Description
- Key Benefits: Prevents food stealing and stress at mealtimes in multi-pet homes, keeps your pets healthier by controlling portions and helping to keep weight under control, saves money by not overfeeding expensive prescription foods and helping to avoid vet bills related to pet health conditions.
- Great for Pets on Prescription Diets: Holds 13.5 fl. oz, wet or dry pet food. The lid closes to form a seal with the neoprene lip, helping to retain moisture and to keep food fresher longer.
- Microchip Compatibility: Works with 9 (Avid Secure), 10 (FDXA) and 15 (FDXB) digit microchip numbers; if unsure of your pet’s microchip number, you can check with your veterinarian, pet shelter or animal rescue. Automatic Cat Feeder opens when the assigned pet microchip ID approaches, and closes when it moves away. Simple one button programming.
- Three Year Warranty. Veterinarian Recommended.
- Do you have a houseful of pets? Does one cat steal the other’s cat food? Does your dog steal the cat’s food? Stressful Feeding times? The Microchip Pet Feeder makes feeding times so much easier! It uses the pet’s Microchip ID or by wearing a lightweight RFID collar tag to communicate with the feeder to open for that specific pet. All feeders come standard with one tag (unit stores 32 ID’s); additional collar tags can be purchased separately if necessary. Ideally one feeder per pet.
Cathy –
I bought this for Poppy, my 22-lb 11 year old Boston Terrier. We moved in with a new roommate whose dog eats *everything* left out and is on a strict time and quantity schedule as a result.
Poppy does better with her weight, food behaviors and energy levels when she free-feeds or grazes, but I was having to pick up her food bowl and put it down or call her into the bathroom every time I went in and put it out for her. Not practical while I’m at work.
I’m hoping this feeder will solve the problems of restricting the roommate’s dog access to Poppy’s food, while allowing Poppy free access as she wishes. I splurged on this model over the less expensive other selective feeders because of the reviews regarding durability, quietness, lid remaining open while pet feeds, keeping “intruder feeders” out and programming it to my dog’s existing microchip.
What I’ve noticed Day 1:
– The feeder is the perfect size for any cat, but the hood is going to be too small for most dogs. It is *just* comfortable for Poppy. I was worried it would be too small for her, but it doesn’t seem to bother her right now. It would be great if there was a slightly larger size available for dogs. The materials specify that this can be used for “pets” and show primarily cats with some small dogs, but I wouldn’t recommend it for dogs much bigger than 20-22lbs.
– My dogs microchips (AVID and ISO) are 10 years old and whole the vet can still read them, but we know one has shifted down over her left shoulder blade and the other is back between her two shoulder blades, not along her neck. The sensors in the feeder cannot read her microchips. They are too far away to train. No amount of bribing her to poke her head through the sensor could get either of them to register. For teaching the feeder the microchip or tag, it seems to need it to be right in the center of the mat/hood area. Getting the feeder to learn the included the tag was super simple, I just waved it in under the hood a couple of times.
– It took me longer read the directions, attempt the microchip pairing and pair the tag, than it did for Poppy to learn how to get the feeder open. I put some food and small amount of high-value treats in the bowl, closed the lid, palmed the tag and a high-value treat (cheese) and she followed her nose under the hood. The lid opened immediately and she wasn’t phased at all. Took a couple of more times, then I hung the tag on a very lightweight collar by itself and she opened it on her own and ate some food.
I did take the advice of other purchasers and put the feeder in a “protected” area which is difficult for my roommate’s dog to access if my dog is blocking the feeder. I also set it to the shortest time delay for closing once the sensor doesn’t recognize the tag anymore. So far, the roommates dog hasn’t noticed there is food available in the feeder and I’m not going to point it out, but I will update with how it works out when she does finally notice it.
In a nutshell-
PROS:
– very easy to unpack and set up
– very easy to pair with the included tag
– very fast and simple to teach to a trainable/curious dog
– easy to wipe down or clean
– feels durable/sturdy
– lid opening is audible from within the next room (feeder is in bathroom, I can hear it in hallway and bedroom right next door), but it’s very quiet and with the radio, tv or a fan on, it’s barely noticeable.
– only noise comes from lid opening or closing, so it is otherwise silent.
CONS:
– can’t read microchips that aren’t in the neck column of “larger” small pets
– needs to be placed in a “protected” area because side panels do not block a determined intruder from feeding
– not available in a larger size
– uses C batteries which I had do buy specifically for this (I had AAA, AA, D already).
– is more expensive (by almost double) than some of the other selective feeders available.
Update: it’s been several hours and she’s gone back and grazed twice on her own! Success!
Full disclosure: the lid did “hiccup” twice while we were training and didn’t close/open fully both times, but I think that was because she put her head back in or I put my hand in the bowl while it was opening or closing. It hasn’t happened since. I will watch for it though.
mario l. –
We use this for the cats food and it stops the dog eating their food. It’s saving the dog from getting fat. Excellant bit of kit.
mario l. –
🙂
karin –
I don’t usually write reviews, but this feeder has been a life saver! I have an older cat on a prescription diet and a 9-month-old kitten who will eat anything that remotely looks like food and was really struggling with how to keep my kitten out of the the prescription food when I am not right there to monitor the bowls and let the older cat eat when he wants to. He is a grazer who will not eat more than a few bites at a time, and I just can’t follow him around all day with a little bowl of food. I also travel quite a bit, so this little gem will allow my cat sitter to easily manage feeding both cats.
This feeder is exactly what I needed! It took my boy a few days to be comfortable with sticking his head through the hoop and into the bowl, but he is getting the hang of it and his food intake is much better than it was when I had to offer him food when I saw him and put it away immediately to keep the kitten out of it. The kitten has thoroughly investigated the feeder too, but cannot open the lid, and since the bowls have a little silicone lip, the lid forms a reasonably tight seal, so he can’t smell the food inside and loses interest quickly.
The set up was fast and easy and the feeder “read” his 15-year-old chip in about 2 seconds once he was willing to put his head far enough into the feeder for the sensor to pick it up. The lid mechanism is virtually silent too, which is a plus.
I’ve only had the unit for 4 days, so I can’t speak to the long-term durability, but it seems well made. My only real complaints are the price (excessive for a pet feeder) and the fact that there is no option to plug it in and doesn’t come with a rechargeable battery pack, which should be a standard option in 2023, especially for what this feeder costs.
Cathy –
We have 2 cats. One is a grazer and other one eats everything in site.
The cat got used to the opening and closing of lid in less than 24 hrs. That was awesome.
Needed to be able to not need to get up in middle of night to feed the one cat.
Also tjis helps with food available all day also.
As long as the auto lid keeps working it is a great product.
David R. Rich –
These are everything they promise. We have a cat who likes the kitten food and a kitten who likes the cat food, as well as two dogs who will eat any food any time, and two of these solved that immediately. Both cats took to them with no fuss; I did not have to go through the training steps to get them used to the movement. The kitten was a bit spooked the first time it opened but came right back; the cat had her head in the bowl before I’d even put treats in it, and they’ve both been eating happily since. The bowls have gaskets that seal nicely to the cover when it’s closed, so I feel ok about putting a day’s worth of dry food in there and letting them graze as they wish. It would probably do OK with wet food, but my cats won’t eat it because they’re little weirdos whose only mission is chaos and anarchy. So far, the dogs haven’t been able to figure out a way around the new defenses. They look nice, don’t take up too much space, and work as advertised. They’re easy to set up, and depending on the willingness of the cat, pretty zero effort to switch to. Only things I don’t love are the price (It’s a lot for what it is) and that they’re battery power only (I’d prefer a plug plus battery backup), which admittedly does make them work everywhere and look very clean, but I can’t yet comment on the battery life.
They include a second, divided bowl, a silicone mat for the ramp at the front, and an RFID collar tag in case your cat isn’t microchipped. Mine are, but it’s worth mentioning that the tag is quite small and light compared to the tags sold with other feeders; I wouldn’t feel too badly about putting this one on my cat’s collars if needed. Everything is attractive, well made, and easy to operate and clean.
Abraham –
Si tienes un gato muy insistente y bestia puede abrir el comedero.
jake –
Was shocked how easy it was to add a pet. They work well (purchased 2) and keep my cats eating their specific food. 0 issues.
Willow –
Muito bom
Uma pergunta
Eu preciso da na fiscal desse produto e não recebi, poderiam me enviar