HELP! I have a sweet cat who due to the fact that his teeth were rotting out (and are now all gone) had to be switched over to wet cat food a few years ago. I tried a couple feeders (Cat Mate C20 and Paw Wise Feeder), and both have not lasted a year before my smart but awnry kitty has learned how to break them open. I need a feeder for when I go out of town so the cat sitter only has to come over once per day. I'm getting desperate. My next move may be to put double-sided sticky tape on this feeder, but I was wondering if anyone had recommendations on wet cat food feeders that are sturdier and that a determined cat won't break into? If I can't figure this out, I'm going to have to board him every time I leave town, which will get expensive and he certainly won't be happy. HELP!
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Wet Cat Food Feeder
- Thread starter MizTiger
- Start Date
I really like the Petsafe 5 compartment feeder: 5 Meal Pet Feeder The tray rotates under the lid so there's nothing for a cat to pry open. However, some cats figure out that if they use their paw to push at the tray and put a little muscle into it, they can rotate the tray to get to the next food filled compartment. In that case, leave an empty compartment in between the filled compartments to stump the cat.
Catmate has similar style feeders: Pet Feeders Archives · Pet Mate Looks like Pawise does, too: https://www.amazon.com/PAWISE-Automatic-Feeder-Dispenser-Meal-1/dp/B07V7D179N?ref_=ast_bbp_dp
Catmate has similar style feeders: Pet Feeders Archives · Pet Mate Looks like Pawise does, too: https://www.amazon.com/PAWISE-Automatic-Feeder-Dispenser-Meal-1/dp/B07V7D179N?ref_=ast_bbp_dp
Looks like slipping a claw under the lid and prying it off? The manual dial Petsafe 2 compartment feeder is worse - the lids just hover over the bowl just far enough for a paw to hook under it and flip the lid off 
At least on the older model I have. That in addition to the entire feeder being flipped over and pushed around
At least on the older model I have. That in addition to the entire feeder being flipped over and pushed around - Joined
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I would be surprised if a cat did that with the C20. The lid is quite secure. Mine broke it open once by knocking it off the kitchen counter and literally breaking it. Usually they just push and push it with their heads and try to chew the corners off. The heavy book method seems to have caused them to give up since they can’t move it around anymore.Looks like slipping a claw under the lid and prying it off? The manual dial Petsafe 2 compartment feeder is worse - the lids just hover over the bowl just far enough for a paw to hook under it and flip the lid off
On a side note, not related to your question, just offer your cat some dry too so that when you are out of town maybe you can have more options. Many cats don't do much chewing anyway and many many toothless cats still love their dry food. No reason he can't still have it. I absolutely think the bulk of any cats diet should be canned anyway, but it is always nice to have dry available if you are gone for a long period.
To follow up on OP's question...
Any suggestions for a feeder that has the following qualities?
1) refrigerated to store and dispense wet food
2) capacity and ability to give at least 4 meals over 4 days
3) tamper proof
When I must travel a cat sitter visits once a day to give my kitty wet food, clean litter box, and engage in play. Want to give her at least one other meal each day.
Any suggestions for a feeder that has the following qualities?
1) refrigerated to store and dispense wet food
2) capacity and ability to give at least 4 meals over 4 days
3) tamper proof
When I must travel a cat sitter visits once a day to give my kitty wet food, clean litter box, and engage in play. Want to give her at least one other meal each day.
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These are my favorite! I'll be impressed if your cat can defeat them. Plus they come with ice packs if you need to extend the life of the food inside. I put cold food from the fridge in them and set them to open at four and six hours. Eight or ten hours later when I get home and collect them to feed fresh, the food inside still looks good and fresh like it hasn’t been sitting out for ten hours. I split the meal across two feeders and deploy them in pairs in case one fails to open. In the hundreds of uses, they have only failed to open two or three times. But it’s better to have a backup and not need it than the other way around.
WOPET Automatic Cat Feeder, Pet Feeder for Dogs and Cats with Ice Pack Included - 2 Meals
WOPET Automatic Cat Feeder, Pet Feeder for Dogs and Cats with Ice Pack Included - 2 Meals
As said in my post above, the PetSafe 5 compartment feeder works great
No feeder will store and dispense canned / wet food automatically like dry food. You have to put the canned food into the compartments. There are feeders with ice pack features to keep canned food cool. You can also freeze canned food into portion sizes and put the frozen block into the compartments to slowly thaw.
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With the feeders I posted above, you could have the sitter feed the first meal fresh and split the second meal across the two feeders to open at ten and twelve hours later. See my post above for why I recommend using them two at a time. For the feeder meal, it would be best to use the refrigerated leftover of the fresh meal from the day before. So you'll likely have to start your sitter with one meal in the fridge already. The feeders are pretty reasonably priced too. You could pick up an extra pair and use the included ice packs to extend the life of the food inside. Your sitter could conceivably set out an overnight meal too. And if you have any trouble with your cat waking you in the morning for her first meal, these feeders could help you with that too. Most mornings I am waking Krista for her first meal now.
Thanks
LTS3
and
daftcat75
. This is great! I was aware of the use of ice packs and need to fill the holders. Just failed to mention that in trying to be succinct! 
Will investigate placing food in frozen. A bit concerned that having to feed dry food on travel recently could be adversely impact kitty's health (ie diabetes).
LTS3
and
daftcat75
. This is great! I was aware of the use of ice packs and need to fill the holders. Just failed to mention that in trying to be succinct! Will investigate placing food in frozen. A bit concerned that having to feed dry food on travel recently could be adversely impact kitty's health (ie diabetes).
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When mine were younger I froze canned food for them. I used ice trays and popped them into freezer bags for my pet sitter. She would put two of the chunks in each feeder section when she came in the morning and they would be thawed by the time the feeder opened.
This sounds like the perfect plan. Can see no flaws at the moment. Will test ASAP. Many thanks!
