Automatic feeders, specifically the Perfect Petfeeder.

I have 2 cats that are free fed.  The female maintains her weight perfectly, the male has been steadily gaining weight and the vet has been urging me to put him on a diet.

I travel often for work so I wanted to try everything I could before giving up on free feeding them. I cut out all of their treats and tried to play with him more but he still put on another half pound in the past 5 months.  Even though I'm unsure an automatic feeder will work, since there's nothing keeping him from eating his food and her food too, it's my last resort.

I just started researching them today.  Since this feeder will often be doing it's job unmonitored I really need a quality dependable one.  The one I'm leaning toward, the Perfect Petfeeder is significantly more expensive than the competition at $500.

Does anyone have any experience with that feeder or have any other high quality alternatives that they would recommend?

Also, is this even a viable option to think the heavy males portion will be controlled when the females portion is delivered right next to his?

I appreciate any input!  I'm desperate to keep my cats healthy.

Sorry I originally placed this post in the wrong forum.  Thank you all for your input.

Plan B.  I've given it more thought and am considering constructing a feeding box for the smaller cat.  Since she's literally less than half the size of the male I think I can make the entrance so she can comfortably pass through it and free feed and he won't be able to fit to reach her food.  The rest of my plan relies on this theory working.

Assuming that box idea works, then the dilemma is just feeding him portion controlled meals automatically.  I'm still leaning toward that feeder.  I did search the forums and all the threads I found were on feeders for the occasional vacation.  Since I plan to use this one full time I want to make sure I get one that is dependable and will last.  I agree $500 is insanely expensive but I can't seem to find quality alternatives for cheaper.  Hiring someone to feed them 2x a day at the rate I travel would exceed $500 in well less than a year.  My trips aren't usually very long but they're frequent.

With all the cat experience on here I just wanted to run this idea by everyone and see if you see any problems with this theory I may have overlooked.  Also I would still like to hear about anyone with a lot of experience with automated cat feeders, especially this one or a comparable one.

Thanks for the replies and the other feeder suggestions.  This forum has to have some of the most generous and thoughtful users on the internet.

I thought that too Goldycat, and planned to make the top not totally enclosed so plenty of light could get in.

I'm still not 100% sure what I'm going to do but I've got some good ideas.  There will be some experimenting going on, starting with the most simple solution and moving toward the most complex until something sticks.  I'll try to report back periodically to let everyone know how it goes so other people with similar problems will have some experience to draw upon.

Thanks again!

An update for anyone with a similar problem.

I did end up going with the $500 Perfect Petfeeder.  If you have a job that demands you travel a lot and presumably compensates you well for it, I think it's a no-brainer.  I decided to try the simplest solution first and just allow both to feed from it, hoping the girl whose weight isn't a problem ate her share.  I've been doing it about a month and a half now, tweaking the settings and recently switching to a higher quality food with more protein and no grain. (Pure Vita in case anyone is curious, didn't want to go too high protein like Innova EVO and risk a UTI on the male).

Initially he lost about a half pound then plateaued for a month, she maintained.  2 weeks ago I started the switch to the new food, now the weight is really starting to drop, and drop fast.  In fact I'm watching it closely to make sure it's not dropping too fast.  Apparently about 2% a week is as much as is healthy so it's important to keep a close eye on it.  For a 17 pound cat, 17 pounds = 272 ounces.  2% of 272 ounces = 5 ounces a week.

In summary, if anyone out there is facing a similar problem I'd recommend this solution.  Another bonus is I only have to deal with their food about once a month as it's otherwise a totally automated process.