do any of you use automatic feeders? I'm thinking of getting Stoli one before I go back to work. I'm looking for one that will feed him just a little bit of food a couple of times within 10 hours.

aaahhhh no one has these????

Sorry, I only have the free-feeding ones (by LeBistro) for dry kibble and water... they work great for me, however! Oliver only eats when he's hungry and won't just scarf down whatever's put in front of him, so he's maintaining his weight very well and he gets wet food as a treat occasionally (he's not a big fan of wet food in general and has to be "in the mood" to accept it)

stoli will eat whatever is put down. that's why i was thinking of getting one.

I use them, but not regularly - just when I'm going to be late back from work or something. They work really well. I use them for both wet and dry (not wet in the summer if it's really hot, although I do have one with an ice pack to keep the food cool).

what kind do you have

I use one that you wind up and it spins round slowly, exposing the food. It's supposed to last 48 hours, but it only lasts 24. If you do get one, you should use it first when you are home, to check that it works properly and that Stoli will eat from it. I use it if I'm going to be away overnight, but any longer than that & I get someone in to feed Villy, as once in the several times that I have used it it didn't spin round at all, so I don't trust it 100%.
They are very handy for when you have to work late though. I usually put the wet food in it, with an ice pack under it, and leave out a bowl of biscuits and she just picks at those when she gets hungry.

that's all i really want, something to tide him over until i get home. i'd never leave him for very long.

awww! my hubby picked up a le bistro automatic feeder that feeds 1/4 of a cup when ever we want it!!!! we made sure it worked today and tomorrow it gets its first run through!

I was considering getting one of those water fountains till I saw that it was made of plastic. Are the feeders plastic too? Plastic causes kitty acne.

stoli is only eating out of this once a day, plus we wash it. . .if he gets acne from eating dry food out of a fresh bowl once a day, so be it. i'd rather him not go hungry and poop some where to get my attention.

well we got the le bistro electronic feeder. . . . and now we have to take it back. stoli has figured out how to stick his paws up the slot and wiggle the mechanism with his claws and get his food out. . .


arg.


totally defeats the purpose of a feeder.

Oh dear, that can be a problem, our friends have the same automatic feeder as I do, and their kitten managed to poke his paw in and scoop out his dinner early. Villy doesn't do this. How about another kind, maybe the ones where the lid flips up at a specific time?

that's what we're going to get tomorrow. we liked this one as it always full and ready. i'd hate to forget to put food in the dishes!

I have used the wind up 24 hour versions, it worked fine, providing of course that I remembered to switch it on, I came home to find they had played football with it all over the kitchen! now I have one cat who sits over it waiting for the lid to ping up, he still hasn't learnt and gets wacked full on the chin each time we use it.

yeah, i came home to a feeder that was moved about 3 feets away from where it was supposed to be. i know this cat has eaten enough today - WHY does he absolutely insist that i am starving him?

I have used the wind up 24 hour versions, it worked fine, providing of course that I remembered to switch it on, I came home to find they had played football with it all over the kitchen! now I have one cat who sits over it waiting for the lid to ping up, he still hasn't learnt and gets wacked full on the chin each time we use it.

This is toooo funny!!! :flail:

i woke up at 2 am to stoli gnawing at his feeder. he had just had a little hit of food and he wanted his second hit right then. i had to move the feeder outside our room until a bit later.

I'm sorry:This is going to sound sadistic, but I've been getting a real kick out of this thread since I discovered it. Jamie is now 7, and up until this past Easter, I endured his getting me up at 5 a.m. on weekends, holidays, and days off (he gets dry food at 5 a.m. on weekdays, and canned in the evening). I finally broke down and got a single-meal, battery-operated feeder with a timer, the type where the lid flips up.http://www.catreviews.com/view.php?ItemID=64 My first experience with it was that he pushed it around the floor till he broke it open. It's now up on a kitchen counter, firmly wedged between the wall and a very heavy hotplate. I took out the plastic food dish (fear of chin acne), and replaced it with small china bowls. I fill a bowl every evening with the proper amount of dry food before going to bed, put it in the feeder, and set it to open around 5 a.m.. Voila! I'm actually allowed to sleep past dawn!

yes it's amazing when you actually get to sleep!!!!!!!!

I've been using these for years http://www.puddlepetcare.co.uk/acatalog/c10_large.jpg

I've never been that happy with them - very expensive for quite a cheap, plastic clockwork type feeder - but they've worked fine. The main problem I've had is trying to set 2 to open at the same time (for 2 cats). Anyway, I left 2 of these this morning for Jaffa and Mosi since I knew I'd be late home today, and got in to find them both in the middle of the floor and neither unopened. Someone (not mentioning any names, MOSI ;) ) had knocked them around the floor enough to cause the battery in both to fall out :rolleyes: That's never happened before and I don't know how he managed it as although the battery compartment isn't covered, the battery clips in firmly and nothing appears to be broken.

I've recently bought one similar to this
http://www.petwebsite.com/products_read.asp?id=319&title=New%20Auto%20Feeder%20Talks%20to%20Pets!

I've not used it yet (only have one and need 2 for my boys) but I've tried it out and it seems great - and too heavy for them to move around the room.