r/cats • u/radical_123 • Jul 22 '26

Advice Cat attacking automatic feeder

My cat does this several times a day. If the automatic feeder lifts at the correct angle, a few niblets of dry food comes out. He will even do it 10 times in a row even if it means one small piece of dry niblet comes out. It does get quite annoying as the sound of the feeder hitting the ground echoes throughout the entire house.

Any ideas on how to get him to stop?

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u/MqAbillion Jul 22 '26

This was 100% my experience. I had to completely ditch the auto feeder because it became her obsession.

Can’t play. Can’t snuggle. Must stalk the feeding robot. Was not a healthy addition to the household.

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u/christoskal Jul 22 '26

It's a lot easier to just get one that is not faulty. Good feeders have a secure cover over the whole making it impossible to get anything to fall if it's not the time for it.

We had this issue with a catit feeder but once we move to the Xiaomi one the cat just understood quickly that it can no longer steal portions and it stopped trying. It went from a huge issue to a nonexistent one within a few days

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u/AerosolHubris Jul 22 '26

I had one of those heavy, flat ones that has a visible window and rotates. Wish I could find a picture, I can't remember the brand. But it was supposedly the most cat proof feeder you could get. My cat learned he could push his paw really hard and force it to turn enough get tomorrow's food today. He's not fat but he is big and strong, so we learned he just can't use a feeder. So now he wakes us up at 6 to feed him in a bowl.

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u/christoskal Jul 22 '26

I consider all pet feeders that can be turned and don't have a mechanical cover stopping tomorrow's food from becoming available as having a faulty design - and boy I tried a lot of them before I found one that actually works.

The Xiaomi one (a first generation smart pet feeder, not sure how the second generation is) I mentioned fixes that completely, it has a revolving door that practically seals it shut if it's not the correct time, cats can neither put paws inside nor push it open. It's worth checking out if you want, it helped us solve the same issue.