I researched all of the reviews for this product, in addition to other automatic pet feeders. I have to say that I am pretty happy with this product, and have since ordered an additional unit so that I now have one for each of my cats.
I had a few issues with getting the food to initally dispense when I first set up the units. After a few tries and vigilantly making sure that the food dispenses when it was supposed to, it finally started working and I haven't had a problem since.
I think some of the reviews on here are for an older model, and PetMate seems to have made the programming super easy now. It really is pretty self-explanatory from reading the directions and I haven't had to refer back to them at all.
My one cat is definitely very smart and it is true that by sticking his paw up into the machine, he can knock out pieces of food. (I use Science Diet adult food, which is a triangular shape). However, I taped a paper plate to the front of the unit with a space below it so he can no longer do this, and this has been fine for me since.
My other cat is a little food-monger and vomits every time she overeats, so this has been great for her. I am watching her weight so I measured the amounts that the feeder dispensed and the 1/4 cup dispensed was accurate. I was worried about this due to what some of the other reviews said.
Also, I ordered 2 of the Power Line 0900-74 600-mA Universal AC-DC Adapters off of Amazon to avoid having to use the costly D batteries forever. They work great! The only problem I had was figuring out what polarity the feeder was. I called PetMate and they initially didn't know, but promptly called back, and it's tip-positive.
Yes, the top plastic part where the food is stored isn't the finest quality, but it was not that big of a deal to me. The machines make an audible noise when they dispense and the cats took to the machines right away. I have both units synchronized, and one is on top of the refrigerator for my slim kitty who can jump, while the other unit is on the floor for my food-monger kitty who can't jump due to stubby legs. =)
I give it 4 stars for the paper-plate modification to the outside and for not having something in the directions regarding the device polarity. Otherwise, I am very happy with my two feeders and recommend them to anyone who is okay with everything I mentioned above. I will worry less now when I go out of town and they'll be guaranteed to eat more than once daily when the petsitter comes. =)
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