The best automatic dog feeder has the opportunity to transform the way you take care of your pet.
Whether you work long hours or if you prefer the convenience of automated tools, these feeders will help to make sure your pet gets the correct amount of nutrients throughout the day.
Instead of having to measure specific portions and head home in the middle of an event to feed your pet, your automatic feeder will prove to be quite useful.
Comparison Chart
Best Automatic Dog Feeder Reviews
1. WOPET Automatic Pet Feeder
The WOPET Automatic Pet Feeder has features that you would expect from a high-end dog and cat feeder, including alarms, programmable timers, and portion control.
Apart from being an extra convenience around the house, this tool can quickly become useful for managing your pet’s nutrition daily.
With a sleek and simple aesthetic, it will fit into any room in your home without being an eyesore.
Product Highlights
Full automation is the most significant advantage of this automatic feeder, as it allows you to set up to four automated feeding sessions per day, thanks to the programmable timer.
With the help of the built-in LED screen, you can adjust the timers using the user-friendly buttons.
As a pet parent, this feeder is essential for never missing a meal, and all you have to do is ensure there are three D batteries for the feeder to work.
Another exciting feature of the WOPET Automatic Pet Feeder is that it allows you to manage the portion size of each meal.
Pet owners can choose meal sizes from two teaspoons to 4.5 cups for each feeding, allowing you to customize how much your pet eats during the day.
You’ll also find this is one of the most convenient ways to implement healthy and regular eating routines for your pet.
While away from the house, you can talk to your pets, which is another excellent feature this unit offers.
All you have to do is record a custom message to prompt your pet to eat their meal, which will become an essential training tool before each meal.
Once you have recorded your message, it will play automatically whenever it dispenses the food.
You’ll also appreciate the large storage compartment which allows you to store up to 20 cups of food at a time, and you can also entirely remove the feeding tray so that you can disinfect it regularly.
With that said, this feeder is only useful for dry pellets that are up to 0.6 inches in size.
What to Like About It
If you’re concerned about your pet having access to food outside of feeding times, this unit is specifically designed to keep kibble protected from both the top and bottom.
Also, the feeding tray snaps onto the bottom of the unit, so the bowl cannot be moved by your pet while they are eating.
Considering there are plenty of high-tech elements to the WOPET Automatic Pet Feeder, you’ll love how easy it is to set up and program to your pet’s specific feeding schedule.
What Not to Like About It
The main issue with the WOPET Automatic Pet Feeder is that its battery backup power is unreliable.
If you were to lose power, there’s no way to see the amount of battery life left, which could cause your pet to miss crucial feeding times.
Also, the infrared detection that prevents the food bowl from overfilling might not be as sensitive as required, as sometimes, servings may spill over onto the floor.
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2. PETKIT Smart Feed Automatic Feeder
With even more modern conveniences, the PETKIT Smart Feed Automatic Feeder takes the concept of an automatic feeder to the next level.
With the use of a smart device, you have full control over how and when your pet is fed.
Its highly innovative design with user-friendly features will undoubtedly make feeding your pet a substantially more convenient experience.
Product Highlights
The PETKIT Smart Feed Automatic Feeder is available in two different sizes and two colors, including blue and white, though the smaller size is likely more convenient for small pets and compact spaces.
You’ll surely appreciate its sleek and modern aesthetic that is uniquely stylish and may add a little contemporary flair to your traditional pet supplies.
Also, it’s a highly intelligent product that you can connect to your smart device using the PETKIT app.
Within the application, you can choose to feed your pet from anywhere, as long as you set up the appropriate feeding times and select the best portion sizes for your pet.
You also can use this feeder with your Amazon Alexa if you have both devices connected to a 2.4GHz frequency.
The user-friendly design of the frontend of the app is impressive, as you can quickly select the settings you want to be adjusted, such as the meal times and the portions.
Pet parents can set up to 10 feeding schedules in a single day and up to 100-gram portions of food for each feeding.
You also can opt for smaller portions as little as five grams, depending on the appetite and health of your pet.
What is most notable about this smart feeder is that it will continue to dispense your pet’s food at your programmed intervals even if the feeder goes offline or the internet connection is lost.
To help keep your pet’s food fresh for longer, you’ll love the patented PETKIT Double Fresh Lock System.
This technology keeps the food dry and fresh during the day, especially since you can hold up to six pounds of food in the feeder.
What to Like About It
By far, the PETKIT Smart Feed Automatic Feeder’s feeding bin is more secure than with others you’ll find on the market, which helps to prevent your pets from inappropriately accessing their food.
You’ll also appreciate the number of features the app has, aside from planning feeding schedules since you can adjust the light on the feeder and also talk to other pet parents for advice and tips.
It’s also convenient that the unit has backup power (four AA batteries) to ensure your pet is getting their proper nutrition even if you happen to lose power in the house.
What Not to Like About It
Having the automatic feeder is convenient, but it seems to work the best with round kibble; otherwise, other types of dry food could get stuck.
Another concern pet parents had is that two people cannot log in to the app at the same time so that one person can also control the feeding schedules.
Some individuals also encountered difficulty setting up WiFi connectivity.
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3. Roffie Automatic Dog Food Dispenser
If you own a small pet, you might not be interested in buying a large feeder, which is where the Roffie Automatic Dog Food Dispenser comes into play.
Instead of having an incredibly sizeable automatic feeder, this small and convenient device is ideal for cats and other small animals.
With many of the same technological features as the other feeders on this list, it’s quite convenient to have at home.
Product Highlights
This feeder offers 6.5 liters of food storage, which is more than enough for up to two weeks of regular feeds.
With the help of the programmable meal times, you can set up to four meals per day as well as record a custom message that will be played at every feeding.
This product is ideal for traveling pet owners or people who want to ensure their small animals are getting more than enough daily nutrition.
Similar to the other models we’ve discussed, the Roffie Automatic Dog Food Dispenser also enables you to adjust the size of each feed.
Your feeding amounts can be adjusted in five- to ten-gram increments, depending on how often your pet eats.
Also, the build of the unit is quite intuitive to help prevent your pets from inappropriately accessing their food.
With the top lock design and the specially designed program panel, your pets can’t change the settings using their paws, nor can they get to their food apart from feeding time.
Cleaning your new automatic feeder is also incredibly simple, as you can altogether remove the food bowl and food container for quick cleaning.
What to Like About It
Although the Roffie Automatic Dog Food Dispenser is advertised for small pets, you may find that it’s the perfect size for your medium-breed dog, as well.
Setting up the feeder is also incredibly simple, as it can be done in a matter of minutes, and the user-friendly program panel is easy to read for adjusting your programmable settings.
Many pet owners also loved the convenience of being able to program their voice for feeding time, which encourages their pets to eat at the desired intervals.
What Not to Like About It
The voice recorder on the device is very convenient, but it is slightly muffled, which may require one to two recordings before getting it perfect.
You might also find the instructions are slightly tricky to figure out the first time around, so it’s best if you can find an online tutorial.
Another concern is that once you have to refill the container, getting the top lid open is difficult, even for a human.
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4. PetSafe Healthy Pet Simply Feed Automatic Feeder
The PetSafe Healthy Pet Simply Feed Automatic Feeder has a straightforward design for your cats and dogs.
Featuring plenty of the same traits as other automatic feeders, you can create a custom schedule to ensure your pets are getting the appropriate nutrition from every meal.
Also, you’ll find this product is ideal for pets who tend to make themselves ill from eating too quickly.
Product Highlights
Pet parents can set 12 different feeding schedules for their small cats to medium size dogs.
There is also the ability to set specific meal portions ranging from 1/8 cup to four cups, based on the particular needs of your pets.
As an added benefit, you’ll love the slow feed option, which will allow you to control how quickly your pets eat to prevent them from engorging and making themselves ill.
The entire food container is constructed using BPA-free plastic, and it also features a stainless steel food bowl that is incredibly easy to keep clean.
All parts of the feeder touched by food can also be cleaned in the dishwasher for easy sanitization.
If you own particularly savvy pets, you’ll love how the dispenser is entirely pet-proof, preventing your animals from being able to steal food outside of their feeding times.
You’ll find a built-in clock and LCD screen on the front of the unit that enables you to quickly set up new feeding schedules or adjust existing ones if your pet’s diet changes.
In total, the see-through food container can hold up to 24 cups of dry or semi-moist food, making it incredibly simple to manage feedings with minimal effort.
Unlike other feeders, this model does not come with an adapter, though, it is sold separately.
Instead, it requires four D batteries to operate, and it is said the batteries will last up to nine months with regular use.
What to Like About It
One of the most significant advantages to this automatic feeder is that it consumes very little battery power, even with multiple feeds throughout the day.
On average, pet parents can get up to 12 months of use before having to replace the batteries.
The high-quality design of the PetSafe Healthy Pet Simply Feed Automatic Feeder is also essential since your pets can’t access the food reserves at all.
What Not to Like About It
It appears to be that the clock on the front of the feeder changes on its own, making the device three to four minutes off after setting your schedules.
You may also find the slow feed setting is best used for dogs, as the device will let out too much food for small cats.
Unfortunately, the most considerable disadvantage is that the feeder doesn’t come with an adapter and has to be purchased separately, forcing you to rely on battery power unless you want to spend more money.
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5. BELOPEZZ Smart Pet Automatic Feeders
If you need an automatic feeder that allows you to set up to four schedules daily, the BELOPEZZ Smart Pet Automatic Feeders is another option to consider.
With a programmable timer and a six-liter food compartment, you can store plenty of kibble for your pets.
You’ll also find it useful that there is an automatic detection feature that helps to ensure your pet’s food bowl doesn’t overfill with kibble.
Product Highlights
Regularly feeding your pets will become much less of a hassle with the help of this food dispenser, as you can set up to four specific meal times with two different sizes.
Owners can choose between small and large feedings, depending on how much their animals need to eat at a time.
On average, you should be able to store up to six liters of dry food in the container, which is more than enough for most small to medium pets.
In addition to the feeding schedules, pet parents can create a ten-second voice recording that will be played at feeding time to prompt your animals to get their food.
With the added benefit of the automatic detection system, if your pet hasn’t eaten all of their food, the unit will ensure the correct amount is distributed to prevent overflowing and excessive feeding.
Also, it features a dual power supply that allows you to either plug the feeder directly into a socket or use the batteries as a backup.
The overall build quality of the BELOPEZZ Smart Pet Automatic Feeders is impressive to note, as well.
It has ABS housing with an anti-abrasion coating that prevents scrapes and signs of wear over time.
You’ll also find the materials used are environmentally-friendly, allowing your pets to have a safer method of getting their food.
What to Like About It
Unlike other feeders, it’s relatively impossible for your pets to access food within this unit, even if they nudge it frequently.
You also have the option of determining whether to run the unit off of electricity or battery power, which helps to make it more portable and more comfortable to store in specific locations.
Overall, the feeding schedules are very reliable, and you won’t have to worry about the device not providing the correct amount of food.
What Not to Like About It
The instructions that come with the unit are quite sparse, which can make setting up the feeder a little more complicated than anticipated.
You may also find the controls are less intuitive than with other brands, as you have to push the buttons several times to get the settings you need.
Additionally, if you own a large dog, this isn’t the right product for you, as the feeding bowl could be far too small for their diet.
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Buyer’s Guide
An automatic feeder is more than a simple convenience since plenty of pet parents use them as the only source of feeding their pets while they are away.
With that said, you must make sure you are buying the highest quality device possible with reliable feeding schedules and easy-to-use features.
Below are a few of the most important things to look for when you start searching for the perfect automatic feeder for your pets.
1. Type
First, you will want to ensure you are choosing the right type of automatic feeder based on the size of the animal you own.
Some feeders are best suited for small animals, such as cats and small breed dogs, whereas others have too large of a food bowl and are better for large breeds.
With the incorrect size, you may have to double the number of feeding schedules you set or wind up giving your pet too much or too little food.
2. Anti-Jam Properties
One of the concerns you may have with an automatic feeder is whether the kibble will get caught in the machine when in use.
Typically, these devices come with instructions about what size food will be dispensed the best, for example, kibble smaller than 0.6 inches in size.
It appears that small and round kibble is best suited for automatic feeders, as it is the least likely to get trapped.
You may also want to consider other anti-jam properties, such as a failsafe that can unclog the machine if you are away from home.
A device that allows you to remotely unclog the machine by pressing a button through an app, for example, would be quite beneficial.
Otherwise, you may have to manually remove the kibble, causing the blockage as soon as possible.
3. Feeder Capacity
The feeder capacity of these machines will depend solely on how often you feed your dog and how much they eat at a time.
You may also want to consider the number of times you will want to refill the unit throughout the week, especially if you’re going on vacation.
Ideally, small size pets will have the best experience with a minimum food capacity of six liters, which is more than enough for a couple of weeks of feeding.
For larger animals, or if you have a larger feeder, you will want to have at least nine liters of storage.
With that said, ensure you aren’t putting too much food into the unit, as pet food can spoil over time.
4. Types of Food Allowed
If you have your pet on a wet food diet, it’s sad to say that the majority of pet feeders do not distribute anything wet.
You may be fortunate to find ones that are compatible with semi-moist kibble, but most of the time, dry food is the only type of food they can work with.
The reason is that wet food would easily get caught in the sensitive components of the device, causing it to get clogged far too often.
Also, cleaning your automatic feeder would be more difficult with wet food, as it may get trapped in hard-to-reach areas and turn into mold.
5. Feeding Modes
One of the best features of automatic feeders is that you can set up specific feeding modes based on your animal’s diet.
Typically, you can adjust the times at which they are fed as well as the amounts they receive.
Some of the higher-end models also have slow feed options, which enable the device to put out small amounts of food at a time, so your pet doesn’t overload themselves in one sitting.
You will surely want user-friendly feeding modes that are easily adjustable as your pet grows or if you need to adjust their schedules.
6. Timer and Reliability
The main point behind an automatic feeder is to have a reliable device that distributes food according to the schedules you have set.
With that said, you must select a device that has a reliable timer that isn’t likely to reset or change even after you have set the specific schedules.
For optimal reliability, you will want to consider a feeder that also has a battery backup, and that will maintain its feeding schedules even if it has to use its reserve power.
7. Hygiene and Cleaning
Over time, you will be responsible for cleaning your automatic feeder, much like you would your traditional food and water bowls.
You will want to choose a device that is easily accessible and equally as simple to keep clean with a mild detergent.
Most devices will also be dishwasher-safe, allowing you to sufficiently disinfect the food container as well at the feeding bowl.
FAQs
1. What Is an Automatic Feeder?
Automatic feeders are intuitively designed devices that help to take the stress out of feeding your pets.
They have an exceptional number of features, such as being able to set specific feeding schedules and feeding amounts so that the unit feeds your pets on your behalf.
You may also find many units with luxurious features, such as smart home connectivity or the ability to manage your schedules from a smartphone app.
Whether you need to create a streamlined feeding process for their health or if you are going on vacation, an automatic feeder can be incredibly helpful.
2. Are Automatic Feeders Good for Dogs?
Fortunately, automatic feeders are suitable for dogs and cats alike, especially if you pre-measure the amount of food you give to your animals.
You can find feeders of different sizes depending on the type of breed you have to ensure they are getting the proper nutrition daily.
3. How Does an Automatic Pet Feeder Work?
Automatic pet feeders can be either plugged into the wall or will work off battery power, depending on the model you have chosen.
Once you set up the appropriate feeding schedules and amounts, the device will push out food via a conveyor belt into the food bowl at the front of the unit.
Using a gentle alarm or a prerecorded message, your pet will be alerted to the fact that it’s time for them to eat.
4. How Do You Set up an Automatic Pet Feeder?
Setting up an automatic pet feeder will vary depending on the type of unit you have, as each model’s instructions may differ.
Typically, there will be an LED screen on the front of the device that you can use to program the time and then adjust the feeding schedules, as necessary.
If you have one of the models that connect to a smart device, you may have to download an app to access the feeder’s controls.
5. Can You Put Wet Food in an Automatic Feeder?
With most models, wet food should be avoided as it can cause clogs and will also make the automatic feeder far more challenging to keep clean.
By reading the instructions, your specific feeder will let you know whether it is compatible with wet or dry food, though you will likely have to use kibble with most devices.
Our Final Recommendation
The best automatic dog feeder is the PETKIT Smart Feed Automatic Feeder, as its modern features are incredibly easy to use with a smartphone.
Being able to control your dog’s feeding schedule remotely is a feature that none of the other models can offer, and you will appreciate the reliability of the device as a whole.
Also, you can choose from two different sizes depending on the breed of your pets and how often they need feeding.
