These 5 Automatic Cat Feeders Were the Best We Tested

The One RFID Smart Feeder from Petlibro shows how far cat feeding technology has come. In this feeder, the pet wears a collar with a tag when the lid of the feeder opens only with that tag. There is a cover that automatically retracts when a collared pet approaches the stainless steel food bowl (washable and dishwasher safe). A sensor on the front pad will activate, and the cover will retract over the kibble when the cat moves, ensuring that only the selected pet with the collar can access the food.

The 3-liter feeder relies on the Petlibro app, which allows the owner to create up to 10 feeding schedules whose amounts can be changed at any time, including on-demand feeding. Like our other Petlibro automated feed picks, the app collects data and tracks trends in your pet’s usage, and owners control everything from the app. The automatic lid is customizable too, as you can open the app to leave the lid in “open mode” or adjust how long the lid stays open after your pet has walked on it.

Overall, I think this is an almost perfect device for a certain type of pet owner. I think it works best for a cat in a dog house where the owner doesn’t want the dog to get into the cat’s food, if each pet in the house has One RFID feeder, if one cat has special dietary needs, or if you have a multi-cat household with a fussy eater. In these cases, I really think this product can be life changing. (If you get one RFID for each animal, it is recommended to space them at least 10 cm apart to avoid any interference.)

One of my only complaints about the device is that the lid doesn’t slide very well on the wall when it’s retracted, and my cat won’t eat the food that’s close to the back of the bowl. The QR code tag comes with a very flimsy collar that keeps coming loose, but there is an option to take it off and put it on your pet’s collar, which I did, and it worked fine after that. Although the One RFID is not suitable for my cats, I would recommend it to anyone who has pets with unique dietary needs.

Can be used with cats or very small dogs.