# Question about cat exercise wheels



## turtle66 (Feb 19, 2010)

Looks like exercise wheels are pretty rare


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## C's Mom (Dec 7, 2009)

Do you think it might be her thyroid?


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## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

I've actually never heard of anyone using exercise wheels for cats. I know with dogs there can be quite a bit of training to teach them to use wheels/treadmills. Cats are typically more worried about new things and so it would likely take quite a bit of training to get her to even use it.

Cats are different than dogs...(vets....correct me if I'm wrong!) They're more designed for short bursts of activity and a lot of sitting and waiting. Dogs travel more distances, are more active etc....

If your vet has ruled out other health related causes...

- Try a lower calorie food
- Feed her 3-4 times a day. Measure out her daily ration and divide it between the meals.
- Use lots of separate feeding stations, putting just a tbs or 2 of food in each one.
- Get food dispensing toys made for cats or small dogs.... (kibble nibble, twist and treat, etc). There are a growing number of these available, it will provide enrichment, exercise, and spread out her feeding periods.
- Play with her in 3-5 minute sessions 3-5+ times a day. Have your dog in a different room of the house. 
- Start teaching her tricks. Use the cat food, or a small small small lick of canned food on a spoon as the reinforcer. Food loving cats can learn a ton of tricks... clicker training is great!


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## Bender (Dec 30, 2008)

What about putting in a cat run, so you can let her out but have her safely contained? That way she won't be in any danger being outside, and won't have any extra food to eat. I know around here there are lots of cat owners who leave bowls of food out (usually the cheapest stuff they can find) so their cats can eat and other cats won't get into the garbage (it was suggested to me too....). Not sure if you want your cat being fed by others but I'm sure it happens. Plus garbage and poison are out there too, not always intended for cats but it does happen and sometimes it is intended for cats when someone gets fed up with cats in their yards.

Some are quite neat with levels or walkways, we might do something like that for our cat, but otherwise she's not allowed outside.

The other thing to do is put her on meals. No bowl out all the time, just a set amount of food twice a day. They will not starve to death if they can eat twice a day and you can then supervise what and when she's eating as well as how much.


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## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

I have had multiple cats over the years, and the only one that had a weight problem was my indoor/outdoor cat. The last four I have had, have been indoor cats.

My indoor/outdoor cat would always get "fat" during the winter, but during the summer she would always slim right down. Was she also heavy during the summer?

Edit: She ended up ingesting anti freeze, so if you can make your cat an indoor one, it is a lot safer. I tried to keep her indoors the first year I acquired her, and it was just impossible, since she had been outside so many years.


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## turtle66 (Feb 19, 2010)

thank you all for the great advice!


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## TuckersMom (Sep 26, 2010)

Cats can easily get diabetes, so I think you should monitor her diet. Have you tried smaller portions? You might want to try a higher quality food that is more filling, so that she doesnt have to eat so much all at once. Ive never heard of an exercise wheel either! Maybe try playing with her when the pup is outdoors, so her toys dont get taken.


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## Rainheart (Nov 28, 2010)

I second the food dispensing toy! My dogs love it (I'm not sure how cats would react, but it's a great way to feed/get exercise at the same time. Especially if the cat is indoor only).


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## lgnutah (Feb 26, 2007)

I have never heard of exercise wheels for cats. I doubt my cat would use it because he gets scared so easily. I bought him a toy for Christmas which has a ball that he is supposed to hit with his paw to make it go around a circular track. The sound of the ball moving in the track scares him, so he won't go near it.


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## Rainheart (Nov 28, 2010)

You can also try and see if your kitty will play with a laser light!


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## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

Rainheart said:


> You can also try and see if your kitty will play with a laser light!


Awesome idea - they even like to follow the flash lights.


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## Rainheart (Nov 28, 2010)

True! It depends on the cat, though. One of the cats that live at my vet loves to play with the laser light and the other doesn't even notice it.


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## BajaOklahoma (Sep 27, 2009)

There are quite a few videos on YouTube of cats using a wheel, primarily Bengals. Bengals require a lot of exercise or they become destructive. One of the wheels you will see is homemade, the other purchased for over 1,000. And they are five feet in diameter. You can fine a cheaper one, but it is made of plastic....

*Of course you want to talk to your vet for approval of any diet change.* Assuming there are no other health isses for your cat, you need to get your cat off of dry cat food and onto wet. Dry is higher in carbs than even the worst wet cat food. Cats are designed to metabolize protein, not carbs. Most vets believe that cats need between 15 to 25 kcal per pound of weight. A lazy cat would only require 15 kcal/pound and an active cat, such as a kitten, would require 25 kcal/pound - or even more.
Your goal is to lose fat, not muscle mass on your cat. You said your cat weighs 15 pounds now, so a good plan would be to feed it as if it was a 14 lb cat. 15 kcal x 14 = 210 kcal. Divide the food into two meals (it doesn't look like much). You are trying for a 5% weight loss per month. More than that is too much, too fast.
I bought a baby scale to keep track of their weight - it's hard to tell with long haired cats just by looking. I have been able to maintain their perfect weight by using wet and approximating the calorie count.
Cat people call dry cat food "kitty crack," they love it but it so bad for them.
Good luck.


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## Bender (Dec 30, 2008)

Another thing we do with our cat (well ok I do) is take her meal, lock her in a room and then put the kibbles everywhere. As in 2 here, 2 there, and so on. Then I let her out and it takes her sometimes an hour to hunt down all the food, sometimes even the next day she'll find some, not often, but sometimes. Get a tall scratching post and put treats on there often too, so she has to climb up.

Or I hide her meal in the bowl, same idea - she has to hunt through the house to locate it. Doesn't take her that long mind you but....

She also gets bones, even some of the bigger 'dog' bones to munch on first. Keeps her busy for a while!


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## jackie_hubert (Jun 2, 2010)

Ditto to getting your cat off of kibble. Cats are obligate carnivores, they need only meat. Everything else is either filler or potentially harmful to them. They also get most of their water intake from their raw prey so getting off dry food and onto a grain free wet or raw is ideal. Switch over slowly though and never reduce food suddenly. A meat-only diet will make kitty feel fuller longer and add water that will help with digestion and also make her feel fullter. Carbs are pretty addicitive to them so don't be surprised if there's a lot of begging. 

I recommend EVO or straight raw. If cost is a concern raw is cheaper and even the cheaper wet food is better than kibble.


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## ebenjamin85 (Apr 13, 2008)

Is it like a hamster wheel? My mother's cat loved laser pointers... maybe your cat will too? At least if your dog is interested they can play together with it!


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## turtle66 (Feb 19, 2010)

> Have you tried smaller portions?


Yes, we have been giving her 3/8th of a cup(so not even a half of a cup) a day devided in 2 portions. I will fill a measuring cup in the evening and we will devide that portion; that way we make sure that my husband and I know know what to give for the day. It takes about 3 minutes for her and the food is gone. We couldn't go lower, because than she starts to wake us up at 3:00 am instead of 4:30 WITH bedroom doors closed! She finds her way.....



> You might want to try a higher quality food that is more filling, so that she doesnt have to eat so much all at once.


The food we just started is the food the vet was recommending. Like I wrote - We had orijen cat food before, she got 180 kcal a day and I assume orijen cat food is like orijen dog food high quality food. Did not loose weight either with that regimen.



> Maybe try playing with her when the pup is outdoors, so her toys dont get taken.


I do that, but often she is sleepy during day hours, so hard to motivate....and in the evening hours our dog is often around. So we go to the bedroom and we try to play there having the dog outside. But guess what, as soon as she recognizes the closed bedroom door, she is not interested in playing. So I guess I should try it the other way around. Dog in the bedroom - locked and kitty in the living area (which feels a little like punishment to the dog for me...)


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## turtle66 (Feb 19, 2010)

> My mother's cat loved laser pointers... maybe your cat will too? At least if your dog is interested they can play together with it!


Jenny found out that the light is also in my hands, so she is less interested now. It is fun for the the dog and she loves to watch Lilly chasing the light. They are getting there to play together, but everytime Lilly's tail swoshes around Jenny's face the game is basically over


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## turtle66 (Feb 19, 2010)

I had her on evo before I switched to orijen. But the company got sold, so I switched to orijen....and just now to the recommended food from the vet.

I like the idea of dispensing the kibble, and I will try it a little. But I won't do it fully, because again - dog lilly, also food oriented, will eat Jenny's kibble faster and I do not want to find old kibbles everywhere around the house while cleaning. And if not for 'neat reasons' than for hygiene: Not recently, but Jenny brings in presents = living mouse once in a while and I do not want to feed the mouse with cat kibble under shelves. It is already hard enough to get the mouse out of the house without having leftovers on the floor.

Still a great idea and I might try it in a supervised fashion.


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## turtle66 (Feb 19, 2010)

> Of course you want to talk to your vet for approval of any diet change. Assuming there are no other health isses for your cat, you need to get your cat off of dry cat food and onto wet. Dry is higher in carbs than even the worst wet cat food. Cats are designed to metabolize protein, not carbs. Most vets believe that cats need between 15 to 25 kcal per pound of weight. A lazy cat would only require 15 kcal/pound and an active cat, such as a kitten, would require 25 kcal/pound - or even more.
> Your goal is to lose fat, not muscle mass on your cat. You said your cat weighs 15 pounds now, so a good plan would be to feed it as if it was a 14 lb cat. 15 kcal x 14 = 210 kcal. Divide the food into two meals (it doesn't look like much). You are trying for a 5% weight loss per month. More than that is too much, too fast.
> I bought a baby scale to keep track of their weight - it's hard to tell with long haired cats just by looking. I have been able to maintain their perfect weight by using wet and approximating the calorie count.


I guess I need a new vet than? Because I just bought and switched to recommended food from the vet....
Before that she was on 180 kcal of Orijen a day for the last 9 months....and she maintained her weight (well almost)

And in comparison to our friends cat is Jenny (you won't believe it) active. She is inside - outside. Jumps up on top of our big refrigerator. Follows in a distance the dog/ supervises her. We have seen bird feathers in the garden, as well as dead mouse. During the winter timer (rain in oregon) she is more often at home, but still, much more engaged than our friends cat and especially these days: very grumpy and attention seeking when it comes near feeding times.

My husband and i were discussing to devide the meals more but we are scared that she might get used to it. Really at this moment - at 4:00 or 4:30 she starts to wake us up. Throws alarm clocks and books from the bedroom shelf, is getting loud, jumps onto us in the bed. (it is almost funny, if it would not be 4:30 in the morning). Thankfully we often at work and come home at 5:00 pm and we always joking at days we come later.... she will be VERY loud and complaining, won't go away as soon as you enter the house and we will wait for the day she might attack us 

I tried high quality wet food, a table spoon at a time, but so far, she eats it and then throws it up 5 minutes later. Hmm - that might be the diet solution


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## turtle66 (Feb 19, 2010)

> Do you think it might be her thyroid?


Too active that I think of her thyroid. Well thanks to this forum you always think of the thyroid , but she has no other signs of hypothyreoidism.

To Bender:
I can't, just can't make her an indoor cat only - she always loved loved to be outside, from the very beginning. And she was not outside during her first months and then we had her outside on leash!!! She really loves it and we made the decision that we do not want to 'restrict her live that way'. She is from the humane society, she is not really social and she likes to watch, hunt, being outside. We actually went on a Sunday afternoon walk the month. Lilly on a leash and cat Jenny followed us over half an hour in a little distance. Several, I mean several blocks!! It was hilarious! The whole family on a Sunday walk!

She is slimmer in the summer, you're right!


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## turtle66 (Feb 19, 2010)

Update:
Played with Jenny a long time yesterday. I was throwing one kibble at a time and she was running like crazy to get it. She was running the stairs up and down to get the kibble. With the kibble game she was actually also fine to play behind the closed bedroom door. And that was the goal, since she was not playing behind closed doors before.
As a side effect she seems to be more interested in her play stations and toys again. Funny! She came to the bedroom at 3:00 to play with a table tennis ball. I let her playing in the bedroom, since I am off today....
She actually made a sit for me yesterday to get another kibble. It was hilarious. The third time she came to me and made a sit, just like a dog would do to wait for the kibble, whereas the first couple times I just did it like you do with puppies. Kibble to the nose and let them sit.
The kibbles were not extra but rather part of her dinner portion 

Now I hope, we will go to the right direction by doing it as much as possible...

Thanks for your help!


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## turtle66 (Feb 19, 2010)

New update: Jenny lost since 1/1/11 about a pound (from 15.4 to 13.9 Pounds)! Hurray.
She get's 10 minutes dedicated exercise in our bedroom and became funnily more playful overall. She does not leave the house as much even though the weather was good the last couple days here in Oregon....(less hunting???)
It is funny, because she get's at this moment 220kcal per day purina weight loss management (before the vet visit she got 180 kcal of orijen cat food).
Even though the purina might be less quality she seemed to be happier with the amount of food she gets...

Don't know, something works...


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## Claire's Friend (Feb 26, 2007)

turtle66 said:


> Too active that I think of her thyroid. Well thanks to this forum you always think of the thyroid , but she has no other signs of hypothyreoidism.
> 
> To Bender:
> I can't, just can't make her an indoor cat only - she always loved loved to be outside, from the very beginning. And she was not outside during her first months and then we had her outside on leash!!! She really loves it and we made the decision that we do not want to 'restrict her live that way'. She is from the humane society, she is not really social and she likes to watch, hunt, being outside. We actually went on a Sunday afternoon walk the month. Lilly on a leash and cat Jenny followed us over half an hour in a little distance. Several, I mean several blocks!! It was hilarious! The whole family on a Sunday walk!
> ...


Cats don't get Hypothyroid, they get Hyper, but they lose weight not gain it. I think it's strange that she would vomit wet food, what did her vet say about that. Maybe she is just a big girl!


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## Bender (Dec 30, 2008)

Our cat was quite demanding when we got her home. She was a rescue, but the house she was in was a scene out of hoarders really, this lady was the local cat shelter.

Anyway she would scream at us for food and we just 'retrained' her that doing so didn't get the meal served. First off I didn't feed on any given time, twice a day she got fed. Second, if she was screaming and being a pain because I was walking around with her food (to put it up in the family room so the dogs didn't get it) I would simply put it in a cupboard or something and continue on for a while, then put it out when she'd given up on bugging. Or I'd put her in the bedroom and then put the food somewhere, then let her out. By not feeding in the same spot she would have to stop fussing and use her nose and explore and then find the bowl.

What you could try, if you wanted to stop the 4:30 wake up calls (she would not last long here with that!) is get a spray bottle or two, and when she starts, spray! Our cat before this one would fuss about food too, she'd complain and beg every time anyone went into the kitchen, so I just did that - spray! Within a day she'd quit doing it most of the time and now and then got reminded. BIL house sat and complained about the same thing, so I said 'oh, she wants her spray' and sure enough, he picked it up the next time, she left the room and never pestered him again.


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## turtle66 (Feb 19, 2010)

> I think it's strange that she would vomit wet food, what did her vet say about that


He didn't say anything about it. Can cats eat food too fast and then vomit? That was how it looked like....

Bender,
Thanks for your tips! - we will have it in our mind. Sometimes I throw her out the bedroom and close the door - she is usually very shocked about that and still (for a while)! 

We got her as a kitty and she really came that way and I tried hard, hard, hard NOT to give her food early in the morning when she was demanding like that but unfortunately I have to get up 5 days a week at 5:00, so she is a little used to it on my working days...


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## turtle66 (Feb 19, 2010)

New update:

we just came back from the vet;
11.7 pounds - Hurray!!!! She needs a tummy tuck now 

0.7 pounds more to go!

We sticked with 220 kcal/day of purina weight management and 5 - (10) minutes kitty exercise a day. She is actually quite lazy, sleeps a lot and is really not a lot outside.

Here is my theory: Less outside means less need to look for food and may be less hunting => less extra calories because she gets more at home.

I know it sounds ridiculous, but I have no other good explanation.

And yes, she still acts normal/ healthy in case you wonder if she got sick


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