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!