Does the feeder have a timer so it can this be set up for automatic feeding? What keeps dogs from eating too much?
309644
No timer. When dogs are full, they stop eating and only eat when they are hungry. Thus, no issues with food aggression with their sibling dogs, and it makes for a great feeder when you are out of town for the weekend.
796501
What is dispensed is determined by how much the animal eats. There is no timer on this inexpensive model. In our case, we have two cats.I do not see that you can control the amount of food eaten each day unless only put out a certain amount. Don't need this to do that.
1044155
If your timer does not have a battery back-up, then you would need to program the correct time again. The feeder will still feed once the power comes back on, it will just feed at a different time but the same amount as you set.
1284772
there is an opening..........what is an automatic feeder?...........how large?
608802
It is designed to feed for multiple days. The number of days depends upon the size of food, how often you want it to feed per day and the quantity of food per feeding. All these things can be programmed to your specifications. The longest we have used our feeder was 7 days and only about one-half of the food was used.
103671
From another review: I made myself a little cheat sheet for the programming process, printed it out and stuck it on the fridge. Maybe it will help someone. I use two feeding times. Also I use the default "smallest" feeding portion, so I don't have to change that: 1) Turn feeder on. 2) Within 90 seconds, set time: 3) Press "Clock" to set hour / press "Timer" to set minute 4) Press "Set" to confirm. 5) Press "Clock" to toggle between 12/24 hours. 6) Press "Start" to confirm clock settings. 7) Display now shows "1 07" (first feeding at 0700) 8) Press "Set" for two seconds until display flashes. 9) Press "Timer" to set desired feeding time. 10) Press "Set" to program second feeding time. 11) Press "Timer" to set desired feeding time. 12) Press "Start" to save and exit. [To change portion size:] 14) Push VOL key to display portion size. 15) Press and hold the SET key until the digit blinks. 16) Press the VOL key to set the portion size. [ 1 = 1/4 cup, 2 = 1/2 cup etc... ] 17) Press the START key to confirm.
293652
Yes, it can. I set mine (2 meal model) to go off 2 hrs and again at 4 hrs after I put it down. My cat eats small frequent meals for his diabetes and this thing has been a godsend!
233764
The five-meal feeder does not need to be re-programmed every day. But if you want to stop it, then you need to re-program it to start it again. But if you do nothing, it will keep feeding at the same times every day.
1726102
I have my feeder set up to go off twice a day. The instructions were easy to follow to set the times and the amount of feed. You program it once and you are good to go but can easily make changes if you need to change times and amounts of food.
17045
It is not that simple. First you need to set the time, then program the meal size, then the meal times. The instructions are clear, but it all needs to be done before any feeding occurs. The great flexibility in settings is great for one feeder to cover a wide range of environments. But it takes some work to get it to work right.
1718124
Hi Kelle,No, this feeder only let's you have one feeding program. Good luck!Sylvia
43773
We have an old cat that must eat very small amounts very often. We set the feeder to deliver food once an hour in very small quantities. The timer allows you to dispense food as often as every 15 minutes for the full 24 hr day. We dispensed at 1x per hour. The feeder is also adjustable to allow for different size dry pellets but not sure if a tablespoon quantitiy could be dropped, but we drop very small quantities. If you decide to purchase, I would look at the digital timer instead of the analog mechanical one as that part was the only negative issue we have experienced. The sales folks at Superfeeder were also very helpful so I would contact them too with any questions. We have an old cat that must eat very small amounts very often. We set the feeder to deliver food once an hour in very small quantities. The timer allows you to dispense food as often as every 15 minutes for the full 24 hr day. We dispensed at 1x per hour. The feeder is also adjustable to allow for different size dry pellets but not sure if a tablespoon quantitiy could be dropped, but we drop very small quantities. If you decide to purchase, I would look at the digital timer instead of the analog mechanical one as that part was the only negative issue we have experienced. The sales folks at... » Read More We have an old cat that must eat very small amounts very often. We set the feeder to deliver food once an hour in very small quantities. The timer allows you to dispense food as often as every 15 minutes for the full 24 hr day. We dispensed at 1x per hour. The feeder is also adjustable to allow for different size dry pellets but not sure if a tablespoon quantitiy could be dropped, but we drop very small quantities. If you decide to purchase, I would look at the digital timer instead of the analog mechanical one as that part was the only negative issue we have experienced. The sales folks at Superfeeder were also very helpful so I would contact them too with any questions. « Show Less
1726101
I believe you can program it to feed 3 times a day. We have it set for twice a day. You only have I program it once unless you want to change it. It may have to be programmed again when the batteries die. I don't know about that yet.
963840
There is no sensor, it dumps at whatever time you set it. My cat is greedy and has her own sensor as she hovers until it drops. You can set the timer for once a day if you feel you will have a lot left as well as you can control how much comes out. Hope it helps. I have been using automated feeder for 10 years due to my travel with work and I love it
512805
We had it depensing just a few pieces of food until we had it set up correctly. You can adjust the amount of food using the timer and the food adjuster. I would highly recommend getting the digital timer if you are trying to dispense only 1/8 cup. It takes a little bit to get it where you want it to be but we love this feeder.
1645668
We have 3 of the "PetSafe Electronic Pet Feeder 5 meal" and they are great for our 2 cats and one puppy. All three pets are found sitting right in front of the feeders 30 minutes before the 6 PM and 7 AM feed times to arrive. It eliminated the pets from bugging us in the morning wanting their food, and if we are away from home we don't need to worry about them not getting their food. To answer your question, the pets can't get to the food by turning the feeder over, and for some reason they haven't tried.
2031937
We just keep it rolling until the food is gone. We have not had a problem. My friend got one the same one, and that she had to set daily. It was not feeding automatically. She returned it and got one from a local store due to lack of time for an upcoming trip, and it works without having to reset. The one requiring resetting was a dud.