PetSafe Automatic Cat Feeder - Healthy Pet Simply Feed - Automatic Pet Feeder for Cats & Dogs - Timed Pet Feeder with Programmable Portion Control - Holds 24 Cups of Dry or Semi-Moist Dog or Cat Food

I read tons of reviews. But didnt want to buy 3 devices. Found a 3 way splitter (mentioned in other reviews). saved my sanity and made us get this auto dispenser. I'm due with my first in July. I cant free feed my cats because they will get fat (they never used to bother us for food when we free fed them-sigh). They have lost a combined 4 lbs since we started scheduling thier foods & are no longer obese!! But this scheduling came with them bombarding us in the am. Cant have that with the baby coming! So I took a chance on an open box like new with slight scratches. I'm very pleased to say even the open boxed device works! I got it a day or 2 before my splitter and adapter, so I used that time to clean and air dry. Install took maybe 12 minutes? Make sure all items/components are tight, secure, & dry! The programming was prob the most difficult, but its so worth it for the benefits! Now it find it fairly easy! It would be nice if the screen had a blue back light or something so it's easier to see. Think grey screen with black letters; that's what this display is like. When programmed and ready, it shows the buttons are locked and the next time for feeding! I've heard some say they had issues. I did buy the adapter separately. I've since had 2 power outages and all I have to do is set the time and then set to custom (vs the preprogrammed cat or dog) and it remembers the feeding schedule without me having to reschedule the feedings! Very thankful for that lil feature since power outages are very common in the summer here! You will have to force feedings a couple times because the conveyor doesnt have food on it! At first I was like wth! But after doing a couple force feedings, it worked perfectly. TIP: dont use slow feed unless you have larger portions. Since you can schedule up to 12 feedings with 1/8c as your lowest, I just do multiple 1/4c feedings. The smaller amounts just take way too long to dispense on slow feed! We use blue buffalo cat kibbles and have no issues with jamming. It took about 2 months for my cats to correlate the feeder with feeding rather than us making it magically happen. They have now completely stopped tormenting me in the mornings for food! I give them wet food at night so it's just for morning breakfast and afternoon snack! I will say we have messes because I cant secure the bowls and the cats drag the bowls, but honestly the cats love the hunt... they go nuts. Make sure to read the cleaning recommendations! Def dont want to ruin your new life saver! My cats are brutes! They even tried to bite the lid off. They haven't been able to open it no matter how hard they try. I do see that some say it could be tipped over. Ours is on the floor. They would have to use some serious skill to knock it over with full food for sure. Since I have the splitter, my cats cant stick their paws up for treats. The only negative I have is that now my cats associate the sound to cereal pouring into a bowl, and they run in all excited and confused lmao

After having had this feeder for a full year, I felt it was time to write a review, and I have to say, this thing changed our lives. Before this feeder, our 2 cats would wake us up in the middle of the night to beg for food. Inevitably one of us would relent and get up, just so we could get some rest. We were tired, cranky, and we knew something had to change. I picked this particular feeder because of the optional separate splitter attachment. I was a little nervous about some of the negative reviews, but after a full year of use, I'm glad I ignored those and bought this anyways. We needed something that would dispense food to both cats and let us sleep in peace. Admittedly, set up was a little bit tricky, you HAVE to read the instructions fully and carefully. But once we had it set to the right times and amounts, we were golden. The splitter attachment was a bit tough to get right, but after some fiddling, we got it in correctly. The splitter sits in such a way that when you get it right, you know it's right, because if how it fits together. This was helpful, as we weren't afraid it would fall out. It did take some time working with our cats to get them used to the feeder, finding the right bowls was tricky. The feeder comes with one gigantic bowl, but this was way too big for our needs. We ended up swapping out for some high sided ramakens. This allowed the kibble to make it into the bowl without popping out. Our boys do have to dig around a bit to get kibble out of the edge of the bowl, but this is actually an added benefit as it slows down their eating. The big thing we were worried about with an auto feeder was how secure it was. Our cats are Houdini's who can get into anything. We have put child locks on all the cabinets to keep them out. But they have never been able to crack into this feeder. It's secure, and fairly heavy, so they can't knock it over. We haven't had a single incident of them getting inside it. I do need to warn you though, our smarter cat has figured out if he jumps on top of it from the counter, sometimes he can knock out 1 or 2 pieces of kibble, but it's very minimal. I do recommend if you buy this feeder to also get the adapter. We keep batteries in ours for backup, but constantly replacing them would be an expensive hassle. Get the adapter, yea it kinda sucks its sold separately, but we found it's completely worth it. Most of the negative reviews I have read about this feeder seem to be related to set up, but we found them to be baseless once we read the instructions thoroughly and played around with it a bit. The only negative thing I have to say about it is that the internal clock is a bit slow, and we noticed after a few weeks it was off by several minutes. We have gotten in the habit of resetting the clock every now and then to get it back on track. Not a big deal. This feeder has been a godsend. We are completely happy with it. If you're thinking of getting an auto feeder I cant recommend this enough. You need some patience at the start with set up and getting your furry family members used to using it, but after the initial hurdle, our experience is that it works like a dream. We can finally sleep through the night, no one has to get up, kitties get the food they want and everyone is happy. One year later, it still works perfectly and we are finally resting easy.

Top line: Extremely reliable and feature-rich feeder with somewhat confusing controls Good: Some really nice options available on this timed feeder. You can set a wide variety of schedules, control the size of difference servings, and even have food distributed slowly into a few mini feedings if your cat (like mine) is prone to eating too quickly and regurgitating dinner back up 5 minutes later. Batteries last a long time--I changed mine recently for the first time after two years just to make sure they didn't go out while I was on vacation. This is also the first feeder that my sneaky cat has not figured out a way to stick his paw up the chute to get lunch a little early (depriving his sister of her portion). Big props for that, PetSafe. Bad: Programming this feeder is not for the impatient. There is nothing intuitive at all about the button functions or how they relate to one another. Until you get VERY familiar with operations, you are required to have the manual on hand to do things like set a schedule, lock/unlock, skip to next feeding immediately, etc. Probably the most annoying feature of this feeder is if you neglect to fill it before it runs out of food, you have to not just refill, but cycle the conveyor belt-like feeding system through several rotations manually to restock each belt compartment with food. Otherwise your kitties will be without food for several cycles while the belt refills. Manually cycling through is a bit of a pain, since you can only use the "skip to next feeding" feature once between feeding cycles. After a bit of research, I figured out a passable workaround to reset the feeding schedule and reenable the skip feature (that takes a mere 5 button presses, LOL). Your best strategy is to just set a calendar reminder to top off the machine every week or two based on your family size. Other: Bowl is okay, but loud (with hard food, think metal BBs falling on a tin roof). If you are going to have it go off all hours, be sure to consider the noise level or replacing the bowl.

First, we purchased an auto feeder to allow us to maintain the 3x per day feeding (better for digestion etc) and not be tied to be home or interrupt the pup's feeding routine. We initially left the unit operating all the time, not just when we are not home, at the onset so our dog will grow accustomed to the unit. It makes a whiney geary noise when it operates. Not obnoxious by any means but, a new noise nonetheless, so best to acclimate. We have since kept the unit in service all the time. Frees us up to focus on work. This is the second auto feeder we purchased. The first was completely app controlled, requiring not only wifi but internet access. There were no controls on the unit itself. That returned we purchased this unit and this is the right feeder for the job. The best part is the conveyor feed. We have a larger dog so I was concerned with the rotary conveyance mechanisms on other devices. I selected this one based on the local controls and conveyor feeder. The controls seem a bit fiddly at first. But, following the instructions and a bit of trial and error, brought me around to how to get what I wanted. When I set up the unit, I tested the serving size compared to what we use. For this I used the on-demand feeding control. The trick is you have to jump in and out of the programming mode to keep initiating an on-demand cycle. That accomplished I was able to tune the serving by increasing the programmed serving size with trial and error until I got it right. I believe it is due to the kibble size. No surprise there, as the conveyor operates on moving volume, not weight. Smaller kibble will probably end up closer to the programmed serving size. So, be sure to test the serving size. I have periodically checked the serving size dispensed and it has been spot on each time I checked. A negative comment I noted left about this unit was someone winged about the unit not dispensing food immediately. Well, if one reads the instructions, they indicate the need to pre-charge the conveyor. If you test the serving size, as you should, the conveyor is pre-charged and ready to go. I initially put only a day's serving in the hopper, concerned the mech may empty the hopper by mistake. The fact that the kibble is dispensed via an inclined conveyor, the risk of the hopper draining from gravity is all but impossible. Not so with other gravity fed units so, another good design point here. Once tweaked to the serving size, setting to three feedings a day, the unit has worked reliably. I have come to trust the unit and add fill the hopper. This unit allows you to completely disassemble the food contact parts for cleaning. Well thought out disassembly and re-asembly guides. Keep the instructions for a reminder of the set-up and assembly. We are using the batteries for now. They say they are good for a year. Keeps from cluttering up the counter and monopolizing an outlet with another adapter. We have taught our furry friend how to extract treats from puzzles so, we were concerned she would see this as just another puzzle to work-out if we left the unit on the floor. Therefore, we have the unit on a counter above an elevated food bowl. No attempts so far to pull the unit off and raid the contents. I think the consistency in feeding time keeps this tendency at bay. I have fitted a fabric chute down to the bowl using the unit's bowl holding ring. Keeps the kibble from bouncing out of the bowl below and onto the floor- mostly. Our furry wee beastie hears the feeder operating, whining gery noise and all, and she's off like a shot-Pavlov's effect at its best. I highly recommend this unit.

I gave up free-feeding years ago because my eldest senior cat has problems with scarfing his food and vomiting (sometimes straight into the bowl, yuck.) I have even tried various manual feeders, like a UFO shaped one with multiple holes that made him "work" for his food as well as the one with the tubes, but a) those still gave him 24/7 access to food even if it slowed him down a little and b) it didn't really slow him down enough to prevent the vomiting! Also, while my younger playful one liked the "challenge" feeders and would use them anytime, if humans were present, my older lazier cat would cry and act like we were starving him even though the full feeder was right there. Nuts, right?! So, for a while I lived with family and we coped with this issue by all of us doling out small amounts of food to them only when they were hungry. There was almost always someone home so this was easy to deal with. However, I recently moved back out on my own and I decided that couldn't leave them entirely without food while I work my 8 hour shift. It just seemed like it made them crazy and more food-driven when I was home. Enter this feeder. While I was leery of spending this kind of money on a cat feeder, I was inspired by Lynn's review that said it made her cat less anxious. I ADORE my precious sweet cats but their starvation anxiety was driving me bonkers (and making MY anxiety go through the roof). Also, the review by Karen that mentioned using a tray vs. the bowl seemed genius because I knew there was no way my pushy eldest was going to let the other one share a bowl with him, no matter how big. Also my youngest hates deep bowls because he's a bit prissy about his giant whiskers getting stressed. So, I ordered this machine, bought my D batteries and a nice roomy cookie sheet from the store, and hoped it was worth it. Well, after a few days of ownership, the feeder is successfully dosing out 1/8 cup of kibble every few hours, and I'm already noticing some amazing things: my cats DO seem less anxious. My eldest one is even leaving part of the serving of food behind for the younger one to eat or for him to snack on later. He hasn't vomited once since I set it up, either. Knock on wood. It's also eliminated the need for me to stumble out of bed at 5am to dole out a snack for them, which is utterly priceless. I just set one of the timers for 5am! Also, the cookie sheet is working great. When the food falls on the metal it makes a nice clatter and the cats come running. It's enough room for both of them to eat at the same time. It's also wide enough that my little guy can still scoop up his food and it doesn't stress his whiskers. Oh, and since the cookie sheet is metal I can clean it easily to avoid cat acne. Highly recommend. I have to say, it took me a few minutes to program, and I've still been tweaking the timing as we use it, but so far I'm really impressed and excited by this little machine. I think it will make cat ownership even more enjoyable for me, and hopefully make my cats healthier (emotionally and physically.) I will update with any additional comments after owning it a bit longer!

This thing is so wonderful. Easy to set up. Relatively easy to program (if you can follow directions.) Holds enough kibble for my 90lb Rottie for about 2.5 days. So I don't have to refill it every day. I use the automatic feeder as my alarm clock; the sound of the kibble hitting the metal dish at 6:30am wakes me and the dog. I used it both indoors and outdoors (on a covered porch) for the past year. No issues. I purchased this automatic feeder about one year and one month ago, and just now had to change out the batteries for the first time. So the battery life is great. Sadly (for me), I had the four daily feedings for my dog fine-tuned but not written down or memorized, so when I changed out the batteries today I had to re-program the feedings because the machine didn't retain that info. Oh wells... Hope I got it right-ish. Time will tell if he starts getting chunky.

Our cat both gorges when we put food down, and whines in the middle of the night for food, so this seemed like a good idea. Mechanically, this product is a reasonable implementation (after you get through the initial set up), with it's conveyor belt, large hopper, and retained bowl. THE problem with this particular product is the terrible user interface. It is SO bad that they actually printed a separate decoder on the box to try to explain what the buttons do - placed it inside the flap so that you wouldn't see it until after you opened it. Since the operation of the buttons is modal though (they do different things at different times), this really doesn't even help... If you don't have the manual on hand, you will not be able to operate or set it up. There is a key lock that locks you out, and no mention on the panel how to turn it off, so even the "pause" and "feed now" features don't work, unless you remember the special press to unlock it. There are even modes of operation where if you hit the wrong button, you have to PULL OUT THE BATTERIES to reset it to start over. I am an engineer and have designed lots of products, and written lots of software, and I have to say this is about the WORST user interface ever. The designers of this should have sent one to their mother - and not been allowed to help her set it up. In fact, they should be required to do that, for all the pain that they have caused users... With 5 buttons and an LCD, this could have been much easier to use, with some level of "discoverability" to it. * A simple text display in a few languages would have made for a much easier interface, and allowed much more useful presentation, or at least adding a few icons on the LCD that display a "modality" - set up, run, etc. Think printer set up - not easy, but you don't need a manual. *It should show the current time on the display - and periodically flash a "feeding" icon, with the time and amount of next feeding. Showing "8:00" constantly doesn't convince me that it's doing anything. * It would be nice if the lid to the hopper were more transparent, or if it could sense when the hopper was running low and indicate on LCD, without having to remove the lid (sensing current on conveyor motor, weight of the hopper, perhaps a proximity sensor would be able to sense kibbles, etc), That said, after significant gnashing of teeth, and dialing the values in (1/4 cup was way too much, and 1/8 cup not enough, etc), it does what it should and feeds the cat. We haven't gone on a weekend away yet, but it should solve those issues.

This is a very nice automatic feeder - perhaps the best, most flexible I've seen. The conveyor system is a great idea, and has been running flawlessly for about a week. Other feeders will jam, if you don't fill the little bowls just right, but the conveyor system let's you just fill one big vault of food, and then you can program: (1) up to 12 feeding times per day (wow!); (2) varying portion sizes, for each feeding (wow, wow!). The improvement: A warning about stronger dogs should come with this. I'm adding a video of the "First Day" of my Standard Dachshund "Oliver" with the feeder. Have a look. I left this unattended, with a pretty heavy brick on it, outside with him all day. After he enjoyed his first meal, he would spend the entire day thinking, and plotting on "how can I get more food out of this?" and it's quite amusing to watch him! The video is an entire 12+ hour period. The Good: It feeds flawlessly. The feeder did not give up its cache of food! The lid stayed in place, although he chewed around the entire edge. The Bad (Improvements): (1) A little better, maybe harder plastic or even metal construction would make this a better feeder for a WIDER Variety of small dogs that can be strong and inquisitive, or chewers. (2) An "anchoring" system would highly improve this feeder! (3) A nice re-chargeable battery system would be better (e.g. like a B&D handheld vacuum, or even lawnmower sized, that would last for a week or two). (New Features) (4) Make a "Cover" that fits it perfectly, to make it impervious to rain. (probably an option) (5) Make a "Double Feeder" going in opposite directions, where the food is dispensed simultaneously, so 2 animals can eat at the same time. The Ugly (Poor Execution): The attached feeding bowl is very flimsy (can be dented with bare hands, or even a dog paw), and the plastic holder broke when it was knocked down by my dog. This should be re-thought - maybe allow for the owner to provide a bowl within certain tolerances. The End of the Story: After the dog dragged it about, I decided to get crafty and put it up on a table. It took me a few days to figure this out, and I've attached some photos of my "system". I think this will work for two dogs (aggressive eaters), once I get my second feeder and mount it on the other side of the table. I attached a "chute" using standard drainage piping, and tied the feeder down in case the dogs try to shake the table. Sending the food into a standard "feeding bin" keeps it from bouncing around, and also it's dry if raining. Update, March 2021: These have been working 100% since I put them on the table! I need 2 more now, only so that I can alternate the feedings and extend the time between refilling them. Still recommend this product, and looks from sales like it's really taken off.