Catswall Cat Wheel Review

[admin]

I am making this a formal review so I can hopefully prevent someone from throwing away their hard-earned money!

This is their description:


We have abandoned the traditional concept of wheel shaft drive, by using the casters on the base to drive the wheel body instead, so cats can jump in and run on the wheel from both sides of the center. The improved design of the Catswall Catwheel allows up to three cats to run at the same time. The overall look is streamlined, and the tasteful, dazzling color makes the Catwheel very eye catching.

The Catswall Catwheel is made of MDF. After painting the surface and inside, the ring is overlayed with hard resistant veneer curved plate, which is easy to maintain and clean.

My experience with a brand new Catswall cat wheel is that the design is probably a good concept, but not practical or workable - I would NEVER recommend this wheel to any cat owner.

Pros:

• Relatively large size - 48"

Cons:

• No wheel shaft drive - depends on skateboard type wheels that do not move the wheel very well, if at all
• Contact paper covers the "ring" or wheel and huge bubbles from the glue holding the contact paper in place renders the wheel useless
• The contact paper has two ends that should be seamless, but are not, both inside and out, making it difficult for the wheel to turn
• The wheels or casters in the base, which are supposed to turn the wheel, do not work as they should, making the wheel difficult to turn...my cats were not able to run on it and they are wheelaholics
• The open design was not as cat-friendly as I thought it would be...mine did not like it

I could go on and on, but here are some photos showing exactly what I mean as far as the contact paper on the outside and inside of the wheel...

 

[Jacq]

Is this the one made in China that everyone bought together?

 

[admin]

Is this the one made in China that everyone bought together?

it is made in Taiwan and thankfully we did not do it...

 

[Jacq]

Okay. Good thing! When something seems too good to be true, it usually is.

 

[John Popp]

I'd like to see some images of the wheels as they are set up in the base. No reason the concept shouldn't work, obviously just poor execution.

 

[admin]

John, you can look on their site...it should work, but it does not.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

[Trish Allearz]

Good to see a review, Paige! Particularly at the price of any wheel!

 

[John Popp]

Paige there are no pictures of the guts in the base on their site. I don't believe the concept is flawed, just the execution and engineering. The cylinder needs to have enough weight to provide inertia suitable for a cat, the wheels not only need provide smooth rolling, but also there needs to be wheels that prohibit left/right movement and maintain tracking.

I'm glad I didn't get the catswall wheel (especially two) although part of my inclination was to always find the flaws and build a better one.

 

[admin]

I wish now I had taken photos of the inside of the base...basically the casters are too recessed for the cylinder to turn properly. Add in the fact that the cylinder has contact paper which is uneven and you have a wheel that does not turn

 

[Xtine]

it is made in Taiwan and thankfully we did not do it...

Thank you Paige for having our backs on this one! What a shame, shame, shame! We were really looking forward to having a wheel for our girls but we will wait patiently for the right one......Again, thank you, thank you, thank you