Cat Mate C50 Automatic Pet Feeder

If I was an engineer I would design a robust cat feeder that no cat could dismantle. My 5 month old kitten took this apart in less than 5 minutes. I did write to the company who told me so send it back, which I did. They replaced the top and sent it back saying it was fine. My kitten then proceeded to do it again. Basically if you have a curious wee beastie like me, this feeder is a complete waste of money. He got his lower teeth up under the lid and flipped upwards and the top popped off. I' d really like someone to advise me of any other product out on the market that delivers wet food and is cat proof...because I bet there isn't such a thing!

This is a fiddly feeder to set up and despite having used the same design in the past & reaqunting myself with the instructions I still managed to get it wrong a few times.What DOESN'T help is the compartment marked with a zero that is supposed to help with set up. It is barely visible as a matt marking on the bottom of one of the trays & impossible to spot in low light. Also it is not readily apparent which way the unit rotates so if you are setting it up for just a couple of days there's a very real risk you'll place the food in the wrong compartments.Finally, there is the cooling mechanism, costing of two (surprise, surprise) non-standard size freezer blocks. These have no hope of assisting for anything more than a day & a half at most so completely inadequate for something that's supposed to operate for four days at a time with anything other than dry food.

Ok so it does do what it says it does . Yes a little fiddly to set up but once you get the hang it's actually quite quick .it's sturdy .one major draw back that I didn't consider till I started using and in fact should be obvious just from the photo but if your cat doesn't eat the first feed when it first opens and the device goes on to the second compartment then they lose the opportunity to eat the last one and so on .becuase it works on a release ,close the last one ,release the next compartment ,close the last. It should just release ,release ,release and so on .that way if your cat isn't about it can catch up on eating when it returns .I guess if you have an inside cat that may be less likely to happen but if yours is like mine and sometimes goes wondering for several hours at a time then this won't be the solution for you .

This is the fourth of these that I have bought and they are brilliant - but it's worth holding onto the warantee as they can sometimes break down (especially if you accidentally turn the controls in the wrong direction - it's always worth reading the instructions properly!)You can set the timer to move to the next meal at any precise time of the day to match your cat's usual routine. My cats get on fine with it and can cope when I go for a weekend away without me needing to arrange for someone to call in on them. I find the feeders really reliable.

I purchased this feeder because the digital one was out of stock. I found it very easy to set up, yes it's not digital but the mechanical 4 day clock face is very easy to read, much like an older type boiler clock. Its only disadvantage is that you need to place it in the middle of the room. This is because the round cover movess to the next meat, not the base. Other reviwers have said that their cat has played with the cover and dislodged it but this has not happened so far. Just remember that it only hides 4 meals, the 5th or first meal is always uncovered. I suplimented this device with a 2 meal dispenser but would not recommend that you go any longer than this combination. Both the devices were placed on a cool tiled floor which assists the cool block.

We have an 'indoor' cat, due to FIV. So the cat has to travel with us wherever we go. A short break away is therefore complicated by our dearly beloved being sick, seeing in the car, etc etc. This has given us a whole new option, kinder to cat and car. Simple to use, works well (I tried it to make sure it works before we used it for real) even with our wet cat food, cat had no problem eating while we were away. Cool pack is genius.

Haven’t had the confidence to use this much as the mechanism frequently skips a feed. We’ve tested it numerous times and it often skips either the second or third feed. Not what you want when leaving your pet at home for a day or two .

Once we'd received a properly-working unit, we were very happy. So were the cats! Simple enough to set up, but note that it will make FOUR meals available at set times - the fifth one is always open.We did have bad luck with the first two units being faulty, but Amazon were brilliant with returns & replacements and now we're very happy. If you order one, set it up and test it immediately on receipt.