Automatic feeders for more than one cat: how does it work?

chiarabab · Nov 30, 2013

So, we'll be adding a second kitten to our family in a month, and I'm starting to plan and worry about the practical things.

Fletcher, our current cat (neutered male, 8 months old, very fluffy) eats wet food 4 times a day:

early morning,
lunch,
evening (about 7pm)
and night (about midnight, right after play session and before bed).

When we are not home (usually at work, or the random night out) we feed him through an automatic feeder (this one). So he gets his lunch and occasionally evening meals through the feeder. Usually we're always home for his first and last meal, but we could plan to go away for a weekend at some point...

Now I wonder: what happens when we add another cat? We are planning to buy a second feeder, of course, but will they understand the fact that there's a feeder for each of them? Will the "dominant" cat eat both meals? How do you manage the food schedule in your multicat household? I don't want to resort to free feeding but I cannot plan to be always home... Please tell me there is a solution to this!

mrsgreenjeens · Nov 30, 2013

Hmmm, interesting question. I don't have an answer for you either

In my household someone is always home to feed our 3 cats, and we put their bowls down and monitor them to make sure they stay at their own dishes, and that when one finishes up, he/she doesn't go bother anyone else. Then as soon as they are finished, we clean up the dishes and put away their placemats until the next meal

I honestly think unless you keep them (the cats AND feeders) in separate rooms, or unless they are not into food, if one is still hungry he/she may try to finish off the others' food. That would not be good if one is a growing kitten who needs his food. Plus you really don't want to keep them separated all the time, I wouldn't think.

Hopefully someone else will come along with a perfect solution. 'Course if you are home to supervise MOST of the meals, maybe this will work out alright.

cprcheetah · Nov 30, 2013

Good question. For my crew of 5 cats they are fed 3x a day. I feed them before I go to work, when I get home from work and right before bedtime. I feed 2 of them in one room, 2 of them in another room and 1 by herself. That way I don't have 'shared' bowls. They all seem to know which bowl is theirs that way. I'm not sure how an automatic feeder would work with 2 cats. I have heard of feeders that have things that correspond with things on the cats collars so that way only that cat can have access to the food, maybe that is an option?

chiarabab · Nov 30, 2013

mrsgreenjeens said:
Hopefully someone else will come along with a perfect solution. 'Course if you are home to supervise MOST of the meals, maybe this will work out alright.

Thank you for your answer! I can always guarantee first and last meal of the day, but are the two in between that scare me a little. It happens that both me and my boyfriend have to work late and the automatic feeder helps a lot. I don't know what kind of eater is the new kitten, but Fletcher LOVES food. Of any kind, actually. So I cannot resort to free feeding, he has no kind of self control!
I hope someone here was in a similar situation and can help!

chiarabab · Dec 4, 2013

Hello?

anyone else?

irinasak · May 8, 2014

I know it has been more than a year, but I wonder if you found a solution for the two kitties/two feeders equation.

tdonline · May 8, 2014

I haven't used the autofeeder this year due to special circumstances. When I was using one though--I placed a bi-bowl under the Superfeeder. The Superfeeder works off any timer. It's wasn't an exact science but my cats made it work. There was some jockeying for kibbles and invariably one would get more than the other. Since it was mainly used for only one snack a day, it wasn't a big deal in terms of one cat going hungry.

In the future, should I go back to using the autofeeder consistently--and money not being an issue, I would buy a 2nd Superfeeder. Since they work on timers, I could connect them with a multi-plug into one timer and the feeders would disburse simultaneously. A second feeder would allow each cat to have their own bowl and space and allow for a less frantic rush for the kibbles.

chiarabab · May 9, 2014

IrinaSaK said:
I know it has been more than a year, but I wonder if you found a solution for the two kitties/two feeders equation.

Nope, no solution yet

abbyntim · May 9, 2014

I have two cats will be experimenting with an automatic feeder in the next few weeks.

A little over a year ago, we transitioned our cats from free-fed kibble to meal-fed canned. When we went on vacation in September, we boarded the cats. I don't think we can do that again, as the male cat Tim did not poop the entire time they were boarded. He held on for 6.5 days. He's the one with the constipation problems, and this was with daily cisapride, daily laxatone, and super-duty doses of laxatone by the vet on days 4, 5, and 6. Luckily, about 30 minutes after we got him home, he pooped, then put himself back on schedule the next morning.

We will likely use a cat sitter next time we go away for more than a day, but wonder what to do for those times that we cannot get home to feed them their evening meal on time (they are fed twice a day, roughly 12 hours apart). This would include work commitments, social events after work, weekend social events that start in the afternoon and go into the night, and even the occasional overnight trip. I purchased one automatic feeder that includes an ice pack (Cat Mate C20), as we feed exclusively canned. I am going to try using this even when we're home on time to see how it works and get the cats used to it.

I am not sure how successful this will be. Both cats eat together and have their own bowls, but the male eats a lot faster and sometimes pushes the female away before she's done. That is worry number one with an automatic feeder. But I figure one or two meals, the female won't suffer too much and we can make up her calories when we return. My second concern is the feeder itself. It's analog, not digital, so I don't think I can get the compartments to open at the same time. Right now, the cats are conditioned to go to the kitchen for food when one of us gets home, so I don't think they will be sitting there waiting for it to open. But I do worry the male will be the first one and gobble everything up.

Depending on how we do with the single feeder (one compartment for each cat), we'll purchase a second so each cat has its own feeder. We would set up one compartment of each feeder to open for dinner, then the second compartment of each feeder for breakfast the following morning. That is the longest I would trust that thing, honestly.

irinasak · May 10, 2014

Thank you very much for your replies.

We are now at 30% raw and 70% wet, three meals/day. Even if we are sometimes late or early an hour or two with the meals, we work out our schedule so that the kitties get fed in aprox time.

But summer is almost here and we would like to start going out of town on weekends, fron Saturday morning to Sunday evening. We have a dear friend that sleeps at our place when we are away, but she is a bit younger than us so she has a full life, going at concerts and clubs - so I can't really ask her to dump her social life for my kitties.

This is where automatic feeders come in - I would rely on them for one meal. But I would need three of them, and I am wondering how the kitties would react to them...

chiarabab · May 10, 2014

AbbyNTim said:
I have two cats will be experimenting with an automatic feeder in the next few weeks.

A little over a year ago, we transitioned our cats from free-fed kibble to meal-fed canned. When we went on vacation in September, we boarded the cats. I don't think we can do that again, as the male cat Tim did not poop the entire time they were boarded. He held on for 6.5 days. He's the one with the constipation problems, and this was with daily cisapride, daily laxatone, and super-duty doses of laxatone by the vet on days 4, 5, and 6. Luckily, about 30 minutes after we got him home, he pooped, then put himself back on schedule the next morning.

We will likely use a cat sitter next time we go away for more than a day, but wonder what to do for those times that we cannot get home to feed them their evening meal on time (they are fed twice a day, roughly 12 hours apart). This would include work commitments, social events after work, weekend social events that start in the afternoon and go into the night, and even the occasional overnight trip. I purchased one automatic feeder that includes an ice pack (Cat Mate C20), as we feed exclusively canned. I am going to try using this even when we're home on time to see how it works and get the cats used to it.

I am not sure how successful this will be. Both cats eat together and have their own bowls, but the male eats a lot faster and sometimes pushes the female away before she's done. That is worry number one with an automatic feeder. But I figure one or two meals, the female won't suffer too much and we can make up her calories when we return. My second concern is the feeder itself. It's analog, not digital, so I don't think I can get the compartments to open at the same time. Right now, the cats are conditioned to go to the kitchen for food when one of us gets home, so I don't think they will be sitting there waiting for it to open. But I do worry the male will be the first one and gobble everything up.

Depending on how we do with the single feeder (one compartment for each cat), we'll purchase a second so each cat has its own feeder. We would set up one compartment of each feeder to open for dinner, then the second compartment of each feeder for breakfast the following morning. That is the longest I would trust that thing, honestly.

I'm in the exact situation you're in, I even have the same auto feeder!

only difference is that my cats are both male.

Automatic feeders for more than one cat: how does it work?

chiarabab

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mrsgreenjeens

Every Life Should Have Nine Cats

cprcheetah

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irinasak

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tdonline

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