On Sunday, March 16, 2014 7:53:27 PM UTC-7, MaryL wrote:
"Arthur Rubin" wrote in message

...



Please suggest other groups this should be submitted to.... It's been a long

time since I've accessed Usenet or Google groups.



I'm looking for a feeder which only one cat can use; I have three cats here,

and one of them can be free-fed. Others should be on a restricted diet.



I tried the WonderBowl, and I (per consumer reviews, which I didn't read

first) couldn't attach the fob to his collar in such a way as the bowl

stayed open. That being the least expensive option (~$60), I thought I

would ask for advice before trying more expensive options (~$100 to ~$250).



Any ideas? He (and one of the other cats) have a harness and have had a

collar; the third cat _could_ have a harness and collar if necessary. (One

of the feeders advertised on the net had options to program separately for

up to 8 animals.) All of the feeders I've seen advertized on the Web,

except for the WonderBowl and the most expensive RFID tag system, warned

that some cats cannot use the feeders because they don't remain at the

proper angle for sensor detection while eating.



Arthur Rubin

Brea, California



~~~~~~~~~~

I'm not familiar with feeders that only one cat can use. However, my

brother and sister-in-law has a cat (one of three) that has to be fed

separately. They built a box with a cat door in it, and they place this

cat's food in the box. The cat door can only be accessed by the "special"

cat. It sounds like the WonderBowl uses a fob similar to the one on this

cat's collar that opens the door on the feeding station. They live some

distance from me, but I could email and ask them for information if you

think you would be interested in this type of setup. Their setup does not

depend on sensor detection while eating--it is sensor detection to get into

the box. Of course, they also had to train their cat to do that.



MaryL

Sorry about the delay. Google groups was blocking the "reply" button for a while, and we've had some earthquakes here, and I've had to recover the cats from their hiding places. I hadn't thought of adapting a cat door (with sensor) to the problem of selective feeding. I'll look into that, but I would appreciate it if you would contact your friend for more information.