Mouse proof automatic cat feeder?

November 19, 2020 10:15 AM

Can anyone recommend a mouse-proof automatic cat feeder? We have a low level of mouse activity in our new home that we're trying to nip in the bud. Among other suggestions, the pest control guy who just left pointed out that if the cat can stick his paw up the existing feeder and pry out a kibble or two at will, mice can get in there as well. I can't deny his logic.

I'm picturing something with a very strong trap door at the top of the chute. Every feeder I have looked at so far includes multiple comments along the lines of "my cat figured out how to pick kibbles out in three days," which to me says not mouse proof.

Our cat gets breakfast at 5AM and he's part-Siamese with the lungs to prove it, so without a feeder we're getting up at 5AM every day. I'm giving birth to our second in February. This is a bad time in our lives to go back to hand-feeding in the mornings.

posted by The Librarian to Pets & Animals (7 answers total)

One of my friends has one of these, and seems to like it a lot. Her cats have not figured out a way to get food out of it (at non-scheduled times, I mean). Can't speak to mouse-proof-ness specifically, but there's a little door that opens and closes.
posted by box at 10:30 AM on November 19, 2020 [1 favorite]

The carousel-style pet feeders seem like they would be mouse-proof. The dish inside rotates on a timer so only one dish section at a time is exposed.
posted by corey flood at 10:43 AM on November 19, 2020 [2 favorites]

Yes, we have a carousel feeder with a latching lid and the cat can't do anything to it but stare sadly. Sometimes kibbles somehow end up under the tray inside the machine, but even that's not actually accessible. I've never seen any mice on that floor of the house even though they're occasionally present elsewhere.
posted by teremala at 10:56 AM on November 19, 2020

I would maybe try getting a large, tall Rubbermaid tote and putting the feeder inside, with the lid off, away from any walls. The cat can get in and out easily, the mice would have a harder time.
posted by music for skeletons at 1:18 PM on November 19, 2020

My sense is that if your mice haven't already packed up their little suitcases & left forever on account of there being a cat in their house, then they're probably bold enough to walk up & eat whatever food is dispensed from the machine at the alloted time, right from under your cat's nose. In that case, it would make little difference whether the undispensed food is mouse-proof.

Also: this is your pest control guy who's giving you the fear about more mice. Bear in mind that he'll have business-development motives at play, consciously or not.
posted by rd45 at 5:22 AM on November 20, 2020 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: I don't think the cat would stand for that, we were first alerted to the problem when he caught one at 2am and then yowled bloody murder with his mouth full. It was a sight.

We may have to go back to hand feeding in the mornings :'(
posted by The Librarian at 2:45 PM on November 20, 2020

You might be interested in a Sureflap pet feeder. It does require some tending (refilling, cleaning, etc.), though. You can fit it on top of an Antser to keep ants off, if that’s a problem where you are.
posted by disentir at 9:27 AM on November 21, 2020 [1 favorite]