Summary:

These feeders have been extremely effective in a multi pet household with grazers and one food motivated pet. Our pets range from a 6 lb miniature dog and a small dog around 20 lb to a 10 lb cat and a 15 lb cat, and each one can safely eat their own food without interference while portions stay controlled.

Full Review:

We currently own four of these selective feeders from SureFlap and use them daily in a mixed household with cats and dogs. Our pets range from a 6 lb miniature dog, a small dog around 20 lb, a 10 lb cat, and a 15 lb cat, and the feeders recognize them reliably.

Three feeders are programmed directly to individual microchips, and one is programmed using the included collar tag for a temporary visiting dog. Programming was straightforward, and it is possible to assign more than one pet to a single feeder if needed. The feeders can also be fully reset to clear all programmed pets, which made it easy to reassign one when our household situation changed.

Training took a little repetition, but it was easier than expected. We started by placing treats directly in front of the opening and inside the tray so our pets naturally learned to put their face in the correct spot. For two pets that trust handling, I gently guided their bodies and showed them that placing their head near the opening would trigger the lid. It took all of our furbabies a few tries to get used to it.

Our small dog’s ears do brush the sides of the opening, which confused him at first when trying to get to his own food. However, that did not stop him from trying to put his head into the other pets’ feeders to see if they would open for him. Thankfully, they did not.

These feeders have been a game changer for a household with grazers and one pet that would otherwise overeat. Our grazers can eat when they are hungry without their food being stolen, and the food motivated pet can no longer access meals that are not theirs. It has also stopped two of our grazers from eating each other’s food, which was important for maintaining proper nutrition since one is a small dog and the other is a cat.

The only time the system fails is when someone forgets to close a feeder after filling it. In our house that occasionally happens with kids or busy mornings, and the pets will absolutely take advantage of an open feeder. As long as the lids are closed properly, the selective access works exactly as intended.

The fourth feeder was added specifically to protect the visiting dog’s food from the other pets. Using the collar tag worked just as reliably as the microchip programming and gave us flexibility for a short term situation.

We also upgraded the bowls to the stainless steel version for easier cleaning and labeled each SureFlap feeder with the pet’s initial so we can easily keep track of which feeder is programmed to which pet.

✅ Pros:

• Effectively prevents food stealing

• Works well for both cats and small dogs

• Allows grazers to eat on their own schedule

• Supports different diets in the same household

• Microchip and collar tag options are both reliable

• Feeders can be reset and reprogrammed as needs change

⛔️ Cons:

• There can be minor differences in sensor sensitivity between units. Some feeders open very quickly, while others require the pet to place their face closer to the sensor. This temporarily confused one of our cats during training, but with a little repetition they adjusted and now use it without issue.

• I do wish the company offered additional size options for larger dogs. These work great for cats and small dogs, but a larger version would have been helpful for our extra large dog whose food was sometimes stolen by our food motivated cat. If they ever expanded the line for bigger dogs, an adjustable height option would also be beneficial so dogs could eat at a more comfortable height that supports their joints.

⭐ Final Thought:

I would buy these again without hesitation and would recommend them to any multi pet household dealing with food stealing, portion control, or pets on different diets.

I have a cat that was recently diagnosed with hyperthyroidism, and is allergic to the medication to treat it, so instead we've had to put him on a prescription diet. This is a challenge because we have two cats. He cannot have any of the other cat's food, and she can't have his. We were feeding them in separate rooms for a few days, but this was really difficult because they are grazers rather than eating at set meal times, and our other cat found it distressing to be shut up in a room for meal time.

I did some research and found this product. It seemed too good to be true, so I purchased one at first to check it out. It takes a lot for technology to impress me these days, but this did. You don't even have to register their microchip, you just press a "searching" button, they walk under it, and it's now paired to their microchip. It's so cool to watch this thing really work. I bought another one a couple of days later.

Training took longer than anticipated. Based on reviews, I figured it wouldn't take them too long to figure it out. Well, they did figure it out pretty quickly, but they were scared to death of these feeders. I started with just having them eat out of them in the open position as regular food dishes, and that part went perfectly fine. It was as soon as I moved to the next stage of the training program that they freaked out, mainly due to the sound. That's really the only downside to this product - the opening and closing mechanism can be quite loud. Our master bedroom is near the kitchen, and I can hear the feeders opening and closing at night sometimes. It took some time to get used to the sound (for them and for us!).

I had to start back at square one because they refused to go near the feeders once they heard the sound. I would put the food dish a little closer to it each day. After about 5 days of this I was able to move on to the next stage. Again, they were freaked out and I had to start over. This went on for about two weeks - one step forward, two steps back. It required diligence, patience, and paying attention to who was eating what.

The instructions say that if you are training multiple cats you should only move them to the next stage when both are ready. However, this wasn't working for me because they quickly figured out that they could just eat out of the other cat's dish, which did not make the scary sound for them. So, after a week of trying to train them together, I moved the slightly less scared cat along more quickly than the other. This helped a lot, because it then forced the other cat to get used to her own feeder.

So, it's been about three weeks and they are now both completely trained. They haven't even bothered trying to get into each other's dishes, they just go straight to their own. Another benefit of the product is that I can now easily monitor how much each cat is eating, and when.

Is this product expensive? Yes. But is it worth it? A resounding yes. It solved a big problem for me, and has lifted a little bit of the weight of my cat's illness off my shoulders. I know that I can give him the food he needs each morning and then go off to work without worrying about what he may be eating. I'm so glad I found this!

I really hope this review gets some attention as I think I may have hit on something that may be causing issues with others.

Let me get that point out quickly, it seems simple but it confused me for a while. Cats microchips are RFID or Radio Frequency ID. This means electromagnetic radiation can confuse the device. Let me explain my experience.

We have Peantbutter a large male cat and Jelly a smaller female cat. Peanut needed to go on a diet and would eat Jelly's food. We placed the two feeders in separate rooms but noticed Peanut's worked all the time with no issues but Jelly's would stop working from time to time. We thought the one unit was defective for sure and it was not until we swapped the units that we noticed it was not the unit. We then thought it must be Jelly's chip but then we noticed, by sheer luck, it was not the cat but the location.

Jelly's bowl was near a plugged in Microwave oven but more important right next to the circuit breaker box for the house. It seems it was the electricity running through wall or box that was disrupting the RFID tag. Once we moved the bowl away from it, it started working fine again.

Other Things to Note:

Batteries: We bought Amazon Basic Batteries (Stay Away). The door was making loud clicking noises and sometimes did not work at all. When replaced with Duracell's it started working fine. How good batteries made the clicking noise stop I do not know but be sure to get good batteries.

Training Mode: Don't skip this part. I have very shy cats, adopted as strays and the movement of the door kind of freaked them out at first. They were just not prepared for their bowl to make noises. Training mode helped a lot and you just have to give it time. It took 2 weeks but they now think it is as natural as can be. I think a lot of the "training" happened at night when they felt more secure and got used to it.

Aggressive Cats: I mentioned the feeder works as intended which it does but I can see how this would not be a solution for aggressive cats. If a cat is determined enough it will find a way to push another cat out of the way. For me, and many others I suspect, my cats will eat some then go away then come back and eat some more. Now Peanut will not push Jelly out of the way while she is eating and he will not follow her around waiting for her to open the dish so he can get in. However if he finds "abandoned" food he will help himself. We do see him walk around and look at Jelly's food through the clear plastic and then walk away disappointed but we have no issues with him stealing food while she is eating.

For my cats it is a perfect solution but I can imagine for others it would not work. In those situations I am not sure what feeder can keep out a determined cat.

Thanks, hope this review helped.

Overall, I really like this microchip feeder and would recommend it to other pet owners.

I bought it for my female cat because she prefers to graze throughout the day, while my other cat is extremely food-motivated and will happily eat anything he can get to. It only took my female cat about two days to figure out how the feeder works, and now she uses it without any issues whenever she’s hungry.

There are a few drawbacks, but none of them are serious enough to make me stop using it:

1. The bowl is fairly small. I wish it could hold more food. If I’m going out of town, it only holds about two days’ worth for my cat, so I’ll have to use a different automatic feeder while I’m away.

2. There’s still an opportunity for other cats to steal food. Even with the lid set to the shortest closing delay, a determined cat can sneak in before it closes. I wish the feeder periodically rescanned the microchip while something is underneath the arch instead of only detecting that a cat is present.

3. It’s battery-powered only. I would much rather have the option to plug it into an outlet and use batteries as a backup during power outages, similar to my other automatic feeders.

If you have a particularly greedy or “chonky” cat, I recommend creating some sort of hallway or enclosure leading to the feeder. I’ve seen people selling 3D-printed versions online, and I plan to make my own eventually.

For now, I use a couple of cardboard boxes to create a narrow hallway leading to the bowl. By the time my cat backs out, turns around, and leaves, the lid is already closing. This has made it much harder for my other cat to rush in and steal her food.

If the company ever releases a larger, improved version with a bigger bowl and a plug-in power option, I’d definitely be interested in trying it.

3 month follow up edit:

Against my worst expectations, the batteries are holding up! After 3+ months of constant use by cats, and me for cleaning and refiling, the first set of batteries I put in, still works! Nothing fancy either, just Amazon Basics.

I had expected the batteries to be...well, standard batteries... and die quickly. They didn't! This is one case where I'm definitely glad to be wrong. Upping the review to 5 stars inspite of no recharge option.

Original review:

One of my cats' weight has gotten out of control. I've always been free feeding them and he was always a bit bigger than the other two but then he just kinda started getting heavier and heavier. He reached 22 lbs and couldn't jump on the fridge anymore, his favorite spot!

We've been to the vet and he has no health issues. I always made sure that the cats got a nice variety of foods, dry and wet. The other two are "normal" and Mini(yes, that's his name haha) is fat. Some say that most tabbies get chonky. Maybe it's that. I don't know.

I tried several things to get him to lose weight and/or eat less but nothing worked. So I decided to invest into this, pricey, option and try my luck.

It works! The set up was easy. I put some treats in the tray, pushed the button, they munched, microchip was scanned, done. The cats got used to the new way of eating very quickly.

I'm so glad I can finally have weight management food for Mini and regular food for the others, and he can't touch theirs!

The only thing that is annoying and needs to be improved it the fact that it runs on batteries(hence, only 4 stars.) Why make such an amazing and helpful product and not make it rechargeable? C batteries are expensive (and wasteful.)

Okay, so I have seen this thing before and I finally decided to buy it in May 2016 (this year) for my oldest cat so my fat cat doesn't eat her food. I have tried everything to get him to drop weight but aside from separating them (headache) and they refuse to do so or sitting with them (which my momma/oldest cat doesn't eat in on sitting) it just hasn't worked. So, I invested. Thing is, at first she would eat from it. She didn't seem bothered but within the first day she just decided she wouldn't eat from it. I cant get her to do so. I even tried to warm her up to it but no, the fatty would just jump up there and eat her food. I finally gave up. (she's a b and super moody/stubborn). This was a bummer cause I had to buy a specific leather collar for her because she has allergy issues and a regular collar is a no go because she will scratch at it so much it frays and she nearly chokes herself with the collar.

I decided to make the fatty use it. It's been going well. He doesn't mind it. I have to keep my oldest cats food up on the spare mattress in the room (I hate it but she has made that place her home so far) and I haven't seen him jump up there. So, I've specifically measured the food and he seems to be doing well. So, it works for him. I think maybe if I get another for her it'd be best cause she wont be able to refuse but who knows.

Now I have a new kitten whom loves the fat cat (who is only sociable with me and actually chases the dog away for attention) which is entertaining to say the least. Problem is, she sneaks up on him and goes under to get his food. Poor thing nearly died outside when my fiancé found her. It's a whole story of family dying maybe of starvation or heat exhaustion but she lived and is super healthy, not scared of a huge truck, forklift, even the fat cat or dog. She does fear my momma cat as she hisses at her like a meanie. I will also say that she's fast to get in to take his food if he's eating which displeases him but she's such a lover. However, when it's closed she will dance all over top of it and cant eat it. This pleases my fat cat much. To watch her try but not get his food. Good entertainment.

Overall, I'd love to get two more of these eventually but right now it's just steep. I'm disappointed that my momma didn't take to it but it's doing its job. I'm not sure why someone would have 30 something cats (yes, you can program that many) or why you would need this feeder to program that many cats to eat from one small bowl. It doesn't make sense. You cant put food for 30 something cats in the feeder and at that point you don't even need this thing and it's probably much more fancier than that person would need with that many cats. Seems like a waste and pointless but sure is funny to think about. Whatever.

I do know that the timer can be changed to close sooner so the kitten doesn't get to it as quickly but the way she sneaks in I doubt itll help. Overall, it's a great product! Truly. I wish I would have gotten it cheaper of course. I gave it a 4 star because my momma cat just hated it and I even did what it said for shy cats but they need to have a mood cat adjustment section in the instructions. Not that it is the companies fault but it's so expensive it's truly ridiculous.

But I digress, I still think I'd buy more for my other pets. I have already talked about it. Just wishing I could get a discount for getting two or something.

UPDATE July 16, 2016: so, I thought it odd before that the lid opens without my cats collar but thought it was just due to my smart watch or something. However, I didn't worry about it since my fat cat is the only one who eats from it (waste of money since its my mama cats food that needs to be protected from HIM) but I made it work. I was having no issues with the new kitty except trying to train her it's not her bowl which was fine. She would play on it and not get any food but I've noticed that if you walk in the feeder or put your hand in it enough it'll open for you without the chip or pressing the button. Sometimes it does it just in one try. Pisses me off cause my dog now has started attempting to eat their food unlike before and if I'm not home he other half doesn't know what he did. Anyway, I'm not happy with this. I reset the feeder. Reprogrammed the chip reader and changed everything. I'm pissed at this point cause $150 is not cheap for a bowl that doesn't do what it says it will. I liked this a lot but now I'm extremely unhappy about it because it's not just about my fat cat not eating other cats food.

It's so much more. I've dropped the stars to one now. Attempting to log onto the website for help is a joke too. You sign in and it keeps saying your signed in but takes you back to the page you were on and low and behold you aren't signed in and can't make a comment or ask a question. The only solution for another person with this problem was to reset or call them. I don't even know what kind of number that is so that's not a possibility. The other solution didn't work.

I bought this TWICE because I needed a second one! I have 2 cats. One is an elderly 16 year old cat, the other is almost 5. The oldest cant have dry food or she will puke it up due to sensitive tummy issues, and the youngest wants to have the wet food we give the eldest. So you can see why I needed to get 2 separate ones. It did take a little while to train them to use it (probably at least a month for each cat), but they have no problem now using it. I don't have them microchipped, but the feeders do have their own collar tag with their own code. So each cat has their own collar tag, that works with their own feeder. I've even tested, the covers cant be forcefully opened. So I don't think another animal could even get into it. The feeders don't need to be plugged in too, and just use large batteries. When it came down to training mode, that had me a little worried with the diet differences of both cats. But I tried to watch each cat to see how comfortable they were during each training mode session. Once they went over with no issue with it opening, I went to the next stage. Eventually they had no problem using them. I say be patient, read the training instructions carefully, and it all should be a breeze.

Oh last couple notes, my eldest pushes her wet food with her nose a lot, and doing so pushes the food out of the bowl, or it gets stuck onto the cover. Its easy to clean with a sponge. When my youngest was learning to use it, she kept taking the food out of the bowl and monching it outside of the feeder. Now shes okay with keeping her head near the bowl.

I think I have written a review previously, but I have some updates. These microchip feeders have been quite helpful in my household with my three mischievous cats. But I have had more instances than I would like (at least a dozen or so times) when each of my two feeders have forgotten to close when the cat walks away or did not open when I pressed the button (had to press it 2-3x) or when the cat neared it, despite me setting it up accordingly. And during these circumstances, the batteries have been on the newer side, and were not ready to be changed. It was almost like it was glitching or "froze."

There was also this recent time when my family was watching my cats, and I guess the third cat was nearby when someone accidentally pressed the programming button, and she became synced to a feeder she should not have had access to! Thankfully I caught the situation before it got out of hand, but then trying to find your directions online to figure out how to undo this error was a very arduous task.

Lastly, I am now realizing that my previously ravenous cat (who did not have her own feeder), is going to need her own feeder. When I went to your page to purchase my third feeder, I noticed that in only two years, the price has increased by 22%. I have often looked at your accessories and have wanted to buy those as well (especially the adjustable stand for my grandpa cat who has esophageal dysphagia and my other grandpa cat who is a long boy with arthritis), but at your current pricing levels, it's just not financially accessible. Just overall disappointed in the price points that have resulted as of late -- not sure I'm going to get a third one now.

It is a very expensive plastic cup if it is not going to work properly. I tried calling the customer service number but the line did not exist. I spoke with the chat bot and I am waiting to be contacted. Meanwhile, my initial excitement about the product is completely gone now. I am feeling stressed for having paid hundreds of usd for a product which did not last 3 months.

Wow. I have a skinny modern Siamese and a new rescue American Burmese. Siamese eat little and regulate their food. Burmese are a dustbin.

My Burmese is getting fat. When I had only the Siamese, she had a dispenser so she had unlimited dry food. But of course her new cat sister thought it was Xmas.

So something had to done, and this product seemed to be the answer. At 2 for £180 I took the plunge.

The instructions supplied are pants. There is a download though.

To save you some time, it’s easy. Put in the 4 batteries not supplied (😵) and it’s ready to go. Press the open button and fill up the bowl. Worth noting, there is a full bowl and a divider one included for two types of food. Place the rubber mat down.

Underneath there is a switch. 1, 2 & 3. This is the speed the door closes when the cat is gone. It’s in about 10 second increments.

Then press the + button and hold it down. The door opens. Place the tag supplied at the food bowl and it’s paired. The door closes.

There is a training mode which opens the door in increments. The only thing explained in the supplied instructions. I didn’t use it. Both are orientals and figured it out fast.

The movement is very quiet and both units work with only the paired tag. Apparently it works with the chip in the cat (if they are chipped) but I like the tag option. I presume pairing is the same but you have to grab the cat and get it to the bowl.

For some that may not be easy 🤣 and in my opinion may stress them to the object.

Anyway, it’s great. Not cheap but enables me to reduce my Burmese’s waistline and stop her stealing her sisters food.

I like the accessories. You can get different coloured bowls and mats. Even a guard to stop clever cats getting under the door. We will see.

It seals the bowls pretty well too. Stops flies and drying out.

All in all, it’s great. If you need this, you are already sold.

Very good feeder that open only for the specific pet. It door will brake if someone forcefully tries to open it, be sure to teach everyone in the household to open it with the big green button on the back.

Der Futterautomat war für mich eine der sinnvollsten Anschaffungen für den Katzenhaushalt. Gerade wenn mehrere Katzen zusammenleben und unterschiedliche Futterbedürfnisse haben, kann er viele Probleme lösen, die mit normalen Futternäpfen kaum zu vermeiden sind.

Der größte Vorteil ist natürlich die Mikrochip-Erkennung. Jede Katze hat nur Zugriff auf ihr eigenes Futter, wodurch Futterdiebstahl zuverlässig verhindert wird. Besonders bei Katzen, die unterschiedlich schnell fressen, ist das eine enorme Erleichterung. Eine Katze kann sich Zeit lassen, ohne dass das Futter von einer anderen Katze weggeputzt wird.

Auch bei medizinisch bedingten Futtervorgaben ist der Automat äußerst hilfreich. Wenn eine Katze beispielsweise spezielles Diät-, Nieren- oder Allergiefutter benötigt und die anderen Tiere normales Futter bekommen, lässt sich die Fütterung deutlich einfacher und sicherer organisieren. Man muss nicht ständig kontrollieren, wer aus welchem Napf frisst.

Die Einrichtung war unkompliziert und die Erkennung des Mikrochips funktioniert zuverlässig. Der Deckel öffnet und schließt sauber, sodass das Futter geschützt bleibt. Gerade bei Nassfutter ist außerdem angenehm, dass es durch den geschlossenen Deckel länger frisch wirkt.

Die Verarbeitung macht insgesamt einen hochwertigen Eindruck und das Gerät hat sich bei mir im Alltag als zuverlässig erwiesen.

Fazit: Für Haushalte mit mehreren Katzen ist der Futterautomat eine enorme Hilfe. Er verhindert Futterdiebstahl, ermöglicht eine individuelle Fütterung und erleichtert den Alltag besonders dann, wenn einzelne Tiere spezielles Futter benötigen. Für mich eines der praktischsten Produkte, die ich bislang für meine Katzen gekauft habe.

De momento funciona estupendamente. Tenemos dos gatos. La gata no ha necesitado ni el modo entrenamiento, lo aprendió súper rápido. Con el gato está costando un poco más, pero porque es especial y le cuestan los cambios. No hemos podido ni probar el modo entrenamiento porque directamente espera a que le demos la comida en la boca y, lamentablemente, no podemos tener paciencia y esperar a que él coma porque está enfermo y no puede perder peso. Ojalá con los días lo logremos.

Es cierto que las placas para collar son quizá demasiado grandes, pero funcionan bien.