Talk to me about automatic feeders for multiple cats

[SittingRoomTiger]

I bought an automatic feeder for my cat earlier this year and it’s been life-changing - no more weighing his food (he’s greedy and would otherwise overeat) with a miaowing beast getting in my way. He gets fed regularly without effort, and after a few weeks stopped begging me for food because I was clearly no longer the source!

It was bliss. Then we got a kitten.

She, too, is really greedy and was putting on weight too fast so it’s now being rationed. She’s also now able to reach the automatic feeder.

There are automatic feeders available for multiple cat households that are microchip operated, ie each feeder opens only for that specific cat. Do you have one, or something else for multiple-greedy-cat households? What’s your experience been?

We recently bought microchip feeders for our 3 cats and are really pleased with them. We bought them so one could go onto a special renal diet and medicine but it's also been great for our smaller cat who likes to graze little and often. They're all more relaxed about their meals now.

It did take ages to train them! One learnt within a few days (luckily it was the one who needs to take medicine), one took a few weeks, one took nearly two months! However he got there in the end - the feeder has different training modes and he built up slowly and steadily. All worth it now.