Automatic Pet Feeder - Sureflap - SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeder - MPF001 - Suitable for Both Wet and Dry Food - Bonus eOutletDeals Pet Towel

We have three cats. One is not motivated by food at all. The 2nd is an older cat with medical issues that requires special food and likes to slowly graze on food all day. The 3rd cat is an overeater piggy crackhead who will eat all three bowls of food if left unattended.The 3rd cat (piggy crackhead), is the type of cat that will try to eat through cat food bags and hoover food down without swallowing. He is tenacious when it comes to attaining food, so we were hesitant to purchase this cat feeder at first. Neither my husband nor myself were sure if it would be sturdy enough (or work properly) in order to keep piggy crackhead from gobbling up our 2nd cats food.We knew, without a doubt, that the additional purchase of the rear cover would be required in order to have any hope of it working. We bought both the feeder and rear cover and kept our fingers crossed it would work.We purposely waited three months before writing this review. We wanted to see and make sure it worked well enough before giving a verdict. The good news is, the feeder works great. Our piggy crackhead cat has given up even trying to get or 2nd cats food. It works way better than we ever imagined it would.At first, it was hilarious to watch him try to get into the feeder. Our 2nd cat would pull her head out whenever piggy stuck his head in. It was so funny to see the cover close. Even funnier when the 2nd cat would give him a whack of the paw whenever he tried to raid it. It only took about two weeks for piggy to finally give up on that feeder. We were (and have continued to be) amazed at how good it works.Important to know: 100 percent you will need the rear cover for this feeder to work with a food motivated pet. You will need C batteries. So far we have not needed to change the batteries after three months. The motor is quiet and it did not scare our cat at all. The unit is super easy to wipe down and clean. The programming / set up was very easy with the microchipped cat. We did not use the collar tag, so no idea if that works or not.The feeder has been a blessing for our medical needs cat. She is older and needs to eat small portions and be able to graze 24/7. It is such a luxury to be able to watch her eat her special diet without fear of being bullied out of her bowl by the other cat.Long story short: The feeder is worth every penny. It is the best purchase we have ever made for our cats.

Right off the bat, I was nervous about it, so I’ll make sure I put it at the top: yes it is microchip. My older cat almost hanged himself with a collar and he’s indoor only so he doesn’t wear one & I programmed it off his chip (it was easy & did not require digging up the info)Second good thing to note: it is re-programmable. If you happen to struggle adding the desired cat and turn to grab the manual, and for that ONE SECOND that your back was turned, the wrong cat jumps in, just hold down the “add cat” button until the light pattern changes. Probably 10 seconds (I had to dig on the website to find that one).My older cat (15) has been free-fed his whole life and has never had a weight issue. My younger cat (2) does not have the same temperament around food and I needed something that wouldn’t prevent the free fed cat to have to adapt his habits (that have worked for him for 15 years) while still limiting access for the younger cat. Enter this.So far so good. I didn’t use the training mode because the older cat is unbothered by it. He’s not skittish in general, so I didn’t expect him to struggle with fear, but I did expect him to struggle with the “how” aspect— but I did find that the quick way to get him to put his head in there is to put some churu (or other preferred brand of cat-gogurt-product) onto the plastic cover, so they can smell/lick it off, then to put some on the kibble so they eat a bit before leaving. Rinse repeat.If another cat barges in next to them while they’re eating, the flap will remain open, but you can always manually hit the close button and it’ll close on them whether they’re still going or not.I will most likely get another in the future just so I can “free feed” both cats while still monitoring who eats what because I do worry that the older cat would default to the plate if I were to free feed them both with only one chipped feeder, then he’d have access to a double portion while the younger gets less than he should, but that’s something for down the road IF it becomes an issue.