Going on vacation soon and don’t have anyone to sit with your cat? Is your cat a glutton that will eat every last morsel as soon as it hits the bowl? You’re in luck, because an auto feeder will make your life incredibly easy.
You can program the pet autofeeder to dispense a certain amount of food at a certain time, so all you have to do is remember to refill the feeder.
Whether you’re going on holiday or you want to tighten down on your cat’s calories if they’re over or underweight, you should look for the device to be easy to use, tamper-proof, and have a big enough food capacity.
If you’re only going on a day trip, there are cheaper options with rotating bowls. Conversely, if you plan on going away for a long time, you may need to ask someone to refill the food and water bowls.
We believe that the feeder you choose should be smart enough so you can keep your options open in the future. For example, something unexpected may throw a big wrench in your daily life and force you to leave your cat for an extended period of time. That’s why we recommend a programmable smart feeder.
The best person to judge your cat’s needs is you, with your vet coming close second. You live with your cat and you know what it likes and dislikes, while your vet is trained to diagnose medical conditions and prescribe the proper diet.
What to look for in a smart cat feeder:
Apart from ease of use, automation and food capacity, there’s one thing we haven’t touched upon — accuracy. What good is a “smart” feeder if it can’t dispense the right amount of food? Depending on the size of the kibble and the dispenser mechanism, you can get wildly different results from brand to brand. We recommend going with the more accurate options like the PetSafe Healthy Pet Simply Feed Programmable Pet Feeder.
Also, look into the power source — batteries, USB, or wall outlet? We highly recommend choosing a hybrid power source because a power outage can default the settings and food won’t be dispensed. Other cool features include low-food alarms, voice recording feature for meal call and infrared sensors to detect if there’s still food in the bowl from the last meal.
