How to Choose the Best Automatic Cat Feeder + 5 Top Models for 2018
Automatic cat feeders are a must for any cat owner. They help make sure that your cat gets fed on time, every time, even if you're not at home.
In this post, we share with you the benefits of owning an automatic cat feeder, how to choose right cat feeder, and even give you our top picks for the best automatic cat feeders for 2018.
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Rating | Product Name | Our Rating | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
96
/100
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94
/100
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88
/100
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92
/100
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96
/100
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** Below, you'll find our more detailed reviews, but you can click links above to see the current prices or read customer's reviews on Amazon.
4 Reasons To Buy An Automatic Cat Feeder
1. Manage your cat’s weight
This is, perhaps, the most important reason to get an automatic cat feeder. Carolyn McDaniel, VMD of Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine says that 50% of cats that today are either overweight or obese, making this a severe health concern for us cat owners to address.
Overeating is one of the causes of feline obesity. In other words, eating more food than what they can burn. The most common way this happens is when you leave their dish full of food before you leave for work or go on vacation.
Just like with humans, feline obesity can lead to a host of different health problems like diabetes, liver disease, arthritis, and a decreased lifespan.
Automatic cat feeders can efficiently help you prevent your cat from developing feline obesity. The best automatic cat feeders allow you to not only pre-set when food will be dispensed for your cat but also how much food can he or she eat.
2. You get enough rest
Cats associate their owners with food. Each time that they’re hungry, they go directly to their owners, and let them know it’s time to eat, even if it’s 5:00 AM!
Buying an automatic cat feeder helps train your cat to disassociate you with their food since they’ll learn to go to the feeder for food instead. That way, your cat gets fed on time, and you can get enough sleep every day.
3. Keep a regular feeding schedule
Another benefit of buying an automatic cat feeder is that it can train your cat to only eat at certain times of the day.
We all live hectic lives: overtime at work, business trips, parent-teacher conferences at schools, or having a night out with friends. All these can quickly prevent us from getting home in time to feed our cats.
Automatic cat feeders come with timers that you can set so that it dispenses the right amount of food to your cat on time. That way, you’re able to train your cat to keep a fixed feeding schedule.
4. Prevent “food fights” among your pets
Some of the best automatic cat feeders come with a microchip-reading device. As your cat approaches, the feeder only makes his or her portion accessible. That way, you can rest easy that all of your pets get their fair share.
Choosing the Best Automatic Cat Feeder
Feeder capacity
One of the first things to check before buying an automatic cat feeder is the amount of food that it can hold. A feeder that can hold several kilos of cat food is ideal if you own more than one cat or if you’re work demands you to travel frequently.
Type of cat food
Most automatic cat feeder models are designed to dispense dry cat food. If, like me, you own a cat that prefers moist cat food, be sure to check that the feeder can handle moist and dry cat food. Otherwise, your cat's food will spoil, and cause your pet to get sick.
Built-in features
Automatic cat feeders today range from the very basic to those with state-of-the-art features like microchips and voice recognition technology. Naturally, the more advanced and extensive the features in your cat feeder, the more expensive the price.
Take into consideration your cat's behavior and health when considering which built-in features are essential. For example, if one of your cats is overweight, getting an automatic feeder that dispenses different amounts of food will be ideal.
On the other hand, features like a nozzle protection system will come in very useful if you got a cat that’s extremely intelligent, and can find his or her way around things to get what he or she wants.
Ease of use
The primary purpose of getting an automatic cat feeder is to make your life simpler. That said, it's essential to choose an automatic cat feeder that's straightforward to operate. At the same time, it should also be effortless for you to clean.
Warranty
As with any electric appliance or gadget, automatic cat feeders may need repairs and replacements. That said, it's vital to make sure that the automatic cat feeder you choose comes with a warranty.
When reviewing the warranty, don’t just focus on the coverage period. Check if it covers any damage caused by your cat’s curiosity as well as mishandling during shipping. Also, find out if you will be asked to shoulder the shipment when you send the unit for replacement or repair.
Review of the 5 Best Automatic Cat Feeders
With so many different types and brands of automatic cat feeders available, it can be very overwhelming to find the one that best suits your needs.
Here are our top picks on the best automatic cat feeders for 2018:
Rating | Product Name | Our Rating | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
96
/100
| ||||
94
/100
| ||||
88
/100
| ||||
92
/100
| ||||
96
/100
| ||||
** Below, you'll find our more detailed reviews, but you can click links above to see the current prices or read customer's reviews on Amazon.
Editor’s Pick – PetSafe Healthy Simply Feed™ 12-Meal Automatic Pet Feeder
Via Amazon
Editor's Rating: 96/100
The PetSafe Simply Feed is a fully-programmable and easy-to-use automatic cat feeder that allows you to customize how much food will be dispensed to your cat as well as what time your cat will be fed, helping them get used to a fixed feeding schedule.
This automatic cat feeder uses a conveyor belt system that allows it to dispense both dry and moist cat food (wet cat food tends to stick on the belt, so it's not advisable). At the same time, the ridges on the conveyor belt work as a guard that protects the next helping from your cat's paws.
In addition to portion control and scheduling meal times, the PetSafe Simply Feed automatic cat feeder also comes with a Slow Feed mode, which dispenses meals greater than 1/8 cup over 15 minutes to prevent your cat from gulping his or her food too quickly.
On the downside, this automatic cat feeder can be quite noisy as it dispenses the dry cat food into the bowl. The nozzle is also positioned too close to the dish, which your cat can find slightly uncomfortable, especially if they don't enjoy being touched while eating.
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Runner Up – MOSPRO Programmable Feeder with Intelligent Voice Recorder & Timer
Via Amazon
Editor's Rating: 94/100
If you find the PetSafe Simply Feed out of your budget range, you don’t need that big of a hopper capacity to store your cat’s food in or have trouble training your cat to use an automatic cat feeder, the MOSPRO Smart Design Pet Feeder is a good alternative.
One of the features we liked about this is the Voice Recorder that allows you to record how you call your cat for meal times. Not only will this help your cat relax, but also makes it easier for you to train your cat to eat from the automatic cat feeder.
This cat feeder runs both on battery and by using a power adaptor. The advantage the MOSPRO has is that they include the plug in the box, which is a huge advantage it has over the PetSafe Simply Feed.
You can store up to 4.5 liters of dry cat food in the hopper, which is enough to last for about a week. If you are gone longer than this, you'll need to ask someone to visit your house to refill the feeder.
As for feeding schedules, the MOSPRO cat feeder only lets you schedule three meals a day, which isn’t too bad. However, it doesn’t come with a slow feed mode, so there’s still the risk of your cat to suffer from bloating from eating too quickly.
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Budget Pick – Bergan 5lb. Travel Feeder with Handle
Via Amazon
Editor's Rating: 88/100
With a price tag of just under $ 20, the Bergman Travel Feeder is a “no frills” automatic cat feeder that doubles as a storage for your cat’s food. As its name suggests, it can hold up to five pounds of cat food, which is about 24 cups.
The design of this automatic cat feeder is very basic, making it extremely easy to use. Its snap-on lid helps lock in the freshness of your cat’s food while the rotating base allows you to regulate the amount of food to feed your cat.
Since the Bergman automatic cat feeder works using the power of gravity, you don’t have to worry about figuring out sophisticated program settings to get it running. Also, because there are no electrical components here, it’s safe to use outdoors.
But because gravity causes your cat’s food to fall into the bowl until you close it, you’ll still need someone to keep a close eye on your cat to make sure that he or she doesn’t overeat. Nevertheless, it still does a good job making sure that your cat is fed while you’re away.
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Upgrade Pick – Feed and Go Smart Pet Feeder 2018
Via Amazon
Editor's Rating: 92/100
The Feed and Go Smart Pet Feeder 2018 is our top pick if you're looking for an automatic cat feeder with all the fancy features, and the price is not an issue.
Unlike most automatic cat feeders that are designed almost exclusively for dry cat food, the Feed and Go Smart Pet Feeder can be used for moist and wet cat food. You can also use this to make sure that your cat takes any medicines prescribed by his or her vet on time.
This automatic cat feeder doesn’t have a built-in hopper to hold large quantities of food. Instead, it's made of 6 separate trays, each able to hold up to 1 cup of dry or wet cat food. So it can only hold meals good for two days (one day if you own more than one cat).
Another unique feature of the Feed and Go Pet Feeder 2018 is its own app that runs on iOS or Android phones. This is where you set your cat’s feeding schedule, record your message to call your cat or even hook up to the feeder’s built-in webcam to check how your cat’s doing.
While most electric-powered automatic cat feeders are designed so that they can run on batteries during power interruptions, the Feed and Go Pet Feeder 2018 doesn’t give you this option, so you’ll need to get a UPS to ensure it keeps working even during power failures.
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Niche Pick – SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeder
Via Amazon
Editor's Rating: 96/100
Food stealing is a common problem faced by multiple pet owners. There’s always going to be one pet that will tend to bully his or her way, especially when it comes to mealtimes. As a result, you end up with one obese pet and several starving ones.
One way to deal with this is through the SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeder. This automatic cat feeder uses RFID technology to open its cover and make the food in the bowl accessible to those pets with the right microchip or RFID collar.
When one of your pets that don’t have the registered microchip or RFID collar approaches while your authorized cat is eating to try and steal the food, the cover will gently—but firmly—close. Only when the unauthorized pet moves away will it open its cover again.
The SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeder can be used for both wet and dry cat food. Take note that this doesn’t come with any ice packs, so you may need to buy some to keep your cat’s food fresh.
This automatic cat feeder comes with a 3-year warranty, which is, by far, the most extended warranty coverage you can find.
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Conclusion
So there you have it: the five best automatic cat feeder in the market for 2018.
While all of them will help you make sure that your cat won't go hungry while at work or on vacation with the family, the one automatic cat feeder we consider to be the cream of the crop is the PetSafe Simply Feed automatic cat feeder.
For starters, it has a huge hopper, which means that it can conveniently feed your cat for weeks at a time, even if, like me, you have more than one cat at home.
Another reason why this made it to the top of our list is that not only can you set the feeding time, but also the amount of food your cat eats for each meal. That way, you’re able to manage your cat’s weight more efficiently.
It's also the only automatic cat feeder in the list that comes with a Slow Feed mode, which helps train and regulates how fast your cat consumes his or her food. That way, you can avoid your cat from vomiting and feel bloated after every meal.
Have you tried using any one of the five best automatic cat feeders we listed here? What did you like most about it? Share it with us in the comments below.
