I’ve been thinking about getting one of these for my Kitties. They are house cats and could use some fun and excercise but I wonder if they would actually use it.
Does anyone have some first hand experience with these?
I checked out some cat videos showing wheels. Looked like they had to provide enticements. I think the cat would either not use it on its own or else quickly get bored and stop without the lure.
I do not have a cat, but did take care of one for a couple months. It did not seem too self-motivated for exercise without involving some sort of chase/"hunt" of something be it a laser pointer dot or whatever.
That is my main concern, they would either not use it at all, only use it with some interaction on my part, or lose interest quickly.
They are older Cats also, one is 10 the other nearly 8, old Cats, new tricks and all that.
Place the exercise wheel on a smooth, level surface about three feet above the floor. Then, if the wheel has a bit of weight to it, the cat will get something of a workout shoving it off the edge.
My 85 year old dad will say no they wont use it.The cats will lase around all day till he goes to sleep then they run all over the house making a god awful racket then come back and tell you about it!
My indoor cat used to play fetch daily ( I know tons of cats do it) when she was younger but now she's 10 and has shown no interest in it at all for at least the last 5. She'd see that wheel as a day bed but you know cats - no two alike so maybe yours would get into it when you aren't looking of course.
I suspect that some cats would be trainable to use an exercise wheel - but they would be few and far between.
Cats are wonderful critters - but they won't do your bidding.
I just had another thought: my wife received a little plastic drone for Christmas from her son, and the cat just hates that damned thing -- so, just get really good at maneuvering a drone, and chase the cat around the house with it. There will be no lack of motivation this way.
Talk about timing- My cat has been jumping up to sit on the back of my ancient Scan Design chair since it was a kitten. About 5 minutes ago it jumped up there and it tipped over. Fat ass!!