Cat Wheel Adventures

With a house full of cats, there's always a long wish list of things I want, ranging from cat toys, fancy water bowls, automatic litter boxes, air purifiers, and more! Pets are expensive, just dealing with vet visits, food, and the average pet toys. In my world, that means I keep a mental list of things I REALLY want to spoil my cats with.

At the top of that list: a cat wheel/cat treadmill. These are super expensive brand new and not exactly the smallest. There are times in my life when I doom scroll on Facebook—more specifically, the marketplace. Usually, I'm not expecting to find anything, and I truly don't need anything. Until one day, I stumble on a listing for—you got it—a BRAND NEW cat wheel.

My little disclaimer on buying used pet items (especially cat items): Be extremely careful. Cats can be very territorial, and this can result in them marking any new-to-them items to claim them as theirs. If you do buy used, clean it extremely well!

Ash watches the house from her new seat.

So - this lovely posting saying it's a new, unused cat wheel - I could not pass it up. $80 - brand new AND it was already assembled! SCORE for me and the #purrfectdozen crew. The lady was nice enough to hold it till I got done with work. I pick it up and say nothing to Gene. I just move some furniture around in the living room and bring it in. He catches me as I set the wheel in place. His question - what did you get? As I'm beaming - A cat wheel brand new for $80! (Need I mention, I'm always broke - so he's already figuring that in the end it's coming out of his wallet in some way.)

Cat wheel in place, cats ready to inspect. The majority of the cats have all been on the wheel. Most of them prefer to use it as a napping place or to scratch. Smokey has taken to the wheel pretty well. She has figured out that if she walks/runs on the treadmill, she will get attention. That's her big motivator to actually use the wheel. Not that she needs to exercise, as she is tiny already!

Dobby using the carpet as a scratcher

Dobby is the other interested cat. She gets a little hung up because her nails get stuck in the carpet - she hasn't quite mastered the "keep the claws in" part yet. That makes her walking consistently on the wheel a little difficult. I have tried to catch her using it with a video, but she has a sixth sense and stops before I can catch her.

Clara has been on the wheel exactly one time. She started as a scratching pad. With a little help from me, the wheel turned, and she would super slowly take a step or two, then stop and rub her face on the edges. She's unsure that it's truly safe yet.

Clara looking pretty and adamantly not using the wheel to walk.

The other cats are more interested in using it as a napping spot. I'm just glad that I'm mostly getting my money's worth from this Facebook Marketplace gem. There's hope that the rest of the gang will get on board and use it for its intended purpose. In the meantime, Smokey has gotten my money's worth out of it, and for that, I'm thrilled!

10 stars for a new affordable cat wheel! I highly recommend getting one!

Till our tails cross,

Mel