Another broken USB cable & another repositioning.  It's just a hair aside from the very bottom.  Also found plastic filings from tightening the wheel.  There's a limit to how clicky the wheel can be.  It might benefit from silicone grease.  Settled on ordering a bunch of amazon basics mice & letting them wear out.  6 months might be the most any animal can expect.

These have the discrete buttons of mice which historically lasted longer, but they're pretty basic.

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A 4 button mouse came to mind with 1 button being a common wheel.

Another problem is PTFE pads required for sliding.  Raw PTFE is more expensive than a mouse.

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Dreams of trackballs still remane.