To help your pet get used to the feeder, the manufacturer has equipped the unit with a special "Training" mode.
It's a bit fiddly to clean.
It's an ultra-sophisticated feeder that works with microchips or RFID collar tags. It's the best automatic pet feeder for families with multiple pets where you want the right food to be consumed by the right pet.
Wet & Dry
2 x 400 ml
Digital controls with timer and training function
Low battery indicator, Up to 32 pet identities memory, Colourful bowls and mats are available
4 x C batteries (not included)
Single bowl, Split bowl, Mat, RFID collar tag
3 years
The five trays for dry and moist food are fairly capacious. And in order to help you keep food fresh for as long as possible, the set includes 2 ice packs.
The instructions might seem a little tricky.
The Pet Mate C500 feeder is very durable and capacious. It has a digital timer and can work for different situations either when you’re away from home or just want to serve timed, controlled portions for your pet.
Wet & Dry
5 x 330 ml
Digital timer with LCD display
May be fastened to a wooden board for extra stability
3 x AA batteries (not included)
Feeder, 2 x ice packs
3 years
This feeder allows you not only to set the meal times but also to record a voice message inviting your pet to eat.
Mechanical noises may annoy you at first.
The Bunty 6-day meal feeder is affordable, straightforward, yet effective. 6 meals will be quite enough to keep your baby fed if you even go away for a couple of days.
Wet & Dry
6 x 175 ml
Digital timer with LCD display
Low battery indicator, Built-in mic
4 x C batteries (not included)
Feeder only
30 days
The specially-designed feed nozzle locks at the end after releasing, thus protecting pet food and keeping it fresh.
It's suitable for dry food only.
The Cat Mate C3000 is a great helper for busy pet owners. Being quite large, it's suitable for cats and small dogs alike. It can serve up to 3 customised meals a day.
Dry
1 x 3000 g
Digital timer with LCD display
May be fastened to a wooden board for extra stability
4 x C batteries (not included)
Bowl
3 years
The feeder has two large trays that have two timers, thus, they can be programmed separately (for up to 48 hours ahead).
It has a rather large footprint.
The Trixie automatic feeder will be useful for those people who don’t leave their pets for too long or need a feeder just in case. It holds quite a lot of pet food and can be programmed for up to two days.
Wet & Dry
2 x 300 ml
Mechanical timer
Non-slip rubber feet
2 x AA batteries (not included)
Feeder, 2 x ice packs
30 days
Completely New Way to Feed Your Pets
The SureFeed company offers you a completely new way of feeding your pets - the Microchip Pet Feeder. This is an innovative product that works with veterinary implanted microchips or RFID collar tags only. The principle of operation is as follows - the feeder opens the lid once it detects that a registered pet is approaching. The unit works with one microchip to ensure that unauthorized pets won’t be able to reach the food. This design solution is especially useful for multi-pet households where you want the right food to be consumed by the right pet. For example, you can buy a couple of these feeders and fill them differently according to your pets’ needs and health conditions. This way, all your pets will be happily fed.
As soon as your pet get the meal, the lid of the feeder will close onto a sealed bowl to keep food fresher for longer. The lid provides a very tight seal, so neither unwanted paws nor small baby’s hands will be able to steal the kibble. By the way, the feeder can hold both dry and wet food, which is a plus, especially if your pet has to stick to some special diet.
A Few Words About Design
The feeder has an unobtrusive design with a grey bowl, a split grey bowl, and a grey mat. However, if you want to liven up your room a bit, you can purchase additional bowls and mats in green, pink, and blue separately. As for the heart of the feeder, it has a built-in microcomputer that can store up to 72 pet microchips in memory. The fuel for that microcomputer is 4 x C cell batteries that should be purchased additionally. One set of batteries is enough for approximately 6 months of daily use. Overall, we see no reason to dislike this battery-operated feeder. It’s an amazing choice to prevent greedy pets from stealing food and becoming overweight. So if you wish to provide your beloved pets with free access to their own food whenever they want, the Microchip Pet Feeder is your best choice.
Additional Info
| Last updated price | £233.99 |
| Stock | In stock |
| ASIN | B00O0UIPTY |
The Best Cat Mate
Looking for a simple solution to help your cat follow a balanced diet when you’re away? The CAT MATE C500 can work a miracle. It’s an automatic pet feeder that can serve food at your pet’s normal meal times - throughout a day or over the weekend as needed. It has 5 food tray compartments (one is always open) that move like a carousel when it’s time to feed your pet. This way, you can fill each tray with a needed amount of food. For example, you can add a small meal for a night feast, a larger portion for morning hours, a small meal as a lunch, and a generous serving right before you're back from work. The unit features an easy-to-use digital timer allowing you to set up meal times individually. Once set, all pre-programmed feeds will be visible on the LCD display. It’s super easy to set up and make changes to timings.
Design Peculiarities
The good news is that the feeder is suitable for both wet and dry foods. Thanks to the enclosed design, you can be sure that the wet food won't get stale on top like it often happens if it's sitting out in a dish for hours. Moreover, Pet Mate ups the ante by offering twin ice packs for the feeder. So, if you want to keep wet pet food as fresh as possible for as long as possible, you can add ice beneath the food tray. By the way, each chamber can hold 330g of food, which would be more than enough for two cats or a small pup. The only slight gripe with this feeder is that it might seem rather wobbly for vigorous pets. However, the stability problem might be solved by fastening the feeder to a wooden board. Other than that, it has no design flaws. The lid is completely paw-proof, so your cat won’t be able to get into it. For your convenience, the lid, as well as the bowl, is detachable and dishwasher-proof.
Additional Info
| Last updated price | £43.99 |
| Stock | In stock |
| ASIN | B01AUYLVU8 |
Great Value
If you’re looking for a decent food dispenser that won’t cost you a fortune but will provide your lovely baby with fresh food, the Bunty automatic 6-day pet feeder might be the perfect pick for you. It’s a rotatable feeder that enables you to program 6 different feeding times. As you’ve probably guessed, it has 6 separate chambers with 175-ml capacity each. Though the manufacturer claims that this capacity would be enough even for large breeds of dogs, we believe it will work best for small and medium dogs only. Naturally, 175ml of food will be sufficient for cats of any breed.
As far as design is concerned, the feeder holds everything in 6 different trays and opens them one by one at a fixed time. You can fill trays with both dry and wet food and have a peace of mind knowing that even wet food won't get hard on top thanks to the tight lid design.
Fresh Design
Although this automatic food dispenser costs just a fraction of other big names, it’s very sturdily built. The casing is made of strong plastic material and is available in dark blue and green as well as vibrant pink and light blue to liven up your room a bit. The only slight flaw with the design is that the unit makes a rather loud sound when it rotates the tray carousel. So, if you have a very sensitive cat, she might be terrified of the noise at first. But once she gets used to that noise, many issues will be solved. For instance, if your kitty has a habit of waking you up at night asking for food, the Bounty auto dispenser will be a blessing in disguise for you. Just program it beforehand and your pet will see it as the food source instead of you. Also, this dispenser will be particularly useful for those who are planning a weekend get-away without their pets. 6 meals will be quite enough to keep your baby fed if you go away for a couple of days.
Additional Info
| Last updated price | $0.00 |
| Stock | May be out of stock |
| ASIN | B017DJIZOS |
The Best Quality Starts with the Best Design
Pet Mate is the leading UK manufacturer of innovative pets products that suit all needs, all breeds, and all budgets. The Pet Mate's philosophy is that “the best quality starts with the best design”, so all their products are thoughtfully engineered from superior materials though they come at very competitive price tags. Plus, the Pet Mate's other strength is very responsive customer helpline staff that can always answer your questions and solve any problems that might arise. However, we doubt whether you face some issues since all their product are backed by a generous 3-year warranty. And this feeder is no exception.
Multiple Options to Choose From
The C3000 is a top-tier product that can serve up to 3 customised meals a day. The feeder is compatible with all popular dry cat and dog foods (small breeds). The feed mechanism along with a fairly wide feeding nozzle can accurately release portions from 10 grams and up. You can set the amount of food and mealtime using a control panel with a clear LCD display and push buttons. As a nice touch, the manufacturer offers you a quick start online video guide to help you familiarise yourself with the operation.
Additional Info
| Last updated price | £56.95 |
| Stock | In stock |
| ASIN | B004BLVFSK |
For Two Ears, For Two Meals
If you’re not going to leave your home for longer than one or two days and see no reason to pay for bulky feeders, take a closer look at the Trixie Tx2 Automatic Food Dispenser. This model has just 2 feeding bowls for two meals. Each compartment can hold up to 1.3 cups of wet or dry food that is much larger compared to many other feeders on the market, which makes it a good choice for owners of large dogs as well.
If you feed your Fido only with fresh and natural food, you’ll like the fact that each chamber can hold up to 450 grams of wet food. And it will hold it fresh! The thing is that the package includes an ice pack which can be placed beneath the trays to keep the food cool and fresh for quite a long while.
How to Program It?
This Trixie feeder has a bit different principle of operation. Unlike dispenser-type devices, it simply opens the lid at any time up to 48 hours ahead. After that, the lid remains open. What is notable, each tray is controlled by its own timer which can be set separately. As a minor gripe, you can’t set the exact time - just requested interval. For example, if you’re setting a timer at 9 am and want you pet to be fed at 7 pm, you should enter 10. The maximum interval makes 48 hours.
For proper operation, avoid placing the unit next to a wall. Otherwise, the lid might not open completely and your pet won’t get access to the food consequently. Also, it’s recommended to place the feeder in a cool, shady place.
The last but not the least, it's recommended to give the feeder a few trial runs before leaving your little pet with it alone. By trying it out once or twice, you'll get to learn how it works and relax knowing that everything works correctly, your pet is not afraid of the feeder, and you have a clever contraption that will take care of your pet when you're away.
If you do everything correctly, you can expect the feeder to work well for many years to come. All in all, it’s a good option for those pet owners who don’t leave their pets for too long or need a feeder just in case.
Additional Info
| Last updated price | £26.31 |
| Stock | In stock |
| ASIN | B00106AP12 |
What Is an Automatic Pet Feeder?
Like any pet owner, you probably care a lot about the health of your furry friend and strive to balance his or her diet. But what to do if you stuck in traffic or need to stay late at work? Or probably you even need to take a short break away from home without your pup? An automatic pet feeder is a life saver. It can provide you with an easy way to feed your pets when you just can't be there to feed them by yourself. In other words, it can serve timed, controlled portions for your pet when you're not home. Also, it can double as a "nutritionist" for dogs with some digestive disorders - since a pet feeder can be pre-programmed to dispense the right amount of kibble according to your pet's age, weight, and activity level, it can help your pets lose some weight. Moreover, some units have a special slow feed option that releases pet food at a slow pace, which is especially useful for fast eaters prone to gulping and vomiting. Automatic feeders can also provide a bit of motivation or stimulation for pets left home alone - many models record and then playback messages for your pups (though, you can also use a dog camera for that purpose). As you see, the possibilities of feeders are almost endless. So, keep on reading and discover more.
What Features to Compare
Type
There are two basic types of automatic feeders with many variations - gravity pet feeders and electronic pet feeders. The first option is less sophisticated yet much cheaper. As your dog eats, it simply dispenses food from the hopper into the bowl, using gravity. These feeders just replenish what has been eaten, and once the bowl is full, they stop releasing food. They are pretty straightforward and require no mess with wires and pre-programming. However, the flipside to this is that pets get the unrestricted access to food, which might lead to overeating. So, if your pet has some health conditions like obesity, it's definitely not your choice.
Electronic pet feeders are real game changers. They allow you to totally control how much and when your Fido eats. You can schedule feeding times and set portion sizes using a control panel or your smartphone. The smartest models have special apps for phones, allowing you to change settings when you wish using your personal phone. They even allow you to feed on demand when you're far away from home. And once your furry friend is happily fed, you'll get a notification.
Electronic pet feeders are perfect for weight control or handling some health conditions like hypoglycemia, pancreatitis, or diabetes. They help your pets eat a balanced diet and promote easy digestion accordingly. The major flaw in them is their price. Reliable, good-quality electronic feeder cost much more than gravity feeders.
Size
That's the case when the size matters. A typical mistake many pet owners make when selecting an automatic feeder is not thinking about the size of their pet’s food. It's really important to know what type of food your pet eats and what type of kibble the feeder can accommodate. Some models can handle different sizes of kibble, and some feeders can even hold semi-moist food. As for the main chamber, you should choose its size depending on your pet's breed and age. It would be nice if a feeder could hold a day's worth of food at least.
Security
Don't skimp on a feeder and choose high-quality, air-tight, and secure models made of pet-safe materials. Poorly-constructed feeders might let your curious Fido break through and access food, especially if he or she is a heavy chewer. Look for secure locking systems to keep out the curious paws. Also, don't neglect the bowl's design. The feeding dish should be made of non-toxic and sturdy materials to hold up to heavy chewing. Stainless steel would be perfect. It's a very durable, rust-resistant, and hygienic material.
If you're choosing an electronic pet feeder, another thing to consider is the backup battery availability. Make sure that the feeder has a backup battery that will provide power in case of a power outage. This way, you'll be sure that your pet is always fed no matter the circumstances.
Extras
Sophisticated models have quite a lot to offer. For example, they allow you to pre-record messages for your pet to call him for breakfast or dinner. Some feeders can even calculate the right amount of food for your very pet, while others can even re-order food once it runs low. Other extras might include additional ice packs and so on.
Did you know?
Cleaning Pet Supplies Is Essential
Don’t forget to wash your pet’s food and water bowl timely. Veterinarians recommend cleaning bowls with dish soap on a daily basis, since dirty bowls might negatively affect your pet's health. The bacteria buildup can cause different illnesses from a mild upset stomach to diarrhoea. And rehydration is especially critical for our small friends.
Fresh Food Is Always Better
Just like people, pets feel the difference when they eat meals made from fresh ingredients. They also absorb more nutrients from gently processed food. So, try to feed your pets with “real” meals as frequently as possible and turn to kibble only when you’re going out. Choose dry food that doesn’t go through extreme processing and contains plenty of vitamins and minerals. You can find premium dog food here.
Remember that some foods are prohibited for pups. Stay clear of chocolate, onion, grapes, macadamia nuts, and bones! Despite popular belief, bones are not for dogs! They can puncture your pup's intestinal tract or even cause pets to choke.
Signs Of a Food Allergy
If you’re not sure whether your pet has a food allergy, check out these signs:
Excessive flatulence;
Diarrhoea or loose stools;
Hair loss and bald patches;
Itchiness;
Skin rash and irritation;
Chronic licking, biting, or chewing;
Vomiting;
Frequent ear infections.
If you notice at least a couple of these symptoms, we recommend you to visit your veterinarian to determine if they might be caused by food allergy. Just like people, some pets can’t tolerate grains and gluten, as well as some other pet food ingredients. So, it’s better to determine what really to blame. Always stay in touch with your vet and consult him or her if you want to make some changes in the diet.
Find the Optimal Portion
Numerous studies have shown that proper weight can add up to 20% to the life of your pet. So, knowing how much food your pet needs is crucial if you want more time with him/her.
Most pet food brands just give a range based on your pet's current weight. But your dog's age, breed, and activity level also matter. Consult your vet or consult one of the aforementioned smart apps to figure out your pet's unique caloric requirements.
Always Keep Your Pet Hydrated
This is especially true for dogs. On average, they need somewhere between a half and a full ounce of water per each pound of their body weight daily. But if your Fido is overly active or you live in a hot climate, even more.