Last week we reviewed a product that Indi is already ripping apart, so this week, we're reviewing a product that has lasted over 3 years without breaking and without Indi breaking into it.
Whenever a cat owner defends their cat's obesity with, but they are waking me up at night, so I just leave the food out all of the time, I recommend an automatic feeder.
Initially, I had purchased a two compartment feeder when I was going away for a weekend and didn't want someone to have to come to feed Indi twice a day. It was a cheap one. Indi is very determined and will break into anything if she can get her little claws into it. It lasted a weekend. I tried to glue the dishes in and try to rig it so she couldn't break into it, I finally gave up on that one and bought the more expensive feeder. This is my best purchase thus far that I would highly recommend for any cat owner: the PetSafe Simply Feed Automatic feeder.
It's not the most expensive model, but it was the best $170 I spent for Indi's birthday present.
Indi's Review: 5 out of 5
My review: same!
I did some research on the internet looking for a durable pet feeder that was automatic, and that she would not be able to break into. Believe me, when I purchased this, she tried. I initially stuck the feeder into a corner, so she couldn't knock it over, but she did. Despite the top loading lid, it never broke, and the lid never fell off when she knocked it over. I then resorted to putting my kettle bell on the top and she never knocked it over again - even when we moved and I got rid of the kettle bell.
She can get a few kibbles out of the hopper from the next feeding, but it will only be 4-5 kibbles and therefore, she cannot just steal all the food from the feeder - which I know other feeders are not as reliable when it comes to sneaky cats.
The smallest sized meal is 1/8th a cup, which is great for cats. You do not want your cat to gorge itself in one sitting and then throw up the food later after the water hits the kibble and expands in their stomach. It is battery operated and the digital screen shows you when the battery will need to be changed. Right now Indi gets 2 meals from the feeder and a wet food meal at night for dinner, but you can set it up to 12 meals per day.
There are also bonus features for multi-cat households such as this attachment to divvy the food into two bowls.
There is a newer model that is more high-tech with a smart app, but honestly, unless you really need the newest and greatest of everything, you can save the $100 difference for something else.
If I had a multicat household with two cats of different ages and body condition, then I would not purchase this feeder. But for a single cat household, or two cats with good body condition that share well without having one get obese and the other stay skinny, then it would work well.
The benefits that we have gotten from this feeder were: I can sleep in on the weekends, Indi never wakes me up at 4 am to be fed (she used to prior to this feeder), and she can have a midday meal while I am at work. The cons would be that it is only for dry food, so if your cat needs to have a wet food only diet, then it would not work for you.
