Exercise ball and cats???

abbycats

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I want to get an excercise ball and was wondering if they are resistant to cat claws. Is there any particular one that is recommended?
 

frankthetank

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I got one a couple weeks ago...right now when not in use it sits in a chair in the living room or kitchen, and I have had no problems with the cats even acting interested in it (and I have 3 kittens who will play with ANYTHING!) The logo on mine says "GAIAM"
 

kittica

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I have a Gaiam ball, too, and our cat couldn't care less for it. Actually, she might even be a little afraid of it, too.
 

snedger

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Hello

After watching my exercise ball burst next to me just now I will say that I think it is unlikely that there is such a thing as a cat-claw proof exercise ball.

My fault really.

One cat was trying to walk on my computer keyboard - one of those days where dinner begging started 2 hours before time - and so I scooped her up and plopped her on the exercise ball next to me, held it steady and she decided to sit down. She got off eventually and I went back to my PC stuff.

An hour later, she obviously hadn't realised that my holding the ball steady had prevented a Raiders of the Lost Ark rolling boulder situation, so she jumped on the ball and in her rolling panic managed to rip a hole in the quite expensive, good quality Nike ball.

Exercise balls deflate a lot quicker than it takes to pump them up :)
 

snedger

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Not cat related, but possibly important.

My partner has been using her exercise ball as a desk chair.

She has a normal properly prioritised  life and is not like me. where I would research buying an exercise for a week and at the end know about everything - e.g. the correct size for height; anti-burst; massage ball; egg shaped etc. - and so she just bought the first one she found.

I heard an enormous bang-thud the other day - that is what a non anti-burst ball sounds like when it goes, with the sitter hitting the ground hard.

Mildly bruised back, small bang to the head - could have been worse.

So, bearing in mind that anti-burst balls deflate rather than explode. PLEASE, spend that little of bit extra money on an anti-burst ball and be safe:) (it only took me two days to research her replacement ball)

Oh, and to be double safe, wear a bike helmet and add more visual meaning to a plank.

And the exercise ball shop says that if we kill just one more, then with their 3 strikes rule, we're banned for life.
 
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James&Taki

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Old thread, but I'll say I've been having problems with Taki destroying my exercise balls. I use them as desk chairs. I used one for about a year before getting Taki, then after about 2 months with them, it got a tiny leak that prevented it from holding air. I bought another, and now it's been four months with the new one and it is now leaking.

I haven't had any issue with sudden, big rips, it's more just that Taki sometimes likes to go onto my lap but they're short and it's an awkward way to just jump, so they end up standing up with their front claws on one of my legs (I have thick pants), scrambling to climb up the ball with their back claws, and this over time creates a lot of little rips along the surface. These aren't problematic other than being ugly - they usually don't break through the whole layer of plastic, just scrape the top, it's just an issue when one of the little tears does end up going through the whole layer, making a hole, and it only takes one to make the ball unuseable.

Both of these balls have been Trideer brand - they have (in my experience) good customer service, so I'm partial to them, but I'd love to find out about any that are more cat-resilient/-proof, if there are any.

We have a small space, so shutting them out of the room with the exercise ball isn't an option, and I guess I could go back to normal chairs but exercise balls are so much better imo that I'm really debating whether it's worth it or not to have to buy 4 a year... it just feels so unnecessary and wasteful, and I would absolutely rather pay a larger one-time price for one that's going to last me.
 
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