Cat Behaviourist Recommends App-Connected Feeder

Tell us about your cats

We currently have four cats, Clive, Hula & Luigi, who we rescued from The Mayhew Animal Home. Archie decided to adopt us and moved in from next door (in consultation with the neighbours). Their ages range between 6 and 10 years old.

Archie is a fussy eater and doesn’t like to eat in the company of others. If he's forced to eat with the others, he sometimes vomits straight after because he is too stressed whilst eating. Our cats are still relatively young and are not on any specific medical diets at this current time.

How did you find the set-up of your Microchip Pet Feeder Connect?

I’m a technophobe but found the instructions really clear and easy to follow. It felt great that I didn’t need to ask my husband for help (for a change).

Archie has been using a Microchip Pet Feeder for a few years now, so he is used to using it, but I remember when we bought the first one that he took to it immediately.

The training tips in the manual are great and easy to follow. Some cats might take a bit more training than others, but Archie took to it as soon as he made the connection between stepping into the feeder and food becoming available.

How did you find using the Microchip Pet Feeder Connect?

Archie is a grazer. He eats little portions throughout the day. He regularly skips breakfast and will have his first meal at 11 am. It’s so reassuring to know that when I leave the house, I receive notifications informing me when and how much he’s eaten.

I also like the fact it has built-in scales and LED lights to show how much to fill the bowl, so when a cat sitter looks after our cats, it’s easier for them to portion out the food. Receiving the notification also means I know exactly what time the cats were visited and fed by a cat-sitter.

I can’t say there have been any surprises for me personally. I work mainly from home and as a behaviourist, I probably have a much more acute beady eye on our cats’ eating habits than most cat owners.

Acquiring a feeder has meant that Archie can eat in his own time, without the other three 'vultures' circling around him. He now knows that if he leaves his food for later, it will indeed be there later and not have been stolen by the others. It has definitely reduced his stress-induced vomiting by at least 90%.

What do you think of the Sure Petcare app?

When I initially set up the app, I used it daily to get used to all the settings and capabilities. Now that we have had it for a while, I only check it when I’m away from home.

I love the fact that you can set the amount of food that you want to give your cat. There’s a huge obesity problem in pets these days and people can be unaware of how much they are (over) feeding their pets.

The scales in the feeder make it easy to stick to a diet for the animal. The LED light display clearly shows if you are overfeeding as they turn red. A brilliant visual reminder to reduce the amount of food you (or your cat feeder) are dishing out.

I would definitely recommend this product. I often recommend it to my clients who have cats with special dietary needs or multi-cat households. 

A lot of clients also love the fact that the feeder keeps the flies of their cat’s food too, an added bonus for sure.