List Price: $59.99
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The Animal Planet Programmable Electronic Pet Feeder, beige revision (not the red and black version), is a reasonably good pet feeder with a few issues that should be addressed with an updated version.
Pros:
+ Easy, well designed UI. You won't have to break out the book each time you need to make a change. The UI for setting and programming the feeder is a big improvement over the previous generation feeder I had tried from from Pet Bistro (a frustrating effort that could only have been designed by programmers without having ever used it.)
+ Seems to be made with decent quality plastics except for the clear plastic food hopper.
+ The clock has maintained the time properly for three months and dispenses food at the scheduled times.
+ Uses batteries or an AC adapter (not included), but for some reason not both?
Cons:
!! Incorrect feeding portions. Noticed my cat was looking a little heavier after three months with this feeder. I have it set to 1/4 cup twice a day for an 8lb 3yr old indoor cat. I checked the food that dropped out on two separate feedings and what should have been a 1/4 cup (24g) was actually a heaping 1/3 cup (41g), a 70% increase. I am using normal sized cat food.
It doesn't seem that this was designed with cats in mind, especially ones with claws. My cat was reaching up inside the food chute and digging out food within 15 minutes of seeing the unit for the first time. She had never seen an automatic feeder prior to this. You can rig up something to prevent this (see pic) but it should be designed into the product.
The feeder is tall and becomes top heavy when filled with food. My cat tipped it over (after preventing her from digging out extra food) and the top popped right off, dumping a bunch of food on the floor. Placing in a corner makes it harder to tip over.
The food hopper plastic is thin and flimsy. Due to this the lid barely stays attached and is not secure. As others have noted, you have to tape it down. I use velcro tape for ease of reuse.
Improvement Suggestions:
Ensure that proper feeding portions are being dispensed.
Make the hopper more rigid with a secure lid.
Design in a cat resistant feeder flap, either built in or detachable.
The unit can use batteries OR AC power but not both. Design it so that AC with battery backup is possible.
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