What do I do if my cat is afraid of the wheel?Updated 3 months ago

If your cat hasn't had any experience with a wheel before, they may find it intimidating. After all, the wheel is very tall compared to them, and the noise it makes when it rolls can be startling. Don't be discouraged! Your cats may just need a little extra training to get them running on it.

When working with more skittish cats, your main goal is going to be desensitizing them to the wheel. Once they see it as a regular part of the house that can't hurt them, they'll stop being afraid of it. While every cat is different and not all techniques will have the same efficacy for every cat, the following steps are the usually the easiest way to acclimate your cat to the wheel:

1. Take the wheel off its base and lay it on its side on the floor. This eliminates the wheel's height advantage, which is often a major (if not the biggest) spook factor for more skittish cats. 
2. For the next several days, keep the wheel grounded and focus on encouraging your cat(s) to approach the wheel and explore it while it is down at their level. You can use toys, treats, catnip, and whatever else your cat typically responds to in order to entice them over.
3. Once they seem totally comfortable being around the wheel when it is on the floor (especially if they will approach it on their own with no hesitation or enticements), you can set the wheel back on the base. 
4. Entice your cat to approach the wheel now that it is sitting on the base. You don't need to move straight to putting them on the wheel; you want to slowly build them up to it. Instead, focus on simply having them walk up to and around the wheel. Give them lots of praise and positive attention for doing so.
5. When they are comfortable simply walking around and near the upright wheel, you can move on to having them actually get on it. We recommend holding the wheel tight with one hand while enticing your cats onto the wheel, especially for the first few days. Sudden movement of the wheel could spook them off it. Keep hold of the wheel and let them sit and sniff and step around on it while it cannot move. 
6. Once they've gotten the hang of stepping on and being in the wheel when it is immobile, you'll want to graduate to gently rolling the wheel for them. Keep hold of the wheel at all times so that you can maintain control and keep it at a very slow speed. Encourage your cats to take some steps and praise them when they do.
7. Once your cat is comfortable strolling on the wheel under your direction, you can let go of the wheel and let them take control of their own speed. At this point they should be confident enough with it that they can trot or stroll or run without panicking.
8. If needed, you can then work with them each day just encouraging them to get on the wheel and run for a bit, to build that habit of daily exercise. 

Above all else, remember to be patient with your cat and consistent with your training. Sessions can/should be fairly short (a few minutes at most, unless your cat shows interest in going for longer). Never, ever force your cat on the wheel against their will, as this can create strong negative associations with the wheel that your cat may never overcome, preventing them from ever taking to the wheel.