Able to give your cat access to the correct amount of food at set times during the day, or as and when they want it, an automatic cat feeder is great for helping to monitor health issues and restrictions as well as helping you out when you aren’t in the house.
They are a perfect alternative to ordinary cat food bowls if you’re concerned about the freshness of food, mould build-up and attracting pests, too.
There are dozens of automatic pet feeders out there to choose from, so you need to think about a few key pointers before you buy. How much food does your cat eat at every meal? Do their portions need to be controlled? Do they need the food at set times over one day, or over a few days?
Some automatic feeders can also only hold dry biscuits. This clearly isn’t ideal if your cat can only have wet food. But some which hold wet food comes with ice packs which keeps everything really fresh, in case you’re concerned bout smells and mould.
The majority are battery-powered. This gives you more flexibility on the placement of your automatic cat feeder and helps limit the wires and electricity around your cat. But you may want to look at which batteries they hold, in case they’re rarer or hard to find and you wouldn’t have any to hand in an emergency.
To find the best, we went about checking the portion sizes, whether you have to use wet or dry food and just how personalised you can make their feeding time, particularly when it comes to health issues.
We have narrowed the list available down to help you find the one which suits your lifestyle and your cat.