PetSafe, 5 Meal Pet Feeder, Automatic, Five Day Programing,White, 5 x 165 g Trays

This is a solid well made product that sits firmly on the floor and is unlikely to be tipped over or moved by a cat or a small dog. The instructions are fairly clear, and programming it is easy but slightly fiddly due to the small screen and small buttons. The instructions say there's a 'no beep' icon on the screen, but I can't find any way to select a beep! That said, it makes quite a noise when it rotates the bowl so most hungry pets will respond to this! The feeder has five bowls, but because the first one is open there are really only four meals that can be set for when you're away.It arrived the same day we were leaving for three days, so we had no time to test it... we filled it with food, set the timers, and off we went, somewhat anxious. When we returned our cat was so upset and beside herself with hunger as the feeder had only partially turned and then stopped and she'd only been able to flick a few bits of food out through the tiny gap it had left.I almost returned it as faulty, but decided to give it another chance before packing it up. This time it worked (we were not away so we could monitor it). It turns out that the bowl must be very firmly seated for it to rotate a full 'meal bowl' and I guess I had not done this the first time. Seating it correctly is tricky... the bowl must sit perfectly in the little slot at the back, with the inner bottom ring perfectly lined up in the little 'screw-like' mouldings in the base. When it slots in correctly it's obvious how it works, but it's very easy to think it's in when it's not.We then used it again when we were away for a weekend and it worked perfectly. Our cat was happy and well fed when we returned. So in summary, it's a really good feeder but you must make sure it's set up correctly!

My cat's scared of this a bit as it makes a lot of noise when it opens, so he approaches it slowly before eating. At least the lid is secure enough for my cat not to be able to open it, so that's good. (He was able to literally lift the lid off the last cat feeder I had)It says it serves 5 meals but it's actually 4 as one is always open, so you can't set it to open at a later time.Also to press the button to move to the next meal manually, you have to lift the lid, which is a bit awkward because you can't do it in front of the cat or he'll get at all the meals when you lift the lid.The clock and scheduler works very well though (again better than my last cat feeder) so overall I'm very happy with it.

Sometimes a gadget comes along and you think...what the heck.... why? This is not one of them. The puppy needs feeding 6 times a day. He gets his first feed early on, but the rest are from this little gadget. No, he's not on his own all day. Far from it. But the great thing about this is that it will deliver each food ration at exactly the time you programme it to. No forgetting..has he had 3 feeds or has he had 4? And if you do pop out for a couple of hours, he still gets his grub. The other day he was sleeping next to it, with his paw resting on it....waiting for it to whirrrr open. Personally, I wouldn't use this for wet food. It'll go off, especially if it's warm. But for dried food, it's a winner. It would be fabulous for cat owners who plan to go away for the weekend/night too. It's battery operated so no problem having to plug it in, or risk of high voltage. As for features, well programming couldn't be simpler. In fact, I lost the instructions, but it was pretty easy to work out. It's a bit of faffing about to keep changing the times, so just decide on a regular set of times and stick to it. Even if you want to reduce the meals later on, as your animal gets older, it doesn't matter if an empty drawer pops open. But you can "suspend feeding" at a particular time if you want. The white rotating food tray is really simple to take out and clean, but when you put it back make sure it seats properly or it won't rotate. It's not difficult, you'll feel it drop nicely into place. It does make a whirring sound but that won't stop a hungry pet once they realise that some grub is on offer! Sturdy? Well, my pup has managed to demolish just about every toy we give him. But he can't break into this, even though his sensitive nose knows there is food inside it. Plus it is heavy enough not to be pushed about all over the place. I wouldn't use this for a really large pet, because the trays are probably not big enough, but for puppies which need small amounts at regular times, cats etc, this is first class, well built, easy to use and I recommend wholeheartedly.

Beautifully made. Cat got the hang of the new regime (twice a day morning and night) immediately. I bought it for a night or two away over Xmas but will continue it all the time, now. We use dried food so no need for cold blocks. I am using rechargeable AA batteries with D cell adaptors, much cheaper than buying D cells! Setting the times isn't intuitive so you want the instructions to hand. I'll stick a copy onto the inside of the lid, you can download from manufacturer's website (I did before buying). It's not actually *difficult* to set up it just isn't intuitive (to me, at least). I've only had it a week -- normally I'd leave longer before giving a review but in case you are making up your mind before a Christmas break, I have posted this much and will update later if anything worth commenting on arises. I have complete confidence in leaving my cat with this product, and she actually prefers the shape and feel of the clean white bowls for the food than the old individual bowls. **Updated 28th May 2015** Have now been using daily for about six months and still delighted. One little wrinkle that could be just on mine, the white feeding plate needs tapping down to seat it after re-filling. If you don't seat properly the turning mechanism doesn't work properly. Just tap gently with your fingers. Took me a while to find out why I sometimes had a problem. Might just be a manufacturing thing with mine and is no problem anyway.