I need an automatic cat feeder

September 8, 2021 10:50 AM

I would like to buy an automatic cat feeder for my furbeast. It must measure the food it spits out, and be programmable to dispense food twice a day. Ideally it would hold enough food for several days - minimum 1L. Budget is ~$100CAD, but can be a little flexible. Hivemind, please recommend some feeders!
posted by torisaur to Pets & Animals (15 answers total)

Just went through this with our pandemic buddy. There are two major kinds: dispense via dump into a dish (higher capacity) and dispense via opening a compartment (limited number of trays). The ones that dump food seem to be noisier and we had to return one of those for a tray with rotating top because he was afraid of the noise. Other considerations are cleverness of cat and wet food needs.
posted by cobaltnine at 11:09 AM on September 8, 2021

Response by poster: Oh, right. Wet food is not required. A noise is actually ideal to trigger them to go eat. One cat is very food motivated and moderately clever, the other is less likely to spend her days solving the mystery of the Magic Food Machine (I'm looking to get one for each cat). Both are likely to overeat if we free-feed, which is why we want the machine to portion out the food.
posted by torisaur at 11:14 AM on September 8, 2021

We have an old version of the le bistro portion control programmable feeder.

Pros:
- dispenses measured amounts of food
- can have several meals per day
- tracks the number of meals given
- large capacity
- has lasted 7+ years (but we only use it when we're traveling)

Cons:
- our cat can open it, so we have the lid taped on
- the first meal after we turn it on isn't quite right - so the cat will stick her paw up the chute and fix it
- dry food only
- the minimum meal size is slightly larger than what our cat needs
posted by Ms Vegetable at 11:16 AM on September 8, 2021

I had an older version of the lebistro also. It held a very large quantity of food and dispensed an accurate amount of food as scheduled, but my cats could tip it over, which would separate the base from the food container and spill the food everywhere. If your cats aren't so food-motivated, this is probably the way to go, because it holds a lot and works well.

I've moved over to the Petsafe Eatwell, which holds much less (5 meals, but really 4 because one compartment is always open-- so the meal they currently have access to and 4 others) You portion the food yourself in each of the compartments, and it rotates at a set time to allow access to the next compartment. Each compartment holds at least 1/2 cup (I think it's a bit more but it's packed away right now). This has worked out much better for me, my cats aren't able to tip it over because it is short and not top-heavy. It does make noise as it rotates (which summons my cats from wherever they are). It holds much less food (only 2 days worth if you feed twice a day) but because one of my cats needs medication every other day, and so I need to have a petsitter come anyway, it works out OK for me, but YMMV.
posted by matcha action at 11:31 AM on September 8, 2021

I use the Petsafe Eatwell too. It works very well except it only holds 4 meals. That's kind of how long I feel okay leaving the litter unscooped, so it ends up just working out that I have to hire a cat sitter if I'm going away for more than 4 meals worth anyway.

I don't use it when I'm at home though, because I enjoy all their excitement when I feed them.
posted by aubilenon at 11:42 AM on September 8, 2021

Wow, research into this reveals some interesting choices.

The "food dispenser/dumper" kind has a few more options, and some even have a voice recorder so you can maybe upload your voice prompting them to come, or a jingle to start the feeding routine. One even has a slow-feeding mode where it dispenses food over 15 minutes to prevent overgorging.

If you need to serve meds to the kitty, and they are properly collared, you can get a feeder with built-in RFID chipreader so only the right compartment opens for the right kitty.

May need sturdier mounting options for several of them though.
posted by kschang at 11:56 AM on September 8, 2021

Best answer: I've had my PetSafe Simply Feed Autofeeder for five years now. I'm having trouble figuring out how much it is from Canada-accessible sellers, sorry!

I used to have the PetSafe Eatwell, but my cat figured out how to push the food tray to the next feeding within a couple months (she is incredibly food motivated). This Simply Feed is specifically designed for such a cat; it has a belt conveyer that brings food up from the hopper and dispenses it down a chute. She's still able to reach up and dislodge some kibble from the belt, but now she's just stealing from her future meal. She spends a large amount of the day staring intently at the feeder, praying to the kibble gods for her next feeding.

The programmable options are probably overkill for you, but I end up dispensing 6 small portions for my always-hungry cat every day. I modified the portion size by trimming each kibble-scooping-shelf on the belt. I've also seen an accessory PetSafe sells online to mod the chute to dispense into two bowls if you want to feed multiple pets.

Regarding noise, I line the metal bowl with circle of silicone baking mat to dampen the sound of the kibble dropping. The feeder makes just enough mechanical noise where the cat can hear it from the other side of the apartment (much sprinting and chaos ensues).
posted by blueberrypuffin at 11:57 AM on September 8, 2021 [3 favorites]

Best answer: My home also has the Petsafe Healthy Pet Simply Feed. It has flexible programming options and holds enough food for several weeks. It's been great - never missed a meal and the cats practically consider it a God. Sucks that you have to get the AC adaptor separately, but if you use one then it falls back to batteries as backup in a power failure.
posted by homesickness at 11:58 AM on September 8, 2021

I have a version of this one. It seems to be offered by several brands but they appear identical to me eye. One has some voice recording option that you don't need to activate. It has 4 feeding times, battery backup, and customizable portions for 1 to 38. I had to play with the portion part to get what I wanted, but it was not too hard to do. I've had it almost 5 years and it keeps on trucking. I swear the price changes daily, but currently under $100 US. Our cats haven't tried to break in, so I can't speak to that aspect. Lid clicks shut and the chute to the food chamber seems too small for them to get to.
posted by XtineHutch at 12:20 PM on September 8, 2021

If your cat is clever, DON'T get one with a mechanical auger that can be accessed with a paw. Not sure if I'm using the right word, but we had one that basically uses a large turning screw that allowed little bits of kibble to drop into the bowl. The amount of food dispensed was controlled by how long the screw turned. Anyway, we got the automatic feeder to avoid being woken up at 5 am by insistent meowing. Instead, we started being woken up earlier and earlier by the sounds of a very focused cat 4 rooms away who realized he could turn the auger/screw with his paw if he was determined enough....and boy was he determined. He'd spend an hour just loudly pawing and manipulating the machine to get 8 bits of kibble. Changing the feeding times didn't help...he would learn the time and then arrive early to start the pawing....it was madness.
posted by victoriab at 12:35 PM on September 8, 2021 [2 favorites]

i have this one and it works great. i also ordered a splitter from a 3D printer person on etsy so it fills 2 bowls at once.

edit: the "meal" sizes are customizable from 1/3 cup up to i think 4 cups. with the app you can set it up to dispense multiple times per day. great investment for our needs!
posted by misanthropicsarah at 12:38 PM on September 8, 2021

Response by poster: Thanks friends! The PetSafe Healthy Pet Simply Feed sounds like a good fit, even if it's a bit over budget from Canadian sellers. Much appreciated.
posted by torisaur at 2:57 PM on September 8, 2021

I had a PetSafe as well, and it was great. Tip: I programmed it for 4:00am and 4:00pm. This completely eliminated the demands for food when I got up in the morning and when I got home from work. Sadly the cat shuffled off this mortal coil several years ago. I gave the feeder to a friend who is very happy with it.
posted by Dolley at 4:47 PM on September 8, 2021 [2 favorites]

We have three cats. Two are moderately smart and fairly skinny. One is very smart and now is fat. The fat one figured out to game the autofeeder quickly. If this is your cat, consider placing the feeder and chute somewhere out of paw reach, and use a bit of PVC pipe to direct the food down into an accessible bowel. Here has some good advice about how to make an auto feeder more secure.
posted by Northbysomewhatcrazy at 6:35 PM on September 8, 2021 [1 favorite]

I have the Petsafe 12 meal feeder too, and it has been great. I did make it a ‘face mask’ out of hardware cloth and bungee cords to stop my beastie from spending all day contorting her shoulder to get her little arm up into the works. The smallest meal size is a little under what she needs at 2meals and too much at 3 meals, so she gets 2 meals per day and then a small can of wet food split over two weekend bonus meals. Cats are feast- and- famine feeders and her weight is stable so… seems fine.

Oh I also put the feeder up on a block inside a big tray. Having it land in the big bowl made it too easy for her to inhale it all in seconds.
posted by janell at 6:46 PM on September 8, 2021