After a year of quarantining with my three cats in a small New York City apartment, one thing's for sure: No matter how many times I tell them they've had all the vet-approved food I can give, every few hours they'll let me know, very, very loudly, that they want more. When it comes to food, cats don't listen to reason (when it comes to most things, actually), so if you're also tired of daily pestering, an automatic cat feeder is the answer.
There are quite a few options out there, but for your money, it doesn't get better than Amazon's top-ranked Petlibro Automatic Cat Feeder. The feeder's won close to 5,000 five-star ratings from shoppers, and almost 3,000 people have left positive reviews for the easy system.
If you're not familiar with automatic feeders, they're a mixed bag. Some have you manually pre-portion out meals they serve up, but the Petlibro opts for an easier method — you input how many portions your pet will get up for each feeding, and set the different times accordingly. The feeder is a "must have" for people who go on trips, one person writes, and another says there's no need to worry about crafty cats busting through to the four-pound food reserve, since it requires two hands to press on both sides to open.
Buy It! Petlibro Automatic Cat Feeder, $65.99; amazon.com
The brand thought of everything with this gadget. It holds enough food for 25 days of cat feedings and 10 days for dogs, and since it can both be plugged in and run on batteries, you don't have to worry about what happens if you unexpectedly lose power. Best of all, you can add a comforting personal touch with a 10-second recorded meal time message for your buddy, so they keep on associating you with the food source — aka, no more frosty welcomes after long vacations. The bowl is detachable for easy cleaning (you can even set it up with your cat's favorite dish), and when the food supply gets low, the feeder will let you know.
According to shoppers, the investment is an unending relief. "I don't need to find someone to come by and make sure they're being taken care of now. This awesome device takes care of their feedings perfectly," one person says. Confronted with a cat who demanded breakfast at 6:15 every morning, another person writes that a few scheduled portions solved the problem. "No more meowing in the morning, AND no more puking up breakfast because she inhaled it! A double-win for me."
It's hugely helpful for overweight and binge-eating cats, shoppers say, especially because they then stop hounding you for more food. They know when they're getting fed, and don't look to you as the reason they're not. "I purchased these auto feeders because one of our cats has started being SO annoying," a reviewer who says it's "worth the cash and then some" explains. "He associated me so strongly with food that if I got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom or get a glass of water and it was within two hours of breakfast time, he would scream at me to be fed! When I got home from work, it was 20 minutes of screaming."
"Being fed more frequently and smaller portions has helped immensely with the gulping of his food," they continue. "He no longer scarfs it all down at once, but rather eats a little and sometimes even leaves food in the bowl for more than an hour, which NEVER happened before. No midnight wake-ups, no screaming to be fed when I walk in the door."
One last reviewer says the Petlibro is a "lifesaver" for helping their cat lose weight, dubbing it the "best purchase ever to keep them healthy." If you're newly vaccinated and planning on taking a trip anytime soon or just need to redirect your cat's impatience, the Petlibro's rewards are permanent. Get it for $65.99 on Amazon.
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