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I am surprised that nobody has mentioned this. My situation is that I am away from home randomly for a few days at a time. So I wanted a feeder that I could turn on when I leave, and off when I am back. I prefer feeding the cats myself when I am home, more accurate portion sizing and also wet food at times. Either way, once you turn the unit off, it loses all information. Time, feeding times and portion size. I am by no means a newbie to technology and can program even a radio scanner from Radio Shack (that means something if you know what I am talking about), but this feeder is pretty tough to program. So this is my point every time I turn this feeder back on, I have to reprogram the time, the feeding schedule and the portion size. I guess if I do this often enough, I will learn the programming steps, but it's a huge hassle. I realize that I can program it to run for only so many days, but I sometimes don't make it home on the day I hope to, but the next day etc...
I guess if you use this feeder 24/7, it does the job, but for someone who is in and out and wants to turn the unit off frequently, it's really not the perfect machine.
Also, when I received it, one of the flaps on the bottom which are spring activated didn't seem to want to move. I discovered it had some extra plastic from the manufacturing process and was sticking. Had to use a knife to trim it down to the correct size. Now it works fine.
Update:
I have had this feeder for about 4 months now. I just changed the rating from 3 stars to 4 stars. I have to say, it really is a reliable feeder. The batteries are still going strong, they are the original ones. It has never failed to dispense food and even though I have never measured it scientifically, it seems to dispense more or less the same amount every time. I do have to say that I usually keep it fairly full though. I still hate the fact that I can't turn it off without reprogramming, if they were to fix that issue, this would be a wonderful machine.
My concoction for feeding two cats is still holding up too, I did post a picture on this page of what that looks like. I used two pieces of rain gutter downspout and a pedestal I made. Both cats have lost some weight thanks to not having a never ending supply of dry food while I'm gone.
Update:
I made myself a little cheat sheet for the programming process, printed it out and stuck it on the fridge. Maybe it will help someone. I use two feeding times. Also I use the default "smallest" feeding portion, so I don't have to change that:
1) Turn feeder on.
2) Within 90 seconds, set time:
3) Press "Clock" to set hour / press "Timer" to set minute
4) Press "Set" to confirm.
5) Press "Clock" to toggle between 12/24 hours.
6) Press "Start" to confirm clock settings.
7) Display now shows "1 07" (first feeding at 0700)
8) Press "Set" for two seconds until display flashes.
9) Press "Timer" to set desired feeding time.
10) Press "Set" to program second feeding time.
11) Press "Timer" to set desired feeding time.
12) Press "Start" to save and exit.
[To change portion size:]
14) Push VOL key to display portion size.
15) Press and hold the SET key until the digit blinks.
16) Press the VOL key to set the portion size. [ 1 = 1/4 cup, 2 = 1/2 cup etc... ]
17) Press the START key to confirm.
Another update:
Had the feeder for 15 months now. Still works perfectly. I've gotten used to its few quirks and am very happy with it. Yeah, still could use a better user interface, but hey... The four D cell batteries are finally getting low. They have been in the feeder for 15 months now and it has been on every day. Not shabby.
One more Update:
Had the unit for nearly exactly two years now. Still working perfectly twice a day without a break. Still on the second set of D cell batteries. I'm changing the rating to five stars. I really can't complain. Yeah, I still would love to be able to turn it off and not lose all the settings. I also wish that you could control the dispensing amount a little more accurately, but that wouldn't be easy seeing the way this machine is built. But for the money, you do get a good value. Still recommended, a little more highly now.
We just took our two cats to the vet, our "bigger" cat went from 18 pounds to 12 pounds. The vet praised us telling us that most people don't manage to bring their cats back down to a healthy weight. We told her that the feeder did it... Now we have to make a little extra manual feeding when we are home so they don't lose more weight. This is where a smaller incremental increase in portion size would come in handy. Going from 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup is just too much.
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