Hamster wheel review: drives my cats round the bend
6.5.2023
Translation: Julia Graham
Support: Luca Fontana
The cat wheel. A gadget for fur babies that I didn’t know I needed until I had one. Read on to find out what this oversized hamster wheel can do and if your cats need one.
She purrs, rubs herself against your legs, sits down and meows. But what does she want? If you haven’t guessed yet, I’m talking about one of our cats. Our little roommates are sometimes hard to understand. Does she want food? To be stroked? Or does she just need to stretch her legs? We’ve been able to answer the last question for a few months, as we now have Swisspet’s Rondulo cat wheel. Will our cats even use this chunky piece of furniture or will it just gather dust next to the exercise bike in the corner? I put it to the test.
Full disclosure: I’m not part of our independent editorial team. It’s my job to make sure you’ve got the widest and best selection of drinks and sports nutrition in our store. But our cat wheels are selling like hot cakes, so we wanted to find out what makes these products so enticing. As hardly any of the editorial team has cats, I was allowed to step in and get my moggy to test drive the cat wheel.
Our product testers
Named after their heroes, both of our two-year-old flat cats Zelda (4 kg) and Leia (4.2 kg) live with me and my partner in a 60-square-metre loft apartment, where they spend most of their time playing, sleeping or looking for food. They only get to run around in the flat or in an enclosed part of the balcony, as we live on the seventh floor. So a bit of exercise would do them good. But first, I have to assemble the wheel.
Source: Jonas Rudin
Setting it up and zooming off
The product comes with a hex wrench and a screwdriver as well as A5 instructions featuring two images. The whole thing reminds me of the countless IKEA instructions that have driven me to despair. However, when it comes down to it, it’s extremely easy to assemble. The cats help with unboxing. But when it comes to assembly, I’m on my own.
Five minutes and six screws later, the wheel’s up and running. It exudes high-end vibes. The wood and metal parts are well built and the ball bearing moves cleanly and quietly. I definitely see the wheel as a fashion accessory when compared with standard cat furniture or cardboard boxes that are even more popular with felines. The only drawback for me is the platform the wheel is on. It’s not quite level, as about a millimetre is missing at one corner, making the wheel wobble slightly when used. You can forgive something like this when it’s made of wood. And it’s also easy to fix.
Source: Jonas Rudin
The catwalk
I didn’t have to ask Zelda or Leia twice to try this out. After a brief sniff and sceptical look, Zelda dares to go first, while Leia watches on from above. As the saying goes: «Dogs guard; cats watch… and judge.» Zelda’s first steps are tentative and slow. But with a snack as an incentive, she got faster and faster.
Source: Jonas Rudin
Both of them quickly got the hang of it (they didn’t have much choice). Now, the question is whether they’ll also use the wheel on a daily basis and without motivational treats, or if it’s a case of exercise-bike-in-the-corner syndrome.
We had to learn how to deal with having two cats in a one-bedroom flat. At night, we put away their toys so we don’t wake up to sisal mice and plastic feathers flying around when the cats start hunting. The wheel, on the other hand, gets to stay put as it’s practically silent. I never hear any velvety cat paw taps on the carpet-lined wheel at night. Which is great, as it means the cats can work off their energy without disturbing my partner and me.
In fact, we were pleasantly surprised to see it being used. So much so that after a few weeks we didn’t even have to put the other toys away. The cats prefer to strut their stuff on the circular catwalk at night. At first, I didn’t dare believe it. My colleagues Tanja Schütz and Luca Fontana also got cat wheels to test out, but even after several weeks, their homely cats didn’t want to give jogging a go once.
Which wheel does my cat need?
If you want to buy a cat wheel, it’s important to check the size. Our cats are two years old and about 4 kg, and they’re just small enough for the wheel I used for this review. If your cats aren’t as big, there’s also a smaller version. However, if you have a Bengal or another larger cat, this bigger wheel may be more suitable for your four-legged friends.
According to reports online, it’s important that cats don’t bend their lower back when running, which can happen if the wheel is too small. By the same token, if the wheel is too big and bulky, it might not brake fast enough when the cat stops running.
Source: Tenor
You’ll also want to ask yourself if your cats already have enough space to run around. Zelda and Leia don’t have any access to the outdoors and live with us in a 60-square-metre flat. The longest straight race track in the flat is ten metres until the wall slows the cats down again. Conversely, if you live in a three-storey house and the cats have outdoor access, this wheel might not provide any additional benefit to them and so could be less popular.
The marathon
Either way, you’ll need to be persistent as they get used to it. My felines took to the cat wheel relatively quickly. But it was still about four months before they were running on it more than once or twice a day. And now, Zelda even races on average twelve times a day (!) as part of her fitness routine.
Speaking of fitness, I equipped the wheel with a bike computer to measure how fast my felines run and the distance they cover on the wheel per day. Unfortunately, the speedometer always turns off automatically if it doesn’t measure anything for a while. This means that if I see one of the cats wanting to use the bike, I have to get up, rush to the bike and press the button on the bike computer. This is also how I manage to fit in regular exercise while working from home. Mission accomplished.
Leia isn’t that taken with the wheel. However, this galactic princess is also much sleepier and less active than her twin sister, Zelda. Leia covers about 100 to 200 m per day at no more than 9 km/hr. Zelda, on the other hand, needs more opportunities to run around, so she now uses the wheel almost every hour. She covers between 3 and 5 km per day at a maximum speed of 13 (!) km/hr. Reviewing the wheel over an extended period of time gives more positive results than initially feared. And we’re absolutely satisfied with the product.
Product quality
While the wheel is built of wood, the suspension is made of a metal ball bearing that rotates almost silently. The platform unfortunately isn’t perfectly flat in the model I’m reviewing, but I solved this with a small piece of anti-slip mat.
Source: Jonas Rudin
I like the look of the wood. But as is the case with this material, it works but for some caveats. I notice that the rotation and noise level are dependent on temperature and humidity. This is to be expected with natural materials, and I wouldn’t blame this on poor product quality. The screw thickness for anchoring the stand to the platform, on the other hand, is too small. What’s more, there aren’t any washers included, which I’d expect for such a soft wood. This leads to signs of wear after a while.
Over time, the screws loosened slightly because of the load. This has caused the platform to rub against the stand on the inside and the whole frame to creak slightly. As a solution, I took the wheel apart again, wrapped the lower section of the stand with a cloth, then rebuilt it and added three extra screws. This means that the wood doesn’t rub any more, the wheel is silent again, and we can sleep while the cat runs its marathon.
Source: Jonas Rudin
Source: Jonas Rudin
Source: Jonas Rudin
Source: Jonas Rudin
Verdict: run, Zelda, run
The wheel can stay. We decided to buy the cat wheel we tested out. The cats use it every day and they really love it at night. In spite of our small flat – or maybe because of it – this wheel provides enough added value for our furry friends.
Unfortunately, there are slight signs of wear and tear due to the soft wood. And the wheel started to creak while I was reviewing it. This can be fixed, but it’s not what you want for a cat accessory you’ve spent 360 francs on.
If your moggy likes to run about and isn’t an outdoor cat, I highly recommend getting a cat wheel. If they already have enough space to run around or prefer to lie about, it’s unlikely they’ll take the leap with this new exercise option.
But for our Zelda, the wheel is definitely a big hit.
Have you got a cat wheel for your feline? Did your cat go from couch to 10 k with it, too? Or is the wheel now cosying up with your dusty exercise bike? Let us know in the comments!
Jonas Rudin
Portfolio Development Manager
Jonas.Rudin@digitecgalaxus.chFrom Naboo to Dominaria - I feel right at home in the fantasy worlds from Star Wars to Magic the Gathering. That's why it wasn't difficult for me to choose the names of my cats. So Zelda and Leia enrich my life. In the Galaxus galaxy, I find the most protein-rich sports food, the freshest beer and the most exclusive spirits. When I'm not DIY-ing, you'll find me in my spare time on the volleyball court, in the mountains, or playing board or card games.
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