Automatic feeders

[BuddhaofSuburbia]

Can anyone recommend an easy to use automatic feeder for a three to four day trip? I have had one before but found The programming bewildering.

I could be wrong but they don't tend to do that long as it's a long time to leave your cat unsupervised and not interacted with. Ours will only do 48hrs max (we have a cat mate, which is great as our boy is on wet food).

You don't, because if the feeder fails to work, your cat starves.

Book a cattery.

I usually have someone come in to feed her .

Ours will go for about a month until the enormous hopper of dried food runs out! This sort of thing, it works very well.

Ah okay @NewPanDrawer . Ours is a wet food one so it only releases one portion at a time or one meal at a time so it can do a maximum of 48hrs. I think that does tie in to how long you should leave them for maximum as well as being as long as the freezer block would hold the temperature!

I have a very simple pet mate one that opens the flap on a timer. I found the bigger ones that turn to be unreliable. They can work well tother with a feeder, so they don't need to come twice a day for example or very early in the morning as they can put in dinner and breakfast ready then pop in when convenient.

What is the brand please?

This is the one we have for our ferals and semi ferals...we have it on the terrace next to their heated sofa.

You can serve numerous servings up to 5 times a day. So filling the hopper lasts about a week.

It says "Faroro" on the front. It requires a bit of set up, but it's been very good for helping with food anxiety. The cat knows he gets fed at fixed times during the day and has (mostly) stopped nagging us! It's been especially good at feeding early morning so he doesn't wake us up.

Now he loves us because he loves us, not because we feed him!

Haha! That sounds like our cat!

The longest I've left mine is overnight with automatic feeder
Any longer you need book cattery or cat sitter

This won't protect your cat against knocking his water bowl over and having no water for several days.

https://www.cats.org.uk/cats-blog/how-long-can-you-leave-a-cat-alone

https://www.bathcatsanddogshome.org.uk/pet-care-advice/leaving-cats-alone

48hours is the max they all advise OP.

4 days.

Your poor cat.

She’s not inside. She goes outside . I will get a cat sitter again.

I have a cat mate which has two slots and is very basic but does a good job.
I have a cat sitter who comes in in the morning and does breakfast and water she than sets the auto feeder for tea time wet food and supper time dreamies. Yes I know.
Cat has a cat flap and seldom deigns to speak to the cat sitter.

That’s a very good idea. I never thought of that. Usually the cat feeder gives her the whole days food in one go .

@BuddhaofSuburbia yes it's expensive to pay for two visits so until I thought of the auto feeder the cat sitter would just put extra food down. I was never too comfortable with that but I presumed that, given the choice, the cat would prefer a once a day feed to a week in a cattery.
He went to a cattery for many years but they are always booked up unless you plan way ahead.

Although a bit expensive at 80 quid at the moment. we have this and it is fantastic.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/PETLIBRO-Automatic-Control-Stainless-Blockage/dp/B0C2VQDXDB/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=175EURTR4CZVJ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.rR-UxPV0q4eW6FpLfbtO3k9w09-LxwCU5FCnln-ithOhEQUjizTHaF0z4Ek_Xw8voIR--ylXSUuDezHpesYYjN7FacpbzBftA3XZrHtek0HMq33FQ4XZP3pgBdcL8T3sPmChJf7RsoBpJIm0fLgmWzZK6WT-dtHU_Qz5gVTUSK9HR-PibX954ywbUgHKt9SD7GwmF_mCOX6gB_DXoqRNz3QVZSLCCxlLmtImxmgCPiAdGpXnd5ZB5oclJtg7xdlKpnZAp4J78u0bfWLEgjVCXqN9ADxsu-ZLvMOyWiqwOwc._B8wsX7PnldB4_lF4LllJNVh8d6Kafxb_TkNJFkdww4&dib_tag=se&keywords=petlibro%2Bautomatic%2Bcat%2Bfeeder&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1733084494&sprefix=Petlibro%2Caps%2C91&sr=8-2-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&smid=ANZLHRHNBZB3B&th=1

Sorry for the link appearance. Just look up Petlibro 5L wi fi, automatic cat feeder on amazon.

It has a large capacity which keeps the contents fresh. You can set up how much to dispense and at what times. You can get the message on your phone that it has dispensed the food. The Lid is on tight, and the bowl is connected so they cannot knock it over. They can’t get their paws up it.

We didn’t bother with the camera version. There is also one with a double bowl if you want two to share. When we couldn’t get a cattery, we just bought two and set the cats up in different parts of the house so we could be sure our Billy Bunter boy wouldn’t scoff the lot as soon as it was dispensed.

We put very heavy ceramic dog bowls filled with water down. Too heavy to knock over. It was only for two or three nights/days, but worked like a dream. We plugged ours in, but you also insert batteries in so if there is an electricity outage it still has power to dispense.

Also, you can record a message for pudsy which plays before the food is dispensed into the bowls.

That was the longest we have left them. And we hadn’t booked the cattery in time to secure their place. If longer, we usually have it planned well in advance and they have a lovely lady they go to.

Automatic feeders are great but you still need to have someone coming in to check on your cat, give them fresh water and generally making sure they're okay.

I’m currently looking after two cats who have automatic feeder but I’m still booked to go in twice a day to check on them. They have flap and come flying through it everytime I visit for cuddles and fuss.
Cant help with the feeders name but it has enough food in it for a good couple of weeks and links to an app so it tells owner if it is jammed or running low ( then she messages me)
There is plenty of reliable sitters around, the trick is finding one

My daughter has one similar to @NewPanDrawer if she goes away for 3 nights or fewer she uses it rather than the cattery...she also has a litter machine which keeps the litter fresh.

We still go in daily to socialise with the cats for her though and once had to go over urgently as the feeders had gone offline.

They are also useful as she and her husband work irregular hours so the cats always get fed on time.

Buy a cat fountain.

Buy a cat fountain

You should still have someone coming in to check on them daily even if you have a fountain and automatic feeders.

It would (rightly) be illegal to leave a dog alone for days and I wish the same laws applied to all pets.