Tell me about auto-feeders

I have had the idea of purchasing an auto-feeder suggested to me a couple times now and I'm thinking I need one. Diego has been crying for food every night between 3 and 5am and I have not had a night of decent, unbroken sleep in about a week. It's like waking up with a newborn. I put down wet food at night, go to bed and between the two cats they eat all of it before the sun comes up. This creates problems sometimes because if he eats around 4 or 5, then come 7:30 or 8 when I'm ready to feed him, he doesn't want to eat very much. I want his belly FULL of food before I give him his shot. This morning he had me kind of worried about that. I also want something to address the issue of him not having access to food 2 hours before I check his sugars in the morning. The premise of an auto-feeder sounds good but I've never had one so I don't know how it works. I've been told I can put wet food in it...just one meal's worth I'm assuming? I'm not sure how it would work with the food sitting out for a while otherwise. How does it work with two cats? I may have to buy two.

Tell me all about yours, how you use it, and why you use it. Brands, pros and cons, etc. Enlighten me. Forgive me if I don't respond until tomorrow. I wasn't kidding about the week-long sleep deprivation...I'm exhausted.

 

The one I've seen used the most around here (with the most success) is the PetSafe 5

You can program it to open and offer food up to 5 times a day, but what you can do if you're worried about the "2 hour rule" is to program it to open around 4am (with food in it) and then program it to advance to the next bowl at 5am (and leave that part empty)....that would offer food at 4am, but after 5am, there'd be no more available until you get up to feed at 7:30/8

With 2 cats, it'll be a lot easier if you just buy 2 of them

 

Second the petsafe 5 for the same reasons. Also the only feeder I found with digital timer.

 

I will have to take your word for it and try this out. Think I'll start out with one at first and see how they like it. Thanks!!

 

I've tried the Petpod, Catmate 10, Catmate 20, Catmate 50, and Petsafe 5.

Avoid Catmate 50 feeders like the plague: not burgle-proof; absolutely carp mechanical timer that (IIRC) can only dispense meals once every 4 hours and even then can be unreliable for the timings; huge amount of space needed because the cat needs to rotate around a very big feeder.

Catmate 20s are OK in the burgle-proof department but again have a mechanical timer. They can dispense 2 timed feeds. The timer is clunky but you can set it to within +/- 15 minutes of desired feeding time. I did have problems with the clock mechanism (failed to advance the release mechanism and therefore feeder failed to open) but the manufacturers replaced the clock mechanism FOC. There is no cover for the battery compartment and a rambunctious kitty might feasibly knock the feeder hard enough to dislodge the battery itself (and therefore the feeder would not open). On the plus side, the Catmate 20s come with an ice pack and you can set the timer for up to 48 hours: great for a non-diabetic cat where you need to be away on a weekend and need to dispense large feeds but not a great advantage when using the feeders to dispense mini meals for a sugar cat.

Catmate 10 feeders have similar strengths and limitations as the Catmate 20s with the following differences: they can only dispense 1 feed in a 24-hour period; and they don't have space for an ice pack under the feed tray.

Petpods have a digital timer, covered battery compartment and are very reliable in terms of dispensing feeds consistently and at the required time. Downsides are that an amoeba with chronic fatigue issues would have no trouble breaking into them and there is no room for an ice pack under the feed trays.

The Petsafe 5 is burgle-proof, has a digital timer, secured battery compartment, and there's space for an ice pack under the feed tray. Although the feeder is not insubstantial size-wise you do not need much room to use it because it rotates the food toward the cat. The feed tray has (spookily) 5 compartments. One meal is available straight away and the other four are dispensed at the times you set. You can program up to 9 different feed times which means that you can serve timed feeds right throughout the day without needing to reprogram the unit for daytime and nighttime feeds; you just need to reload the feeder tray. The other advantage of the Petsafe 5 is that it will rotate unfinished meals back under the cover so that you'll know how much your kitty is eating in the intervals between feeds. Also, if you ensure that the timer is set to rotate 2 hours before preshot is due then you can ensure that preshot tests aren't food-influenced (subject to the first meal in a 5-meal cycle having been finished, or else leaving the last compartment in the cycle empty). The only limitation with the Petsafe 5 is that it can only be programmed to dispense meals over a 24-hour period. (CAUTION: It's vitally important to make sure the feed tray is properly seated when you set it into the timer. If you don't seat it properly the tray won't rotate to the correct position under the access opening in the lid, leaving the cat unable to get at the grub.)


Mogs


04.04.16 - EDITED TO ADD:

A Previously Unidentified Plus for Catmate C10/C20 Feeders

Since Saoirse had her eye op recently she has experienced facial soreness and consequently has not been able to feed comfortably from the Petsafe 5 because the compartments are relatively narrow and deep compared to some other feeders.

In this instance I have reverted to using Saoirse's Catmate C20 feeders again. The feeder trays are shallower and wider and in her current sensitive state it has been less uncomfortable and therefore easier to eat from them. (Something to consider for cats who have mouth/facial sensitivity.)

All that said, provided we can solve Saoirse's sensitivity issues I look forward to going back to using the Petsafe 5 but, in this particular instance, I've been very glad to have the Catmate C20s to fall back on.


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LMAO!

Agreed 100%. Some members use smaller individual dishes inside of the tray for easier filling/cleaning.

 

I have the petsafe 2 meal feeder. It is not digital and doesn't always open exactly on time. The trays are big enough for Smokey to get his big face in it. I use the reusable ice cubes under the trays. I only need the 2 meal one. If I did go back to work full time I would get the 5 meal one.

 

this one?

 

Yes, works well for me. It's not digital. Typo in previous post. I just bought stainless steel bowls that fit in the trays very nicely and still big enough the get his face in.

 

That's not digital, it's mechanical.

Not that there's anything wrong with that! (Seinfeld reference...anyone....?)

 

I know it was a typo and I fixed it. I don't need it to be exact it opens within 15 minutes of what I set it for. I only use at night and if DH isn't here the days I work.

 

Sorry, I guess I was confused. Was never saying it wasn't good enough.

 

I've heard of cats springing the lid on the 2-meal feeder open in 30 seconds. I have a Siamese so I know he'd somehow manage to cheat the system. Anybody have that issue?

 

Yes, Oliver could get in the first two slot feeder we bought. He got into every feeder we tried until we got the PetSafe5.

 

No need to be. I want to make sure people know it isn't exact. I didn't see the typo until you posted for which I'm glad I could correct. Wouldn't want someone to purchase it because of my typo.

 

My three haven't tried to open it. The sit and look at it but never tried.

 

I have the same one as Paula (@Woodsywife) it works fine for me. Colin just sits by it and waits, never has tried to open it. I do have a few civies that I think would try, but they are kept out of the room on days when I have to use it.

 

Wondering where you bought them. I've got the same feeder and am happy enough with it but I don't like the plastic trays. Does the ice pack still fit underneath the stainless steel bowls?

ETA: Correction: I actually have the Cat Mate C20, very similar just has an ice pack. I was really debating between the two. I'm still interested in where you found bowls.

 

The two-meal is what I actually need for our little schedule we have right now. That's nice to hear that yours haven't figured out how to crack it open. Hoping mine won't. For the first two weeks following his diagnosis I let Diego eat as much as he wanted of the new wet food, as I could see every vertabrae in the poor guys body, plus from what I had read about dry food, even most quality dry foods, I knew that they both must have been chronically malnourished. So, I let them have a feeding frenzy for a while. Diego gained a half pound at his weigh in at the vet on Thursday and she seemed quite happy about it (yay!)

I showed his doctor my data from his BG testings and she looked through them all really well and even typed my latest data from that day into the computer system at the office. I'm so ecstatic that this girl works with me she made a suggestion that I should start feeding him big meals in the morning and at night and that way I can see how low his insulin is actually taking him without the influence of food. I told her that he'll puke foamy mucus when he's gone too long without eating and she said I could give him a few bites of food around midday to tide him over. So, that's where the autofeeder comes in. I wanted to split a can of FF between the two of them and set the feeders to open at noon. Brother maestro is also on a strict diet of wet low carb only because when we moved from a big house to a much smaller living situation he gained six pounds in three months from not being as active. We're going on daily outings to get both of them moving around a lot more.