Petsafe 5 compartment feeder experiences?

[Megan and Boots (GA)]

Petsafe 5 meal feeder

I know this is a very popular automatic timed feeder, especially for us, with our kitties who need to keep regular feedings through the day and night.

So my question to those who have used it: any tips and tricks? What methods work best for you?

I want to feed canned food with this. I know it doesn't come with ice packs (or even a place to put them, really). Do people just put the food in and it's fine for say 8-10 hours? Do you freeze the food first then put the "food cube" in? Do you put an ice cube in with the food (added bonus of water, I guess)?

Also, any problems with kitties managing to break into it?

And any issues with multi-cat households? We have 3, but one won't touch canned food, so I'm not worried about her getting it. I am worried about the other getting Boots' canned food when he may really need the meal during the day or night. He is "alpha' over her generally, so maybe it won't be an issue.

Did people do any "training" to get their cat to use it, learn its sound, etc?

I look forward to reading people's experiences!

 

[Shiloh & Rhonda (GA)]

No issues with my cats breaking into it. I honestly have no idea which of my two is eating during the day. But I just put the canned food in with some water. I came home yesterday, and nobody had touched the last one that I put out at 8:00 am. Got home at 5:15, and it was still moist, and looked like it had just been put down.

 

[Lori & Lulu]

Hi Megan, I am so pleased with mine. I put the cat food in the fridge for a few hours before I stock the feeder. Because it's covered before it turns for the kitty to eat, I believe this keeps it better, as Rhonda says the food stays moist. My kitties were never bothered by the sound and they have not tried to break into it. Because I have 3 cats, it's hard to say who has eaten it. I do know that when Lulu's BG is dropping, she gets very hungry and I doubt that the other two would dare intrude on her eating. But ECID. I highly recommend it.

 

[Melanie and Smokey]

We just put the food in and leave it. 8-10 hours is no problem. Often do 12-16 when we don't have anyone getting shots. The feeder keeps it looking fairly fresh.

Our first sugar dance was with 3 senior girls and they all ate out of 2 feeders throughout the day. None of the ate it all, they just snacked on it and shared well.

Enter piggy boys and life gets tougher.

With just ChrisFarley using it at first, no one got between him and food or they'd get plowed so it worked fine. We did need to get him used to it. At first when he heard it he'd run away. Now when he hears it, he is running across the room for his food before he even wakes up.

Now we have Chris and Sly on feeders. We have Sly's set to move about 20 seconds behinds Chris's. It gives enough time for Chris to get engrossed in his, but not enough time to finish and beat Sly to his. It gives Sly enough time to hear Chris's go off and wake up and get moving to his so he is at his before Chris can get to it. If Sly is sleeping on a different level of the house when they turn, Chris will get 2 meals and Sly will get none. We've found Avie snacking out of one a couple times when they boys slept through a meal, but for the most part the other cats leave them alone and eat their own food where it is left for them.

We do water down the food in the feeder a bit. Mostly to give it more volume because the boys could bear to lose some weight, but that also helps it stay moist.

 

[Megan & Oren]

I too have had good luck. Before Oren's FD diagnosis, he was a kibble eater and I had a different auto feeder that he constantly tried (sometimes successfully) to bust into. He has never tried w/ the Petsafe. He just lays next to it and waits for it to spin! He has never been afraid of the sound. I either add water to his canned food or sometimes just put an icecube on the mashed food. It hasn't had to last longer than 6 hrs. usually, but has definitely been fine. It's a definite lifesaver on my 12 hr. work days! To make sure he gets it, I do put him in a separate room on those work days...so civvie sister Patty doesn't get it. There actually is a small compartment underneath the feeder that you could put an icepack in, but you'd have to use those flexible fake icecubes or a fairly small freezer pack..

 

[Wendy&Neko]

I feed Neko's raw food in it, and with a small cryopak folded to fit the compartment under the feeder that Megan mentions, it keeps things cool for several hours. I always add water. For anything later in the day, I use canned food and either water or ice, depending on the air temperature. I only have one feeder and two cats. My civie knows who owns the feeder. But he knows how it works. When I've been away with Neko and wanted to feed him, there wasn't any food left when I got back.

 

[Megan and Boots (GA)]

Wow, sounds like a winner! I ordered one today, so should get it this week. Maybe this weekend we'll try it out to introduce it to Boots, make sure he starts to learn the sound and come and get it

I'm wondering - if I wanted to keep an ice pack under the tray, would a DIY'd plastic ziploc bag freezer pack, pressed out pretty flat, fit in there? We'd just use it primarily for work days when we can't run home mid-day (so we'd be gone for about 8.5 hours - maybe 2-3 small feedings in the Petsafe for that time period) and maybe overnight (since he has a tendency to like to wake us up throughout the night to ask oh-so-politely for some food ). So maybe the ice isn't even necessary, but it's good to know we have some options for keeping it cool if we want.

 

[BJM]

You could set it on top of a very flat ice pack, too.