at his antics moments. That and so much was Akhbar Kitan –Little Mouse B”L.
It was a lucky day in my life on the day I decided I needed some tomatoes and so went to Shuk HaCarmel in Tel Aviv. I came home instead with a box of 3 tiny kittens. Their mother had been run over by a car the day before, their brother or sister had just been crushed to death by an unwary shopper. Flora, Flossie and Little Mouse came home with me. Little Mouse was so named because, tiny as they all were, his sisters were nearly twice his size and even in the cab ride home, I teased him that he was no bigger than a little mouse.
Here they are about two months after I brought them home. Little Mouse, always the center of attention, is being cuddled by his sisters:
The kittens found three mothers that day. Brothers Arie B”L and Gingi almost immediately appointed themselves as surrogate mothers. They bathed, disciplined, let the kittens faux nurse, and in general romp all over them. While Flora and Flossie bonded the most closely with Gingi, Little Mouse was Arie’s shadow. They not only looked almost identical but shared so many personality traits and habits that I use to tease Mousie that maybe I should have named him Little Arie instead. The photo below of “Ema Arie” was taken only the week before his death from exactly the same thing that killed Little Mouse. Little Mouse is again front and center.
Mousie caught up in size with his sisters for awhile until, in their final growth spurt into adulthood, they far outstripped him. He might have been small for a boy kitty but he had the heart of a lion (Ari) –unfortunately in more ways than one. Here are some adorable pictures of him in adulthood. The ones of him on the top of the refrigerator — he was almost entirely blind at that time but you would never know it.
I’ve blogged many times about how, a couple of years ago, he died on the operating table during a dental procedure, spent more than a week in a coma and awoke unable to do anything more than a 3 week old kitten can do and almost 100% blind. The video below is of my lion-hearted Little Mouse learning to sit up and walk again — as you can see from the pictures above, he learned to do a lot more than this.
Here’s a final picture of my Little Mouse, taken a few months ago. As usual, he is on top of something. Nothing could keep my Mousie down.
He forever changed my life and for the better. He will be more than missed.
israeliminx 
I am so sorry.
Sorry.Not much else to say.
As sad as you are, I hope that you realize what a good life Little Mousie had. You have documented his progress in your pictures from tiny kitten in a desperate situation to a happy cat enjoying life in the safety and security of your home. Little Mousie’s life was not long, but it was filled with comfort and love.
What is this condition that both Arie and Little Mousie had? Is it a genetic mutation that is caused by living such a painful, desperate life on the streets and passed on to kittens?
So many cats in Israel lack the basics like food and water, that it seems that it would cause problems in the cat at the time and in kittens.
Thank you everyone. I am pretty devastated but I also do know that every single day from 2 and a half years ago when he made that miraculous recovery that I had Little Mouse was a miracle and a gift.
What both Little Mouse and Arie had is a kind of cardiomyopathy that is often nearly impossible to detect because many times there are no overt symptoms and it is very often not detected by listening to the heart. It occurs more than twice as often in male cats and often seems to strike out of the blue and kills them when they are between the ages of 2 and 6 years (average age of 4). The problem is that the heart does not completely contract when it beats and thus blood clots form and are eventually released. If the clots are large enough they can lodge in 3 different places: where the aortic vein enters the head, where it narrows and branches to run into the forelegs or at their tailbone where it narrows and branches for the hind legs. At the branching for the hind legs is where these clots get stuck most often. This is what is called saddle thrombus or Aortic thromboembolism.
It can occur in dogs but is far more common in cats. After Arie died from it, I had both Gingi (because they are siblings) and Little Mouse (because he was so similar to Arie in build) tested with an ultrasound and ekg at the Beit Dagan by our leading heart specialist and both got a clean bill of health. He did warn, however, that because Little Mouse was so young at the time that any problems might not rise to a detectable (by ultrasound etc) level until he was older. They don’t know what causes it. The heart specialist had said that, simply on an anecdotal level, it seems to occur most often in the runts of the litter (and that was both Arie and Little Mouse). It is also more common in ragdoll, Abysimian, and Birman breeds (and neither of mine fit into those categories).
Sorry to hear about LIttle Mouse passing away. But look on the good side: the little creature the BEST life possible right until the end, because of you, no question about it 😉
Thank you Paul!
Exactly my thoughts too!
That day you went out for tomatoes was a lucky day for Little Mouse, too.You gave him a good home, lots of love, heroic medical care, and a much longer and happier life than he could possibly have had otherwise. My condolences.
I am so sorry to hear about Little Mouse. He had a wonderful life because of you! And I agree with everyone else, 99.9% of people in this world would not have stuck by him with all his health issues. You went above and beyond for him and I have no doubt that is why he lived as long as he did. He knew he was loved ❤
Everyone here has been so supportive of Little Mouse.