The Maclaw wheel is made by Allan & Jacqui Hodgson at Maclaw Bengals for cats who want to enjoy a long and healthy life playing and running off all their energy.
Each wheel is individually hand made of an all wood construction.
Our Wheels are made to order only, so can take up to 4 weeks from placing an order to delivery; this is dependent on how many order's we have at the time.
Our wheel has gone through rigorous trials for durability and safety with our own Bengals and has been endorsed by our Vet Paul Proctor of Simply Cats/Simply Horses.
The wheel is 48" Diameter (this is within the parameters of good protection for the cat's spine)
The stand has been designed to flex and give a spring board effect for comfort of movement for the cat. Long lasting smooth running centre bearing for ease of movement and control, so even young kittens can use the wheel.
With a weight of around 32KG the wheel will sit solid on the floor ensuring limited movement.
Hard wearing rubber running surface for grip and comfort, wide enough for two cats to run together.
Recommended position would be up against a wall on carpeted floor.
Easy to keep clean with a damp cloth, no chemical cleaners necessary, but an antibacterial is always a good idea with kitten's and multiple cat households.
Our Cat Wheels are constantly evolving with the help of our own Bengals, here are a few key features that we feel make our Wheel the best option for your cat.
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Paw design that attracts your cat's attention when in motion.
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Rubber running surface, for durability and easy cleaning.
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48" Diameter wheel to ensure full protection of your cat's spine.
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Safety covers over the front and back of the turning mechanism.
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Safe smooth edging over the front of the wheel.
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Designed to give a springboard effect for cat's that like to sprint.
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Can withstand a weight of 12kg
When we started breeding Bengals we knew we had to find a way to make sure our troop got as much exercise as they needed, we had seen Cat Wheels on the internet before and decided to go on the hunt to try and get one. After a few weeks of searching, we found that no one in the UK actively made them, we only found ones in the USA that were too small and too expensive to import, so we decided to have a go at building one..
Building a wheel was the easy part, it was all the finishing touches that took months to get correct, some materials just didn't work and some elements proved very unsafe, but with the help of our own Bengals, we finally came up with a wheel that really works well, is extremely safe and all our cats enjoy immensely.
We designed our wheel so it would fit in any home like a piece of furniture, but the design also has a practical use too. The paw design we use on the back of the disc and running area demand a reaction from any cat when in motion, this makes for longer use and faster running ensuring your cat gets a fantastic workout.
A trend we noticed with cat wheels from overseas was that only one cat could use them at any one time, this made for a struggle in multi-cat households were cats would have to fight to get a go on the wheel. We have tried to go one better with our design by making the wheel wide enough for two cats to run or walk side by side, for our Bengals this works fantastically well and you can see this in action by viewing our videos on the right.
Our wheel gives a wonderful springboard affect when in use that makes for smooth walking or running by the weightiest of cat. Our wheel has fantastic inertia that makes sure a cat can be in control of how fast they are moving; this perfect weight balance also allows kittens over 6 weeks old to easily use the wheel. We feel this unique feature that we managed to get right from day one, makes our wheel a cut above the rest. Some other wheels we have seen are simply too light and you see poor cats struggling to run because they are stuck in a seesaw motion forcing them back, with our wheel a cat is free to sprint if it wants to.
The Maclaw Wheel can be used by ANY breed of domestic cat, but we can safely say that our moggies refuse to use it and we expect this to be the case for most ordinary cats, however, this really depends on your cat.
Some cats have very quirky attitudes and can be trained to use something like a cat wheel, but others are just too lazy to ever allow themselves to be degraded into using something like a cat wheel, but you know your cat best and can take this into consideration when buying a wheel.
With that said, we have never met a Bengal that refused to use our wheel, within 1 hour even the most reluctant of Bengals have been running or walking on our wheel, they are just extraordinary cats.
Having watched the behaviour of the Stud boys in our own breeding program, we noticed they can get very restless and unhappy at being locked in their outdoor enclosures, Bengals are very energetic cats and where we do take our stud boys for regular walks, this simply isn't enough to burn off all their energy and keep them well exercised.
We had already made The Maclaw Wheel for indoor use, but knew moisture outdoors would affect it within a matter of weeks, it simply wasn't protected enough and the stand was too large for our outdoor enclosures, so we tried an experiment.. We fully coated our wheel in the rubber we already used for the running surface and created a new wall mount to save space, we then installed two of these Wheels in our outdoor enclosures over the winter to see if they would be up to the challenge.
Having been blasted with rain, snow and freezing temperatures, we were very happy to see the wheel's held up fine without any issue, so we now offer The Maclaw Wheel outdoor to breeders and cat owners alike.
The Maclaw Wheel Outdoor is designed for use in an outdoor enclosure that's open to the elements but has a roof over its head;
it is not designed to be stuck on a wall outside with no overhead protection.
We feel the Maclaw Wheel Outdoor is an absolute must for Bengal breeders with outdoor enclosures, both our Studs and Queens outside use their wheels constantly each day, when you see the health and happiness it brings to your own outdoor working cats,
you won't know how they ever managed without one.
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