Cat exercise wheel (weight, feline, safe, dogs)

[leanansidhex]

I've been watching this product evolve, since the end of it's Kickstarter debut. They addressed some design and manufacturing issues at the beginning of the product roll out and I've been wanting to buy one for a few months now but the $250 price was always $50 out of my comfort range, something else always seemed to come up. The most dramatic something else was $800 to fix Olivia's dental issues. She had to have all of her teeth pulled, and it was the best thing I could have done for her. She is, now, one HAPPY kitty!

The ONE FAST CAT exercise wheel is about half the price of other wheels on the market, and I like that it is open on both sides. No spokes for a cat, to get caught in. Plus I read somewhere on one of their sites (website, or Kickstarter, facebook maybe, I can't remember) that they took into account the effect that wheel diameter has on a cat's spine when designing their wheel, to be sure their's would be safe.

Cat Exercise Wheel

[Charles22]

You pulled all of your cat's teeth?

[leanansidhex]

Yes.

When I adopted Olivia in 2012 she had just had a dental.

She wasn't a very social cat (but there was something about her) She looked horrible, dandruff, hair coming out when you pet her, AND her fur was a pale dirty looking brown and an almost clear, off white. She had been abandoned and brought to the shelter by a "neighbor". (I found out by accident, a month after I adopted her, that she had been returned by her first adopter) That was why I adopted her. She really had no other prospects and I felt she deserved "a soft place to land" Maybe because I already had two cats that constantly wanted my attention, it wasn't an issue for me if she preferred to be left alone except to be fed. But, in general, I'm content to let animals (and people) be [themselves] they aren't required to earn their keep.

After weaning her off kibble and onto a combination of good quality canned and raw food, her coat began to get soft and PLUSH (she is short haired), her fur stopped coming out in clumps, but most remarkably, turns out Olivia is a tuxedo!

Feline Stomatitis | Diagnosing This Painful Dental Disease

"Feline stomatitis, despite the odd name, is actually a painful chronic oral disease in cats.
The condition is thought to be autoimmune in nature. In cats with the disease, the immune system overreacts to dental plaque, which triggers an often overwhelming inflammatory response in the tissues of the mouth, throat and even underlying bone.
Since feline stomatitis is very painful, symptoms in kitties can include behavior changes and reluctance to eat, which can trigger dehydration, weight and muscle loss. Other signs of the disease include excessive drooling, extremely bad breath and pawing at the mouth.
Treatment for advanced cases of feline stomatitis involves full mouth extraction of the teeth. As drastic as this option seems, it’s the only way to provide long-term relief and a return to good health for cats suffering with the disease."

[jambo101]

Pricey device at $250 with no guarantee the cat will even use it.

[leanansidhex]

Originally Posted by jambo101

Pricey device at $250 with no guarantee the cat will even use it.

Tiger is so high energy I might as well have a Bengal. Somethings got to give.

The snow is keeping us from being able to use the outdoor enclosure. Even though it is only 8'X10', being outside kept him mentally engaged and less likely to hunt his housemates.

The only relatively safe place to walk him on a harness, is directly outside our front door. But now I have to keep him on the narrow sidewalk because my neighbor's, (new) used, truck bleeds out quarts of oil and gallons of gas, into the dirt parking area, on such a regular basis that the parking area is a toxic waste dump now. Of course the truck stopped running last time he parked near my front windows so now I can't open them and I HATE not having the windows cracked no matter what the temperature is outside.

I say relatively safe because there is always the possibility of stray dogs coming into the parking area at the same time we are out there, or because we are out there.

I'm almost certain that at least one, if not more, of my 4 cats will use it. Tiger being the most likely. He is long limbed, lean, and very muscular. He has that dorsal stripe marking running down his back and the fur is longer there and sometimes stands up. There is a palpable wild streak that runs through him, and he's wicked smart.