Making Meal Times Easier with the SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeder

27th May 2015

Meet Peter and his pets - his two cats Booey and Vinnie and Buddy the dog. Find out how Peter uses the latest pet technology to help Booey the cat eat her meals in peace and quiet, whilst stopping Buddy the dog eating her prescription cat food.

In the Milmine home:

1 x SureFlap Microchip Cat Door
2 x SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeders
Pink bowl & mat (Booey’s)
Blue bowl & mat (Vinnie’s)

The Milmines

Once it was just Peter and Vinnie, a 13 year old domestic short hair, but after adopting Booey from a family who could no longer care for her, Peter found himself with two cats who lead quite different lifestyles. Unfortunately Booey, a 14 year old domestic shorthair, suffers with renal (kidney) failure and an over-active thyroid. This means that she is fed on a special prescription diet that is quite different to Vinnie’s dietary requirements. Six months ago the family grew again with the addition of Buddy, a lively German shepherd cross who, much to Booey’s dismay, continually ate her food.

What is Renal or Kidney Failure?

Renal failure is quite common in older domestic cats and is most commonly known as Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD). Cats with CKD suffer from damaged kidneys that struggle to remove waste and reabsorb fluids properly. Without treatment, cats can become dehydrated and retain large levels of toxins in the body. Suggested treatment and management of the disease includes feeding high quality protein diets that are very low in toxins and waste products. CKD cat food is normally a high water content wet food that is supplied in cans or pouches and can be quite expensive at around £1 a portion.

Can you describe your house before the SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeder?

My problem was that I had two cats that each required a different food, with no way of controlling who ate what. I was faced with two options one, feed Booey and Vinnie separately by locking them in different rooms at set feeding times. But with Booey only eating small amounts of food at once due to her having CKD I was worried that she wouldn’t be able to eat like this. Or two, we could feed both of my cats on the more expensive prescription diet. We tried option two, which worked to begin with, but when we got our new German shepherd cross Buddy, I soon found myself putting 4-5 packets of Booey’s food down every day. Buddy would just run into the room and lick the bowl clean meaning that Booey barely got a look in.

I didn’t really know what to do, but I knew I couldn’t keep spending £4-5 a day on prescription food and so started to research online for a solution to my problem. I spent a lot of time researching possible ways of preventing Buddy from stealing the cat food, and having got on very well with my SureFlap Microchip Cat Flap (I have that installed in my front door), I decided to give SureFeed a try.

What difference has the SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeder made to you and your pet family now?

I've found it very easy to use and it only took a few minutes to set up.  Booey figured out how it worked almost immediately and since then I've had no issues with Buddy stealing food.  He doesn't even attempt to try and get to the food now!

This has had a profound effect on Booey, who can now eat at any time of day and know that there is food available. I have also noticed that Booey is much calmer and happier. When she is eating, she knows there is no pressure from Buddy anymore and actually takes her time and makes less mess when eating. The result of this is that her condition and weight are both improving.

I no longer have to worry about who is eating what and I am saving almost £4 a day on food. The SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeder has been a godsend to our house.

What advice would you give to other owners with a similar situation?

My advice would be whilst the device might first appear quite expensive, I think it is superb value for money and looks really stylish in my living room.  I'm actually finding it is starting to save me money because I don't have to buy as much special cat food for Booey.

One other hint would be to use the slider switch on the bottom of the unit that controls the length of time before the lid closes after your cat has finished eating. I have mine set to the shortest time so that Buddy has no chance to even take a single lick of the bowl. If your cat was more timid than Booey though, you could have this set to the longer time delay.