Automatc cat feeders

[Punch]

Hi I often need to go away for a week at very short notice, and was thinking of using an automatic cat feeder for my very independant cat who spends most of it's time outdoors. Does anyone use one and could recommend make and models and any advice tips please ? Also where to buy in France?

[Chrissie]

I used to use one that lasted 24 hours, but didn't know you could get one that would work for a week.  And wouldn't it get dirty?  Occasionally my 24-hour one would have a problem, such as the catch on the feeder tray sticking and not opening, or the battery not working for long enough, and then I would feel terribly guilty.  Sorry not to have anything positive to give you.  Will be interested to see what suggestions others can come up with.

Chrissie (81) 

[Anton Redman II]

I think Auchan hypermarkets have them and Million des Amis which has chnaged name but is the big pet store you find on many centtre commercial.

Amazon have them mail order.

http://www.automaticcatfeeder.org.uk/

We ended up using a hopper for dry food and a water dispenser for the odd night away.

[Doodle]

I bought a battery operated cat feeder from a supermarket can't now remember whether it was Hyper U or Leclerc however every time the cat went near it the whirring noise of the lid opening sent one deranged cat flying for cover. The first time she went near it and the lid whirred open, she did a vertical take off and landed on the work surface with the most incredulous look on her face. Needless to say the thing was a waste of money except that the metal bowl is now removed from the feeder and used for water. We now exchange 'holiday' feeding duties with a french neighbour who also has a cat !

[Charly]

The two main types on the market seem to be best illustrated on the Pets at Home English website. One is £44.99 and has 96 hr/5-setting timer, rotating feeding compartments, space for ice packs underneath for wet food freshness  - all the bells and whistles  - and with the  mixed reviews it gets, probably highly likely to quickly break down, fail to operate or just break!  The more simple little hopper-type feeder (a bit like one could use for hens) works for dry food or water, costs £11.99 and is dishwasher proof and has rubber non slip feet. It looks cat/idiot proof and just relies on more food dropping down as the bottom biscuits are eaten up.  This sounds ideal to me for short term problems and even if the greedy cats finish it all very quickly in one long eating binge, it doesn't really matter.  But, for as long as a week away, I can't imagine what my cats would get up to and I would worry constantly about them,so this would affect the enjoyment of my holiday.  If your cat is independent and mostly outside, why don't you try to find a child who could make daily or twice daily visits to your garden to check on the food and water situation and make a fuss of the cat. The child is not being asked to do anything very difficult and is able to earn some pocket money and you'll know that the cat is fed, so you won't worry.  Far easier than trusting to batteries or possibly unreliable equipment, I would think. The last owners of our house used a complicated contraption on a timer which closed our little henhouse door at dusk, so that they didn't have to worry .But we soon ditched that when it failed to close properly or, at all !

[val douest]

I agree with Charly that anything complicated is quite likely to go wrong and if you are away for a week or so that could leave the cat without food for several days.  Friends  inherited two barn cats when they bought their part-time house and made arrangements for a neighbour to fill a large hopper once a week while they were away.  This worked fine for a while but then the local feral population moved in, emptied the hopper in no time at all and drove their two cats off.  If you are going to leave any kind of feeding apparatus outside then you may find the same thing happens.  If it's inside (via a catflap) this may work better as if you are only away for a week or so a feral cat probably wouldn't have time to work up the skill and confidence to use the catflap.  But if you do buy any type of feeder, test it out well beforehand, preferably by using it every day, so you can see if it works reliably.  The simple hopper types are probably as good as any.  The slightly more refined version by Karlie  has good customer reviews and Zooplus deliver to France at reasonable cost.  Go to  http://www.zooplus.co.uk   and use their search facility for Karlie Duo Max.

But of course it would be a real reassurance for you and your cat if someone could call round regularly to check he's OK.

Val

[Polly]

Have you taught the cat how to call the vet?

Can the cat drive, or would it have to take a bus/taxi to get to the surgery? Will you leave it a cheque or credit card?

What happens if this wonder-feeder suddenly doesn't work?

Surely someone like you, who runs a thriving business with an 'established local reputation' and who has been in the area for 17 years knows someone locally who could see to your cat twice a day? And you could surely afford to pay them a few bob too if it's not just a friendly neighbour calling in?

 

[Théière]

I'm hungry, my owners have left me

[Russethouse]

[quote user="Polly"]Have you taught the cat how to call the vet?
Can the cat drive, or would it have to take a bus/taxi to get to the surgery? Will you leave it a cheque or credit card?
What happens if this wonder-feeder suddenly doesn't work?
Surely someone like you, who runs a thriving business with an 'established local reputation' and who has been in the area for 17 years knows someone locally who could see to your cat twice a day? And you could surely afford to pay them a few bob too if it's not just a friendly neighbour calling in?
 
[/quote]

Polly, none of us have any idea of the circumstances here (unless you have some inside knowledge) it would be nice if you could  help with a solution rather than adding to the problem.

For all you know Punch gets calls in the middle of the night, for who knows what, and is trying to the best he can for the animals in difficult circumstance. To quote Dick Smith 'never assume'

As Punch hasn't posted for a while, does it not occur to you that something is wrong or his situation has changed ? [:@][:@]

[Théière]

Since 5.47 am this morning?.........

I think Polly was just pointing out why a mechanical feeder is not the answer to this situation, logical and caring

[quote user="Punch"]Hi I often need to go away for a week at very short notice, and was thinking of using an automatic cat feeder [/quote]

Doesn't give me the feeling of an emergency situation arising suddenly

[Punch]

Thanks Russethouse, you've hit the nail on the head actually. Without going into personal details my situation has taken a turn for the worse and replies like the one from Polly are not helpful in my current circumstances. It's amazing how people assume !

Many thanks to all those that have replied with some excellent advice. Looks like the problem can be solved with a combination of a hopper feeder and a friendly neighbour (if I'm lucky).

Thanks again.

[Polly]

I'm not assuming anything, I'm thinking of an animal's wellbeing.

I suggested he must know someone who could check on the animal's welfare. If the OP's circumstances have changed then maybe he should change his web reference, as given on his post, or perhaps have told us why he feels it's OK to abandon a pet for a week.

Maybe he should think of putting the cat in a cattery whilst he's away, if he has no-one nearby?

OP, I see you have posted in the meantime and I'm glad your cat will be looked after, and I hope things turn out OK for you.

[Russethouse]

Since 5.47 am this morning?.........

I'm not sure what you mean - perhaps it has happened before and arrangements didn't work out and Punch is looking at other options - I don't know any more than you or Polly, and I think its pretty clear from other responses that is a far from perfect solution.

at very short notice

What does that mean to you ? 5 minutes or 24 hours, we all have different ideas !

If Punch hadn't asked and his arrangements had fallen down, and the cat had gone hungry there would be some clever clogs saying 'you could have got one of those automatic feeders' [Www]

Honestly - why not give the benefit of the doubt ?

 

[Polly]

[quote user="Russethouse"]

Since 5.47 am this morning?.........

I'm not sure what you mean - perhaps it has happened before and arrangements didn't work out and Punch is looking at other options - I don't know any more than you or Polly, and I think its pretty clear from other responses that is a far from perfect solution.

If Punch hadn't asked and his arrangements had fallen down, and the cat had gone hungry there would be some clever clogs saying 'you could have got one of those automatic feeders' [Www]

Honestly - why not give the benefit of the doubt ?

 

[/quote]

So all a cat needs, Russethouse, in your opinion is a bit of nosh and all will be ticketyboo? There's more to owning a pet than feeding it.

[Théière]

Lets not assume anything, I believe Punch said you gave excellent advice making them think about the cat's wellbeing some more Polly, leaving a cat to rely on a feeder for a week, then a week and a half then a fourtnight........However as some people think it is ok to leave a feeder for a week (not all, some expressed concern) then that's forums.

 

[Russethouse]

[quote user="Polly"][quote user="Russethouse"]

Since 5.47 am this morning?.........

I'm not sure what you mean - perhaps it has happened before and arrangements didn't work out and Punch is looking at other options - I don't know any more than you or Polly, and I think its pretty clear from other responses that is a far from perfect solution.

If Punch hadn't asked and his arrangements had fallen down, and the cat had gone hungry there would be some clever clogs saying 'you could have got one of those automatic feeders' [Www]

Honestly - why not give the benefit of the doubt ?

 

[/quote]

So all a cat needs, Russethouse, in your opinion is a bit of nosh and all will be ticketyboo? There's more to owning a pet than feeding it.
[/quote]

There you go assuming again !

Perhaps next time you start berating someone you should stop and think - why be so negative  and critical ? All you had to do was say that while there are some automatic feeders available they are not a perfect solution (as those who posted before you had already said) and the cat would probably be happier with a human looking out for it, and your point would have been made in a more pleasant, constructive way.

 

[andyh4]

[quote user="Polly"]Maybe he should think of putting the cat in a cattery whilst he's away, if he has no-one nearby?


[/quote]

 

Polly

Have you tried finding a cattery at short notice as we start to run into the holiday season?

I am either guessing not, or you are in an area endowed with many catteries.

From personal experience when a family member was first rushed to hospital and then died very close to Easter, finding a cattery with space even in such dire circumstances was not possible.

 

I do understand your concern for the wellbeing of the cat but think you may have overstepped the mark a little.

 

[Doodle]

aaaaahhhhhh I just luv the picture of that cat........

[Théière]

Me too [:)]

[sid]

We no longer have our cat, she was 22 when she passed away a couple of years ago! But we did look at the automatic feeders when we knew we would soon need to go back to UK at short notice. It was obvious that the feeder might malfunction or that the food would not be sufficiently fresh (she was very fussy about eating stuff that wasn't just out of the tin or packet [:D] ) or it might scare the wits out of her. (that was WITS, by the way [;-)]). And it's then that the realisation comes home that you have a responsibilty to your pet; you can't just abandon them when something comes up. It's all part of being a responsible owner; you need to make contingency plans for stuff like this. We found a neighbour who came in twice a day for the three days we were away. Yes, it turned out to be three days instead of the anticipated two, so what would have happened to our Topsy then? Starve for the extra day?

[Polly]

Well, I never thought I'd be castigated on this forum for raising an issue of animal welfare.

[Russethouse]

Surely raising an issue of animal welfare does not preclude you from a little empathy for your fellow man.

Just perhaps people aren't always as bad as you think they are, but being judgemental won't help the person involved, or the cat!

[Pads]

My biggest worry would be what if some thing happened to me while I was away for that week . No one would have a key to the house and the cat would then be left to fend for its self for who knows how long , Im lucky that I have a great friend in one of my neighbours , not only will she take great care of my cat but care for home and plants aswell ,She also has instructions what to do if I didnt come back. If you dont have some one simular then you should look for some one you can pay to take a key .... because As I well know after only going out for an evening , some times you dont come home ....

I also think what about fresh water ? would you really want the cat to drink week old water ? or am I just a fussy mare ?

[bolty]

No method is fail safe. Some friends of mine in UK paid for a dog-sitter whilst they were away for 2 weeks. Sadly the dog-sitter had a very bad road traffic accident en route to the house and was in a coma for several days. Luckily, she survived and double lucky she remembered what she was on her way to do at the time of the accident. The dogs were thankfully OK but had been left locked inside the house with no food or water for 3 days... doesn't bear thinking about...

[Suninfrance]

We got our cat feeder from our local co-op agricole.  It was called a Pet Cafe and they do one for biscuits and one for water.   The biscuit one was about €11 and the water one a little more expensive.  I have four cats.  The feeder takes about 1 kilo of biccies and with my four (at the moment because the weather is warm and they are out supplementing their diet with mice and rabbit), the contents last around 2-3 weeks. 

It also depends where you put it.  If it is going to be put outside, then it's an invitation for other cats, hedgehogs, etc to munch on the biccies, unless your cat has a safe place to go and eat.

This feeder has been an item well worth the money.  Although we don't go away for days on end, it's good to know that if we are out early and back late, the cats have fresh food and water they can go to.

Jan