Reddit reviews Aspen Pet Lebistro Programmable Cat and Dog Feeder 2 Sizes Black

I made fun of my partner when she bought an automatic cat feeder, but that thing has been worth every cent. We always know they've had their food, and they don't wake us up in the morning wanting breakfast anymore!

Mine learned to camp out at the dispenser and eventually learned how to put his paw inside the chute and push the food paddles and make more food come out. He ate weeks worth of food in a few days.

Stay the heck away from this dispenser or you'll have a disgustingly fat cat.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0016BVY2U/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Edit, look at the pics and comments and see what wacky solutions people have come up with to fix this broken dispenser. It's a collection of rube goldberg machines.

It's this one

Not sure the exact one we have as my brother was the one who purchased it, can look when I get home. Ours allows you to schedule 1-3 times per day (custom times for each) and customizable amounts in increments of a quarter of a cup per feeding. Its got a fairly big tank of food that probably holds 2-3 weeks worth. EDIT: looks like it might be this one: www.amazon.com/LeBistro-Portion-Control-Automatic-pounds/dp/B0016BVY2U.

We did have to super glue a small plastic cover to it to make the hole where the food comes thin enough that he couldn't stick his paw up it and force food out.

I bought the Aspen Pet LeBistro Portion Control Automatic Pet Feeder. Would definitely recommend it. You'll see in the Amazon reviews it does have a few possible flaws, but I haven't experienced any of them personally.

I'd be slightly cautious giving strangers from the internet full access to your home. I could tell you I or many other strangers would be happy to help someone out in need but it's hard to filter out the potential a-holes. If you have someone do it for you make sure you have their ID information and maybe some references.

This place is fairly close to where you live and runs about $13.75+ per day. There are probably also some competing services if you shop around.

Also, depending on exactly how long you'll be gone you can look into an automatic cat feeder, I have one myself that feeds my cat exact amounts twice a day as well as a long lasting water supply. The only thing to be cautions of is depending on how long you'll be gone your cat may have some anxiety about the lack of interaction. When I was out of the country for about 3 weeks I had a friend of mine swing in as often as he could to maintain a presence which made a big difference.

My tabby is insanely pushy and vocal about getting food, and was really cutting into my slumber/sanity. I know it's possible to train cats to not do that, but good luck with that. The only real solution I know of is auto-feeders. Most of them suck and can easily be broken into by a smart/hungry cat, but there are a few good ones.

If you use dry food, get the Bistro. My girl is diabetic and can only do wet food, so I use the Qpets. Nearly every other feeder is defective in one way or another, but these two are great. Either way, just make sure the feeder itself is secured (I velcro to a wall).

After a while they'll learn that they get fed at precisely X o'clock by the robot, no matter how much they meow at the human, and mostly stop meowing.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0016BVY2U/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

My two never did well with being taken to boarding so I've always left them at home alone anything < 7 days with a "nanny cam" to make sure they are doing okay.

I bought this one years ago and it works great, however i think it only supports 3 meals a day and might not fit your needs: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0016BVY2U/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1. I actually use it to feed them daily and just give them treats from time to time. I got them when I was still very busy and didn't have the time for a dog and liked never having to worry about missing a feeding.

I think to do this you really would want an automatic litter box though, I always set out an extra normal litter box in case the automatic one malfunctions but never really had any issues. I use a litter robot as their normal day to day box which never seems to have any issues.

Just Make sure they have enough to last several extra days and that you have someone that can in an emergency come check on them.

I didn't even know the microchip feeders were a thing.


I used something similiar to this for years, but I was free-feeding three cats from it:
https://www.amazon.ca/Aspen-Bistro-Programmable-Food-Dispenser/dp/B0016BVY2U/ref=zg_bs_6291910011_28?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=H97GYPJGSWJJ7JJM1KP7


Amazon has a whole category of automatic pet feeders. ( https://www.amazon.ca/Best-Sellers-Pet-Supplies-Automatic-Cat-Feeders/zgbs/pet-supplies/6291910011 ) Reverse the trend, use them for research and then buy it at your local pet store ;)

http://www.amazon.com/Petmate-LeBistro-Portion-Automatic-Bleached/dp/B0016BVY2U/ref=sr_1_2?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1321641636&sr=1-2

Best thing EVER!

1. It has timers for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. (You can select, one, two or all three meals.)
   
2. It has an option for a power supply (which i think you have to purchase separately)... and battery back up
   
3. I would suggest keeping the bowl and the plastic part above where the food comes out clean. (I usually clean the plastic part above where the food comes out with an alcohol wipe. The reason for this is because it gets surprisingly dirty and i noticed one of my cats was getting some kitty acne above his eye. It cleared RIGHT up when i started keeping it clean about once a week. Same thing with the bowl part. I clean it about once a week with soap and water)
   
   I love this thing!
   
   

The version we have is no longer available, but this is the updated version. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0016BVY2U/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

If your bun is as food crazy as ours are, a tip I would suggest is to put an opaque bag over the part of the feeder that is clear. Our bunnies used to knock the thing over to get more food single time we used it, until we started doing this. Out of sight, out of mind I guess?

Problem Solved

It's basically a box for the LeBistro Automatic Feeder (Aspen Pet Lebistro Programmable Food Dispenser- 18 Cup https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0016BVY2U/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_Cg97yb03YW1XT)

Instead of collecting in the tray at the bottom, this allows it to split into 2.

I have an older model of this.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0016BVY2U/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_7pe3wb2ZT66FH

https://www.amazon.com/LeBistro-Portion-Control-Automatic-pounds/dp/B0016BVY2U/ref=sr_1_7?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1466208996&sr=1-7&keywords=cat+feeder