You will be a very happy cat owner if you find a good solution for you and your cat. These are important tips:
Tip 1: Check if the automatic feeder has a digital timer so you can program a feeding schedule for your cat. You can, for example, program the feeder to dispense food 3 times daily: at 9 am, 2 pm and 7 pm. This is very important to consider if you want to feed your cat more than once a day.
Tip 2: Check if the feeder dispensing system can also be programmed. For example, if you have your cat on a diet, you can program the feeder to dispense a total of 90 grs of food daily; or if your cat eats more than that, you can program it for 150 grs daily, or whatever amount you want it to eat. If you want to give your cat a maximum of 90 grs of food, distributed in 3 portions per day, for example, check if the feeder is capable of dispensing individual 30 gr portions.
Tip 3: Check whether the feeder is guaranteed to work with the pellet size of the cat food you feed your cat. Some automatic feeders don't guarantee the correct amount of food dispensing when using a different pellet size than what they recommend. They might dispense more or less, or not be able to dispense food at all if using the wrong pellet size. This is a very important point to consider.
Tip 4: Check whether the feeder's digital system retains the programmed information when you switch it off or change batteries.
Tip 5: Check whether the feeder system can be violated by your cat. Especially check whether the nozzle system is protected. Be sure to check this characteristic if you have one of those "locksmith" type cats!
Tip 6: Consider how many batteries the feeder uses or whether it has to be plugged in.
Tip 7: Quality of materials is something to consider in automatic feeders for pets. This is important if you want to have a product that will last a long time.
Tip 8: Finally, check if the automatic feeder has to be assembled, to make sure you have the right tools when buying it.
With these 8 tips you should be able to choose the right automatic feeder for your cat. Your pet will be very grateful and you will save yourself a big headache!