MiBowl Automatic Microchip Pet Feeder with Included ID Disc - for Cats and Small Dogs - BPA and BHT Free Bowl and Enclosed Back - Great for Specialized or Prescribed Diets

I bought this to replace a SureFlap feeder that never worked well. This one works reliably, does a great job of keeping each cat in his own bowl, and is easy to clean. I like the narrow design a lot: neither the bigger cat nor the dog are able to get around or over my smaller cat when he’s eating. Clean up is easy, too. Because there’s no mat for the cat to stand on, there are just fewer surfaces to clean than on the SureFlap (which gets SO dirty in just a week!), and because the bowl is deep, my messy eater isn’t able to fling wet food all over the feeder. My SureFlap had 5 separate pieces that needed to be cleaned; this only has 3. There is sometimes a lag with the buttons and with the feeder opening, but I’ve experienced that lag with the other brand, too. It closes quickly after the cat leaves, which is the most important part, and it doesn’t close on them WHILE they’re eating, which is a problem I had with my other feeder. My only real complaint is that the price point is pretty high. If you have the money, and you have household like mine with multiple pets, each of whom only wants to eat whatever someone else is eating, I do think it’s worth the cost—provided it holds up. I’ve had mine for 6 months now and I haven’t noticed any problems.

We bought one of these and a second one two days later when we saw how well they work. Initially we bought it because one of our cats is on a restricted diet, but now that they are eating the same food we still use them because it lets each cat relax and eat their food at their own pace without worrying about the other one eating it.We don't use the collars; the microchips do the job and setting them up worked exactly according to the instructions. We used the side guards initially because at that time they would try to get into each other's food. They don't bother any more and so we've removed the guards and everyone peacefully eats their own food and leaves the other one alone. These are working extremely well.

Reading other reviews of this product I'm kind of confused - it works perfectly. Obviously it needs to be used with the bowl it comes with? I'm not sure why anyone would try otherwise. Also, I guess do check what kind of microchip you have in your cat, but I will say my cat is six years old and was microchipped in the US when she was a kitten, and her chip works fine with this reader. I'm not sure it's accurate to say if your cat wasn't chipped recently it's not going to work.Anyway, on to my review - I bought this feeder 10 months ago for my older cat who is a grazer, because my younger cat will scarf down anything he can get his paws on. Set it up to her chip by just holding her gently in front of it til it read her chip and bam, it was going. I did not have to make her eat from her normal bowl in front of it first, or have to make her eat with it open and automatic functions turned off.. I just set it to read her chip, gently held her in place while she was standing in front of it with her head in it until it opened, and then she immediately started eating out of it. She walked away when she was done, it closed, and about twenty minutes later I watched her walk right up to it, wait for it to open, and begin eating again. No problems at all. Some cats might be a little scared of the noise, maybe, but my cat is usually quite skittish and she learned instantly and with no issue. My other cat has tried relentlessly to break into it with no success. I don't see how two cats could fit in it side by side. I don't even have the two side flaps that make the head slot narrower installed, and he still can't fit next to her. She's only nine pounds so unless they were kittens.. How?All in all, while the price is definitely outrageous, it works perfectly and as advertised. Unfortunately older cat now needs a special diet and has taken to snacking on the younger cats food. So, looks like I might have to buy a second one now, lol

We needed a solution to 1 of our 2 cats wanting to hog all the cat food. This prevents that. Our cats aren't chipped so the collar tags are working great. These were easy to set up and our cats figured it out quickly though the "hog" cat still tries to open the other cats feeder.