Cat Mate C200 2-Meal Automatic Pet Feeder for Cats and Small Dogs with Ice Pack

This automated food bowl is a life saver. Our cat had been relentless and loud, waking us in the middle of the night for more wet food, every night. With poor sleep we were desperate to find a solution. We set wet food in each bowl and have it go off twice throughout the night. We are finally able to sleep soundly and past 5am! There’s an ice pack but we don’t use it. The food doesn’t dry out (which we were worried about) and we have a happy cat! Only problem is, he won’t eat out of his regular metal bowls anymore! He only eats from the bowls in the dish! Small price to pay. It’s easy to set the timers, the quality is good, the bowls are easy to clean and sturdy. I’d definitely recommend!

This automatic cat feeder was much better than expected because it wasn’t expensive! It only takes one battery and so simple to use. Perfect for leaving for a day or two with your cats. Super easy to clean. Absolute must have!!

I purchased this auto feeder for my two cats to eat from when I am away for a short time. PROS: easy to use, ice pack (included) works fine for wet food within several hours, snap-out trays arre easy to clean, tamper proof, good for two cats. CONS: NO OFF/STOP button, you must remove the battery to shut off. The timer is set with a dial, so it is hard to make the two doors open at exactly the same time. One time I forgot the battery and, of course, nothing opened (my fault, but just one more thing to remember when you use it). In general, I like it, but still can't believe there is no shut OFF without taking out the battery. A few cons, but works.

Update: I bought this back in May and it’s July, and for some reason the timer stopped working :( I changed the battery, but it’s disappointing that it stopped working— my cat sadly starved for 8+ hours while I was at work.My cat eats on a schedule, 6 times a day. I work a 10-6 so I’m not always home to give him his 1pm & 5pm meal. The timer does go all the way to 48 hours, but from my observation the ice block is already warm after 8 hours and my home room temperature is about 70°F.To the person who suggested putting a bell on the cover: GENIUS! And thank you for the idea. I used two of my cats bell toys and taped it on the top so he can hear it when it opens.Holding the food for 4-8 hours is no problem, I can’t really speak on anything longer since I haven’t tried or had a reason to. The food stays fresh and isn’t dried out. I add two ice cubes to the side where the food stays longer, just for a peace of mind!Works great, my cat learned how to use it the first day I left him home alone. The sound of the bell helps. Great value!!

Overall it does the job. The two compartments can act separately or, you can attach a plastic piece that comes with it so both hatches open at the same time. I like that is an option but you have to set both timers and they both have to go off before the hatches to open.However the main issue I found is that it’s impossible to get any kind of accuracy with the timer knobs. The timers are a 48 HOUR knob, so each tiny line is a whole hour. It would be nice if they clicked at each hour interval at least but it just slides seamlessly. Further there is some give to the knob so it’s unclear where the timer is set right on a line even if you’re doing it very meticulously. It’s also a pain to calculate down how many hours until feeding time because I don’t end up filling it at the exact time each night.The second, less significant issue I found was that it opens pretty quietly. That could be a nice feature but one of my cats caught on quickly to the new device but the other didn’t so I ended up having to tape some bells to the lids so the one didn’t rush over and eat both their food.Third, it’s note worthy that this thing will tick like a clock 24/7. I keep it in the kitchen so it doesn’t bother me, but I’m extra sensitive to noise so this would bother me if it were in my bedroom.One last criticism: The ice pack feature is a good idea but I’m not sure how effective it is for wet food. As the food warms it drove one of my cats crazy and he started the habit of trying to break into the device at 4am which was worse than them waking me up to be fed. (To the products credit he never succeeded.) I even tried freezing the wet food beforehand also but as it defrosted the same issue occurred. So I switched to dry food but would have just bought an automatic feeder that’s more suited for dry food if that’s what I was going to do in the first place.I still give it three stars because some of these issues wouldn’t effect some people and I can imagine still using this for wet food, if I’ll be gone for a feeding and don’t care exactly when it goes off or if the cats try to break into it for an hour.

This feeder has been a huge help to feed my cat at the proper times for her prescription diet. Before buying it, I went over the reviews of lots of similar products, as well as the ones for this. This is what I found about the common concerns with this products:1. When using wet food, it is better to chill the plate before putting it in the feeder, as well as using the ice packs. The metal inserts are very useful as they freeze quickly.2. The ice pack last about 8 hours at room temp (20-25 *C). It does maintain wet food acceptably moist even without pre-chilling the plate, as reviewed by my cat. Food on a regular plate only keeps the moisture up to 3 h.3. The timer is accurate, although difficult to set at a specific time because of its design. The noise is minimal, and does not dings.4. The battery needs to be replaced every year and a half. I’m using a Duracell AA. I saw complaints of the feeder not opening. I’m guessing that it could be because of the battery loosing power, not because the mechanism is stuck. The dial continues to turn right, even after reaching the 0 mark, so it is highly unlikely that it would stay stuck under normal battery levels and a healthy lid spring.5. Because the feeder does not dings, it could be difficult to train a cat that is not that food oriented. I added two bells for each lid so it rigs once the pop up. It does help.So far, we are very happy with this feeder as it allow us to keep up with my cat needs