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Time-delayed feeding
I need to get some suggestions on time-delayed feeding for my two cats.
I start a new job tonight which will have me out of the house when the cats normally get dinner and for several hours on either side of that dinner. I can't come home simply to feed the cats and I don't want to impose on friends to feed the cats for me. Can anyone suggest a technological solution that might help me? I was at the pet store the other day and bought a PetSafe 2 Meal Pet Feeder - see http://www.petsafe.net/pet_feeders/l...OD_CODE=PF2-19 for the product description - thinking that this would solve my problem but it doesn't look like it will. Yesterday, I did a test run and put a normal quantity of food in the feeder about 5 PM and set the timers for 8 PM, the normal dinner time for the cats. I set the unit on the floor and Bebop immediately started trying to get into the food. It didn't take him long to realize that he could push and pull the unit around and he soon realized that he could catch the trays with his claws and yank them out far enough to eat most of the food with the lids still closed. He also discovered that he could nudge the whole unit up on its side and then tip it over so that it was upside down. That process, by the way, dislodged the battery and made it fall out. (There is no cover plate over the battery comparment to keep the battery in place, unlike any other battery-operated device I have ever seen.) Even if I could figure out a way to keep the unit stationary so that he couldn't push it around or flip it over, he would still be able to yank out the trays enough to get at the food. And, knowing how aggressive he is about food, he will almost certainly eat all of _both_ cats food, depriving Samba of her dinner. I'm wondering if anyone out there is aware of a better automatic feeder for cats? Or has someone figured out a way to "cat-proof" the unit so that the cat can't help himself before the lids open on the timer? I will only be away for a single meal at a time but I need to feed both cats and they are used to eating out of separate dishes so the PetSafe seemed like an ideal solution. But the reality is proving less than satisfactory.... -- Rhino |
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