When I opened the box for the PetSafe 5 Meal Pet Feeder I immediately thought "this is ???????? ????????for elderly people."
The branding, packaging, and even the looks of the pet feeder give off the same vibe as a daytime commercial for a product like Life Alert or some medical product. There's no frills or fancy anything, even the name is boring. And let's cut right to it — it's an eye sore.
But the PetSafe 5 Meal Pet Feeder has a purpose, and for specific pet owners, it will serve that purpose well. And at a pretty good value, too. The PetSafe automatic feeder is available for $44.95 on Amazon.
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Getting set up with the feeder
I was initially peeved to learn that the feeder only operates off of four D batteries, which are notincluded with the purchase of the box. I understand the reasoning for this: you want your pet feeder to reliably feed your cat or dog if you are not at home to do so. Even if the power goes out. But still, I would like to have the option to have the feeder run off of your home's electricity with a battery backup.
The only D batteries I had in my home were reserved for emergencies, so I shlepped to the store to buy some and was unfortunately reminded how expensive D batteries are. When I returned I was happy to discover that the pet feeder at least had directions for the batteries negative and positive terminals. There's nothing more frustrating than putting in batteries only to discover they're facing the wrong direction.
After popping in the batteries I highly recommend immediately replacing the little plastic cover that holds them in place. The batteries can easily be knocked out, which I experienced and then I had to reprogram the whole thing again. Me and the PetSafe 5 Meal Pet Feeder were not off to a great start.
A simple automatic pet feeder with minimal features
To call this a "smart pet feeder" would be an insult to actual smart pet feeders. The pet feeder has just six buttons underneath the hood, along with a digital display that has the quality of a cheap calculator. Thankfully the directions that come with the feeder are very clear, so programming the pet feeder is simple once you get the hang of it.
After setting the clock using the labeled up and down buttons, you can then program the times at which you'd like your feeder to spin, offering your pet a new batch of food or whatever you put inside the 5-part 1-cup tray.
My main problem with the five meal feeder is that the design of the feeder has one meal immediately available, so you're really only able to offer your cat or dog four future meals since one meal is immediately available when you set the thing up.
Since my cat eats wet food, we had to test out the feeder on our dog, Margot, who initially thought the feeder was some sort of puzzle. After eating her first serving of food from the exposed tray, she obviously could smell the rest of the food hidden by the ugly gray plastic and tried to bite her way through it.
Margot biting the feeder. Credit: Mashable I told her "no" and she stopped because she is a good girl, but there is definitely a good possibility that a determined dog (or cat!) could force the feeder to spin to the next tray, or even just eat away at the plastic and break the whole thing.
For that reason I would recommend the Pet Safe 5 Meal Pet Feeder for a small dog or a cat that eats dry food. My dog only weighs about 24 pounds, but she's smart and part pit bull. I have full confidence that she could force the tray to spin (it doesn't take much effort) or bite the plastic latch that holds the top of the feeder closed.
Setting the feeder for meal time
I usually feed Margot twice a day, once in the morning and once at night, so I set the feeder to spin at 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. When the feeder spun at 6 p.m. that evening, you could hear a small motor sound that wasn't too loud, but loud enough for me to hear throughout the house. The dog was nearby and did that cute head tilt thing dogs do when they hear a new noise. She investigated and found the food and immediately ate it, and didn't bite the feeder because she is a good girl.
"What the hell man, where's my food?"
The next morning I got up and fed the cat. Margot was confused because it was a little before 9 a.m., and she gave me a look like, "What the hell man, where's my food?" Eventually the feeder spun and she ate her breakfast.
Where's my food, dude? Credit: MAshable Again, the biggest issue I have with the feeder is that there are only five feeding slots. If you fill the feeder in the morning that's one spot, plus another for dinner. Now you have three spots left. Assuming you feed twice a day you have another day of two feedings, and your last slot will be used on the third morning. This is where things got tricky for us.
When the feeder was finally empty on day three, it landed on the second feeding, and at first I didn't notice it was empty. The odd number of trays in the feeder makes it difficult to set up a routine, and there's no way to check and see if food was actually dispensed because the tray will spin regardless of it being full or not. Thankfully I noticed and refilled the feeder but I was left asking myself, who is this feeder for?
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In my opinion the Pet Safe 5 Meal Pet Feeder would work best for cats. It's a great automatic feeder if you're maybe going on a short trip and you want to make sure your pet has enough food and it's not eating it all in one sitting. The feeder can also be useful with portion control, or animals that eat too quickly. You can load up the feeder every morning, and set it to dispense a small amount of food throughout the day. Plus the inside tray is removable for easy cleaning, and you can throw it right into the dishwasher. It's also a great option if you prefer low-tech, or don't want another app on your phone to simply feed your pet.
But when it comes down to it, I sort of missed feeding my dog for the duration of the test. Feeding a pet can create a tight bond with you and your animal that an automatic feeder can't replicate. For busy families, or if you're away away from your pet there is definitely a need for an automatic pet feeder. But I really enjoy seeing my cat squeal and scream when I grab a can of food to feed her, and I like to use Margot's feeding for an opportunity to train her. Her meal is her reward, and no pet feeder can replace that.