We all love pets. They give us company when we’re alone, solace when we’re hurt, and companionship whenever we need it. Dogs may be more demonstrative than cats, but if there’s one thing both cat and dog owners can agree on, it’s that our pets make our lives more bearable.
However, owning a pet isn’t all fun and games. Pets require a tremendous amount of TLC, and it takes a persistent and dedicated individual to take care of another creature continuously for years on end. Many people can’t hack it, and we think anybody who’s taken care of a pet for a relatively long period of time needs to be felicitated.
When you have an animal relying on you for all its needs, things quickly become difficult. You have to feed, shelter, and doctor your pet when it needs you, and it’s never easy to balance the daily responsibilities of taking care of your pet. This is especially true during those times when you need to give it more attention than usual.
But taking care of your pet doesn’t have to be difficult. With how fast technology is improving nowadays, almost every function you can think of can be automated.
Today, we’re discussing a particular function that is relatively easy to eliminate and makes life much less stressful for you: the pet feeder. Many pet feeders seem geared towards dogs, but we’ve tried to be as unbiased as possible.
Without any further ado, let’s get started!
Top Automatic Pet Feeders — Comparison Table
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Best Automatic Pet Feeder Reviews
Westlink 6L Automatic Pet Feeder Food Dispenser
The Westlink 6L automatic pet feeder is a monster of a pet feeder. With a 6-liter capacity, you won’t have to worry about refilling it for a long time. You can set the feeder to dispense up to four meals a day, with each meal consisting of between 1 and 39 portions.
If you have pets that overeat, the portioning system is a gem since it lets you control precisely how much food your pet has available. A single portion is around 11g, and you can use this value to calculate your pet’s ideal portion size.
The dispenser has an inbuilt voice recorder which you can use to record a 10-second audio clip of your voice. This may not seem useful at first, but it’s convenient if your pets know your voice since you can use the recording to tell your pets whenever it’s time to feed.
An infrared detection system prevents food from locking. This ensures your pet must finish some of the food before more is dispensed, preventing spillage and wastage. The system can distribute dry food of any shape, but its size must be below 0.39” by 0.39” to ensure it won’t get stuck while being dispensed.
The Westlink’s power consumption is extremely low — it operates on either D batteries or USB power.
Features at a Glance
•6-liter capacity
•Programmable portions and numbers of meals
•Inbuilt voice recorder
•Anti-locking infrared system
•Low power consumption
The unconventionally capitalized isYoung 5.5l automatic pet feeder can hold up to 5.5 liters of food, allowing you to use its funnel as a storage compartment. The funnel is designed to keep food fresh and dry, so you don’t have to worry about your pet’s food going bad while being stored.
You can set the feeder up to feed your pet up to three times a day. You also get to select from a range of portion sizes — you can choose to feed your pet between 1 and 12 portions.
The LCD on the feeder allows you to see information about your pet’s mealtimes at a glance. The display shows you the time, programmed meals, meal sizes, and whether food has been served or not.
You can use the inbuilt voice recorder to record a short clip of yourself calling your pet to lunch, making sure it knows when food is ready. The recording can play up to three times to be entirely sure your pet hears it.
The feeder is designed to be robust and can handle low to medium impacts — a necessity if you have an unruly pet. Its removable tray is easy to clean, ensuring you don’t have to spend too much time when you’re cleaning.
The isYoung pet feeder is one of the most affordable on our list, but it does have a few drawbacks. It only allows you to set a maximum of three meal times in a day, and it can’t handle moist or semi-moist pet food. However, its low price more than makes up for this, but make sure you’ve weighed its pros and cons before you decide on it.
Features at a Glance
•5.5l storage
•Up to 3 meal times in a day
•Choose between 1-12 portions
•LCD display
•Voice recording capabilities
•Durable construction
•Affordable
The WOpet 7L feeder is an excellent system that is a strong contender for the title of ‘best pet feeder.’ This food dispenser can be programmed beforehand to allow you to feed your pets continuously — even in your absence.
You can dispense between 1 and 39 portions every meal and set as many as four distribution alarms daily. The adjustable portion size allows you to select exactly how much to feed your pet, and the distribution alarms will alert your pets that it’s time to eat.
You can also select between ‘large’ and ‘small’ portion sizes, allowing you to personalize portion sizes to your pet’s size.
The 7-liter capacity of the WOpet pet feeder allows it to carry enough food to feed your pets for up to four days. The feeder can open four times a day and will enable you to decide those times.
An inbuilt voice recorder lets you record a Meal Call not longer than 10 seconds to allow you to call your pets when it’s time to feed.
The pet feeder can run on batteries or a DC connection. The batteries last for quite some time even when there’s no power, so you can rest assured your pets won’t start starving as soon as there’s a power cut.
Features at a Glance
•Up to 4 distribution times in a day
•Different portion sizes
•High capacity
•Inbuilt voice recorder
Yet another PetSafe product, the Six Meal Automatic Pet Feeder is one of the best automatic dog feeders you can buy. It can feed your pets with up to six pre-programmable meals in a day, hence its name.
The feeder has an inbuilt LCD screen and digital clock to make it as easy as possible for you to schedule meals for your pet. You won’t need to guess how much time to set or get a calculator for that.
Each tray slot can hold up to an entire cop of semi-moist pet food. You can feed your pet one large meal in a day, or program several smaller meals to avoid issues with overeating pets.
The PetSafe has a carousel which turns and drops a portion after a preprogrammed duration. The carousel is designed to stay safe from prying paws which, in other feeders, may turn the carousel and steal food from the next slot.
The carousel and bowl are removable and dishwasher-safe, making cleaning them extremely easy.
The feeder runs on alkaline batteries with a battery life of around nine months, ensuring you don’t have to rush out to replace them every month or so. PetSafe’s customer support is also excellent. Its one drawback is that it isn’t up on Sundays.
Features at a Glance
•Up to six pre-programmable meals in a day
•Pet-safe carousel
•Removable and dishwasher-safe components
•Runs on alkaline batteries
•Great customer support
With everything you can think of (and several things you can’t) going automatic, the pet feeder industry is no different. The PetSafe Smart Feed pet feeder allows you to control your pets feeding schedule from anywhere in the world.
The PetSafe app works with iOS 9 and later devices, and most Android smartphones above Android 5.
You can schedule up to 12 meals in a day with different portion sizes so you can set up your PetSafe to feed your pet on its own schedule. Many pet owners complain about ravenous pets overeat and vomit, a complaint that PetSafe addresses with the Slow Feed option.
Slow Feed dispenses food slowly over 15 minutes, making it impossible for your furry friend to gorge itself and vomit.
You can also feed your pet at any time outside of a schedule using the aptly-named ‘Feed Now’ button on either the feeder or the app. You can even set your apps to receive alerts whenever your pet eats for your peace of mind.
The feeder has internal memory, which means it will keep operating even if it loses the Internet connection. Once you’ve set up your schedule, you can rest assure the feeder will continue working and feeding your pet as long as it’s connected to power.
Every component of the feeder is dishwasher-safe to allow you to clean without any trouble. The 24-cup hopper can hold dry or semi-moist food and is translucent to let you quickly see how much is remaining.
Features at a Glance
•Works with iOS and Android devices
•Feed your pet at any time
•Set up feeding schedules
•Feeding schedule is preserved even if Internet connection is lost
•Dishwasher-safe components
•Translucent hopper
The Feed and Go smart pet feeder markets itself as the smartest pet feeder in the world. Is this really true? Let’s find out in this automatic pet feeder review.
The pet feeder aims to give you total control over your pet’s feeding schedule. The feeder lets you set regular feeding schedules or one-time feeding parameters for your pet. You can also control your pet’s diet of both wet food and dry food, and you can even use the feeder to dispense treats and medication.
You can even check in on your pets if you’re worried about them by launching the webcam on the feeder. The webcam won’t work during the night, unfortunately, but at least you can check in on your beloved companions during the day!
The Feed and Go uses your home Wifi connection to connect to the mobile app. Once a schedule is set, it is stored in the machine, which allows the feeder to continue functioning even when there’s no Internet connection.
You can attach multiple feeders to your profile and then switch between them from the companion mobile app. Oh yes, you get a mobile app that works on both iOS and Android which allows you to control every function on the feeder.
Features at a Glance
•Companion mobile app
•Webcam function
•Complete control over feeding schedule
•Can work without an Internet connection
•Multiple feeders can be attached to a single profile
The Petmate Pet Café feeder aims to make feeding your pet quick and easy. The feeder uses gravity to ensure that the food levels in the feeder remain replenished.
The storage hopper has an extra-wide mouth and a removable lid, allowing you to disassemble it quickly when it’s cleaning time. The base is equipped with handles to allow you to maneuver the feeder easily. You can get the Petmate in many colors — you can select the one that most suits your current décor.
The Petmate is analogous to a 24-hour snack bar for your pets. It continuously delivers food and ensures your pet always has food to eat. You may not be able to set schedules with this feeder, but you can’t realistically expect such a feature on a feeder that costs less than $20.
You can also get the Petmate in different sizes, allowing you to pick the perfect feeder for your pet — whatever its size.
If you’re looking for a pet feeder and you aren’t willing to spend a lot of money, the Petmate is perfect for you. It’s the most affordable pet feeder on our list, and it works perfectly!
One of the main drawbacks of the Petmate is that large-grain pet food won’t dispense very well. If you’ve got a couple of dogs and are used to getting large-grain dog food, make sure the Petmate will dispense it before you go out for a long trip and possibly leave your dogs to starve.
Features at a Glance
•Extremely affordable
•Continuous stream of pet food
•Available in different colors and sizes
The HoneyGuaridan A26 is an automatic pet feeder that’s wonderful at what it does. It allows you to program schedules for pet feeding from up to 1/32 to four cups per meal. This lets you select exactly how much food you want to have your pet to have — a handy feature which allows you to adjust the feeder depending on how much your pet eats.
You can schedule up to 6 meals a day. The feeder lets you decide between giving your pets one or two large meals, or several smaller meals throughout the day.
An inbuilt voice recorder records up to 12-second long clips. You can record yourself calling out to your pet and set the clip as your pet’s food call. The clip will then play at every meal time.
Infrared detection capabilities prevent backing up. The detection system senses whether there is still food in the dish and doesn’t serve more food if it detects some present.
The feeder accepts small-grained pet food and is ideal for cats or small and medium dogs. While it can dispense foods of different shapes, it has trouble dealing with larger pet food particles.
The HoneyGuaridan A26 consumes very little power and can last for up to 6 months on batteries. It can also work on power, a more convenient option for those who don’t want to spend the extra money on batteries.
You also get a 12-month warranty on the product for your peace of mind.
Features at a Glance
•1/32 to 4 cups per meal
•Up to 6 meal times per day
•Voice recording
•Infrared detection system
•Dual power options
•12-month warranty
The eTTgear electric pet food dispenser is an affordable pet food dispenser that balances price and functionality very well. With a 5.5-liter hopper, the eTTgear can store enough dry food to satisfy all your pets.
The dispenser has an LCD screen that gives you all the information you need at a glance — allowing you to see and adjust settings you don’t like. You’ll also control the dispenser using the LCD screen.
The food hopper is built to be robust enough to withstand pet attacks — although an extremely motivated animal could probably break through it with enough time and effort. The hopper is made out of ABS material and features impact and heat resistance — although we fail to understand under what circumstances you’ll be worried about your pet food dispenser getting too hot.
The feeder has voice recording capabilities which make your pet feel like you’re right there with them while they’re eating. You can only record a 10-second clip, however, so don’t invest too much time into recording your message.
The eTTgear doesn’t allow you to customize meal times — it locks you to three meals a day. A fixed schedule like this makes it much easier for you to monitor your pet’s health and feeding schedule.
The dispenser requires three D batteries for power, and you’ll have to buy these separately.
Features at a Glance
•5.5-liter capacity
•LCD
•Pet-proof hopper
•Voice recording capabilities
•3 meal times a day
•Battery-powered
Another PetSafe product, this automatic pet feeder aims to make it as easy as possible for you to feed your pet. Its simple design and intuitive operation make it one of the best automatic dog feeders you can buy.
The digital timer program allows you to dispense as many as 12 meals in a day. Portion sizes are also adjustable and can be set from 1/8 of a cup to four cups. This gives you complete control over how you feed your pet and also makes it easier to feed smaller pets by allowing you to set smaller portions.
Pet food is dispensed using a jam-free system that ensures your pet will always get food. The hopper can hold up to 24 cups of dry food, and the bowl can hold 5. Semi-moist food will take up more space. The hopper is translucent to allow you to see when you need to refill it.
Slow Feed mode is designed to handle pets that overeat by dispensing food slowly over 15 minutes.
The dispenser is designed to be pet-proof to keep nosy pets out and your pet food dry and fresh. The removable stainless steel bowl is cleaner and more hygienic than a plastic bowl. It’s also easier to clean.
The pet feeder can be disassembled for cleaning, although not all its parts are dishwasher-safe, so make sure you read your manual before tossing components in your dishwasher.
Features at a Glance
•Up to 12 meals in a day
•Adjustable portion sizes
•Jam-free conveyor
•Slow Feed mode
•Pet-proof dispenser
•Disassemblable system
Conclusion
There you have it! Above are some of the best automatic pet feeders you can currently find on the market. Unfortunately, we can’t decide which one is the best for you — you’ll have to make that decision yourself.
Everyone looks for something different when buying a product. Some people consider price the most important factor. Others go for aesthetics. Yet others go for functionality. It’s up to you to think about what you believe most crucial in your dog feeder and make a decision based on that.
Our advice?
Write down the features that you deem essential in your dog feeder. Then, go through the items you’ve shortlisted and compare their features to the ones you have on your list. The item that matches your list the closest is the best pet feeder for you.
Also, don’t forget that as much as you’re buying a pet feeder to make your life easier, you’re also buying it to ensure your furry friend’s comfort. Don’t buy something that you know you’ll like, but won’t be ideal for your pet.
If you don’t consider your pet, you’ll likely have to return the product you bought and get a new one. And no one likes the hassle associated with returns and refunds and reshipping, right?
Happy hunting!
Last update on 2023-03-23 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API