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Photograph: Molly Higgins
Closer Pets C200 2-Meal Automatic Pet Feeder for $50:This automatic feeder is extremely simple, which is both its weakness and strength. It’s essentially two shallow plastic containers with stainless steel inserts (both dishwasher safe) and tamper-resistant lids that close and open automatically using an old-school egg-style timer that runs on AA batteries instead of electricity. Although the container comes packed with ice to keep wet food cold, it lost almost all of its cold after one night. It has a lid-link clip attachment, a small piece of plastic that connects the lids to ensure they will open at the same time, which is very useful for owners of two cats like me. I wish the timer was electric so I could program it for the exact time I want it to open instead of guessing the time on tiny marks. However, it is a simple solution that will help ensure both of my cats are fed wet food without the need to get up early in the morning.
Photograph: Molly Higgins
Oneisall Wireless WiFi Automatic Cat Feeder for $50:I had high expectations for this cordless feeder that boasts a rechargeable battery with a 100-day life and an integrated app, but it’s pretty unreliable. Through the app, you can program up to 10 meals per day (1-12 portions each), monitor the pet’s eating habits, and customize meal calls. Unlike other apps, you are not able to choose the portion size, rather you have to multiply the number of servings. The app gave me constant problems, and would often disconnect from the feeder and not reconnect to WiFi. Luckily, I was able to program meals via the screen and buttons, but it would have been great if the app worked reliably.
do not recommend
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Catit Pixie Smart 6-Meal Feeder for $117: Like others on this list, the Catit Pixie Wet and Dry Feeder uses ice packs to keep wet food fresh and rotates the food through the six compartments on a set schedule. The schedule can be programmed via the app or changed on the body of the feeder. At this price point, the app shouldn’t be so limited and glitchy. Schedules are only available in military time, and the app is extremely limited—you can only set meal schedules for that day, and when I only wanted to eat two to three meals a day over two days, I had to reschedule meals for each new day. The feeder did not keep the food cool enough to spread and the wet food was not at a safe temperature to eat. At this price point, get the Petlibro Polar Wet Feeder for just a few bucks more.
Catit Pixie Smart Cat Feeder for $114: Kibble is stored in the body of this dry feeder, but it has no window to see the food level. The meal planning calendar only shows one week at a time, and although it should be repeated daily based on the schedule, I found that some days there would be no schedule even after setting one up. Pixie doesn’t even tell you how much food was delivered; It only refers to it as a “portion” – I measured manually and found that the portion was less than a teaspoon of kibble. After using it consistently for over a month, I found it to be extremely messy and almost never stick to a programmed schedule, sometimes skipping meals altogether. This feeder is potentially dangerous, and I would caution pet parents against trusting it.
Closer Pets C500 for $75: This automatic wet and dry feeder can schedule four pre-portioned meals (and one meal delivered manually) that are opened on a timer system using three AA batteries (sold separately). The user presets four times that they want to rotate the bowl, with the ice packs underneath. The bowls are quite deep and narrow and not very easy for cats to reach, which can lead to excessive fatigue. And although there are two relatively large ice packs, when I checked on the feeder after a night’s sleep, the packs were not very cold. This may be fine for kibble, but the wet food was kept at an unsafe temperature, and my cats couldn’t access the entire food.
Why use automatic feeder?
Automatic feeders are great for pet owners who want to help manage their pet’s weight and monitor eating patterns. Plus, they allow owners a lot of control and precision to know how much their cat is eating and when. Since cats are naturally more nocturnal, many have the annoying habit of waking you up in the early morning demanding food, and this allows you to set a schedule that better fits their schedule without causing inconvenience to you.
Of course, it’s never recommended to leave pets alone for long periods of time, but these automatic feeders give peace of mind and are completely healthy for your pet, leaving large amounts of food out for free feeding while you’re out of the house at night. Simply put, it’s an easier way to feed your cat and monitor its health with less work for you, the human.
I have two rescue cats, ages 4 and 5, and they eat wet food twice a day and small amounts of dry food throughout the day. Vets (and TikTokers) have successfully convinced me to move to a primarily wet-food diet, which has a higher water content. This provides more moisture in their diet, which helps combat potentially life-threatening problems like UTIs, which are especially prevalent in male cats. I still like to feed them small amounts of dry food throughout the day to satisfy their need for crunch.
For dry food, I use Hill’s Science Diet, and for wet food I use the Friskies Shreds variety. (Yes, just shreds. Fellow cat owners will understand.)
I set up feeders paying attention to ease of setup, potential problems, and app navigation. I also tested various schedules and manual feeding through the app and noted no issues. I used each feeder for at least a week, if not more.
How long can I leave my cat alone?
Although cats are generally considered lower maintenance than dogs, it is still not a good idea to leave your cat alone for long periods of time. In severe circumstances, you can leave a cat alone for 24 to 48 hours with scheduled food and a clean water source, but this is not ideal – especially for cats with health problems, kittens under one year old, or very elderly cats. Although these feeders are automated, and food can be scheduled in advance and for several days, our pets still need their human friends for enrichment, care, and good love.
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