Automatic food bowl for cats

CritterKeeper · ‎06-21-2010

Does anyone use one of those auto feeders for pets? I have a tubby little girl (Kitty named Goldie) that would eat ALL DAY LONG, so I can't keep out the gravity feeder anymore. She gets almost hysterical when there is no dry food in her bowl. ;-)

I thought about getting one of those bowls that are on a timer so she could only have food certain times of the day. Any thoughts or suggestions?

Deb0509 · ‎05-27-2016

We were just looking at these yesterday! I would love to know more about them, too. Which one works best? My Daisy is 17 and can only eat canned, wet food now. My Disney wakes me up all night! AAAAHHHH!

LindaSal · ‎05-15-2014

@CritterKeeper We had used one by Petmate called LeBistro automatic feeder. While it did come in handy you cannot fully rely on them. We found it needed to be monitored as sometimes the food would get jammed and not come out at feeding time. It should form a well in the middle of the food container, therefore you know it's working.......We would go away for a couple days here and there but would always have our kids check in on our cat in fear that it may stop and he wouldn't get fed. It ran on batteries and we changed them more often than probably necessary so it's okay but not fullproof.

JuJu in NC · ‎09-16-2010

My son and his girlfriend have 2 cats and one is a fast eater and eats the other ones food. They use wet food and the feeder works off of their microchip. It works really well.

Mz iMac · ‎07-26-2014

I've always used automatic food bowls for my cats. I have never free fed.

I have the LeBistro automatic feeder. It runs on batteries &/or AC.

Depending on how much you feed your cat, the bowl of food can last for months.

Oh! The clear plastic bowl comes in 3 sizes. I've always gotten the largest.

I have never had an issue w/stuck kibble. The food exit is quite large.

If you use batteries only, a red ligiht will flash as a warning that your batteries are running low. You can still use it for about a month. Once the timer indicators start to fade, change the batteries and/or run on AC.

There are also auto flat dishes for cats or dogs that only eat soft food. I believe these run on batteries only. At least they use to. The flat dishes are for 7 days of feeding.

"Never argue with a fool. Onlookers may not be able to tell the difference."

1Snickers · ‎03-19-2016

I had a Jack Russell who couldn't eat much at a time. I bought a two bowl dish with timer and thought it was working.
One day I came back inside and heard pounding. He has opened both dishes and was munching.
I don't know if a cat might do this! A big one could!