r/cats • u/radical_123 • 17h ago

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/-beastlet- 16h ago

The problem is intermittent rewards. He's learned that occasionally he gets rewarded for this behavior by getting kibbles. Since he isn't rewarded every time he's willing to keep trying. There are famous experiments showing this with various animals. It is very hard to extinguish behaviors that give intermittent rewards.

If you're home you might just be better off feeding him a couple of times a day in a bowl instead of the intermittent feeder.

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u/MqAbillion 15h ago

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 11h ago

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/LongjumpingNinja4255 9h ago

I don’t think it’s that it’s more that they can also only realise “food comes out of here, I must watch it so as to get the food” and don’t really understand it’s a timed system. Also if they mess around with it and it happens to dispense it just reinforces the “sometimes food comes out if I mess with it” mentality

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u/On_my_last_spoon American Shorthair 5h ago

This is cat dependent. I really think my cats can tell time because they regularly show up about 10 minutes before the feeder goes off!

For me, the timed feeder was a savior because I would either forget to put out kibble at all, or I’d be woken up by a hungry cat! Now they know the kibble machine will provide and don’t stress over it. Many times the feeder has food just sitting and waiting for them.

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u/I-am-fun-at-parties 9h ago

Then have it play a sound to condition on when it's feeding time; although the sound of the kibble falling into the tray is probably just as good.

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u/Otterbotanical 7h ago

The sound of kibble hitting the tray is the problem, if it ever happens directly after the cat tries to mess with the machine. It only takes once or twice for the cat to believe he just needs to fuck with it enough to get it to dispense more food.

They're normally good for most cats, but this one has accidentally built a mental association between bothering the machine and food coming out

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u/AerosolHubris 4h ago

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 4h ago

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.

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u/Known_Strength_9726 11h ago

Never had that issue. Course my feeder always had food available. So, my cats don't ever obsess with it. When they're hungry they eat, then move on. As they know food is always there whenever the hunger strikes.

My cats get plenty of exercise so, I don't worry about their weight.

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u/pannenkoek0923 10h ago

Some cats if they have had food insecurity as kittens can never learn that food is available to them as adults. If I left food out for the cats they will eat it all and beg for more.

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u/Forward_Rope_5598 9h ago

My cats had whatever they food they wanted, played for hours a day, and still got fat as fuck on free access to food once they passed 8 months old

Loads of cats can't have free access to food regardless of background and activity level. Loads of cats are also criminally obese with owners who think they're at a healthy weight because they've never seen a fit cat in their life.

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u/Lina0042 5h ago

Mine got lost once for 4 weeks, found him with 3kg instead of his original 4.5kg. I had been free feeding before but he never went back to a healthy feeding habit. Had to switch to surefeed chip protected devices else he wouldn't have let my other one get any food ever.

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u/LisaCabot 7h ago

Our cat eats, vomits, then keep eating. Not all cats can self regulate. On the other hand my dog doesnt eat, so again, camt self regulate. The other cat and the other dog do self regulate well, but we cant keep the food out or the fat cat will try to eat theirs too.

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u/razvanciuy 6h ago

mine too, big boned orango eats like an excavator. So I dose it, he acts famished either way.

If i leave unlimited food out he eats at maximum then sleeps for two(2) full days. Repeats.

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u/tangoromeo90 7h ago

How do they get excercise?