I clean the bearings regularly, at times it is like picking out a small piece of felt with a toothpick lol. This trackball is a few years old, old enough for the logo on it to have become a shadow. I've been using trackballs since the 90s when they first came out and can't imagine using a mouse. Having to use a flat surface to move my cursor would drive me batty. I got used to putting my keyboard on my lap to type and having the trackball beside me or on my knee or in my hand when wanting to move around using it.
Ah, the joys of cat hair, back when I was breeding colorpoint sh (siamese of another color) I had to clean it almost daily
Those little shorthairs sure could shed and I used to have cats playing on my desk when I was at the computer.