Do cats play wheels like hamsters?
I know it is common for hamsters to run on a wheel, do cats also interested in such running wheels?
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I have 4 cats: 2 Persians and 2 Ragdolls. Believe it or not, the Persian cats enjoy their cat wheel even more than my Ragdolls. They all use it and enjoy it, but the Persians are just the queen and king of the wheel! :-)
No, not usually. Although , there are a few videos on YouTube showing cats on treadmills...but this is the exception. You do need to be sure your inside kitty has plenty to do... Lots of toys, scratchers, tall cat trees, and high places to jump and watch the "goings on" of the home. This is sufficient. No wheel needed.
We just purchased a wheel for our bengal kittens, age 6 months and 7 months. They both have lots of energy and are highly trainable, one of them is extremely treats motivated and the other is toy/attention motivated. We got the wheel two days ago and have been working with them a bit each day and they both will run on the wheel when we are there training them. They haven't gone to the wheel on their own yet, but I suspect after more training sessions, they will start to use it. They both still have LOTS of energy!
I've never seen any cat-sized wheels, so I don't know. I'd be a bit surprised, but cats are often surprising. I suspect treadmills work better for critters with either smaller brains, or larger ones.
A better alternative may be small lightweight balls that they can chase around the house. Or manipulate a strung, wand, or laser dot for them to pounce upon. Or give them things to climb. (My two will occasionally chase each other, or chase something entirely imaginary.)
(A cat might be fascinated by a gerbil ball, but I don't think that would be good for the gerbil. There are some mechanical equivalents that might be good cat toys, though.)
Cat wheels are fairly well known among Bengal cat enthusiasts, as the outcross with the Asian Leopard Cat has given them much more energy than a typical house cat.
The owners of the Maclaw Wheel (a wheel manufacturer in UK) state:
Unfortunately we are unable to tell you 100% if your cat will use our
wheel, but with that said, ANY cat has the potential, it really just
depends on the cat and how much effort you are willing to put in.
Some breeds of cat no matter what the age will just use the cat wheel
with very little training...
The breeds we have much success with are.
Bengal (inc early gen F1-F4)
Toyger
Savannah
Egyptian Mau
Russian Blue
Abyssinian
Siamese
Maine Coon
You should still keep in mind, there are no guarantees that your cat
will use the wheel, each and every cat is different and you need to
consider the personality of your cat when purchasing a wheel.
Another cat wheel manufacturer, One Fast Cat, suggests that the following qualities are important to determine before purchasing a cat wheel.
There are two ways to determine if the wheel will work for your cat.:
The first one is to determine the energy level of your cat. If they
have a moderate to high energy level, then the wheel will be good for
them to be able to expend some of that energy. An example of moderate
to high energy is if your cat is inclined to race through the house in
short spurts.
The second thing to consider if the wheel will be a good fit is if
your cat is trainable. A good way to test this is to see if you can
get your cat to jump up and down from a chair with the use of a toy or
treat as incentive. Or, if your cat is capable of anticipating needing
to do specific things in order to receive a reward they want. For
example, if you require them to go to a specific spot to eat at a
certain time of day, or act a specific way before they get to receive
a treat or new toy. These are indicators of a cat who is capable of
learning how to be trained.
So, to summarize, cats that are high energy and trainable (easier if they're motivated by food or other rewards) may be interested in a cat wheel.
I personally suspect they aren't common because they are more expensive than many other cat toys (wand toys can vary between -20, while the wheels are several hundred dollars). In addition, they can require a large amount of space, and create some noise.
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