1. Cats: frequency affects behaviour more than total amount
In the wild a cat eats a dozen or more small meals a day. Feeding once a day long-term tends to cause two things: eating too fast and vomiting, and stomach discomfort from long fasts.
- Kittens (under 6 months): 3–4 meals a day, small and frequent.
- Adult cats: 2–3 meals a day is the usual approach. For commuters, a feeder splitting it into 3–4 works better.
- Senior cats: Keep to 2–3, but if appetite drops, smaller and more frequent meals are accepted more easily.
2. Dogs: split by size and age
- Puppies (under 6 months): 3–4 meals a day. Puppies are prone to low blood sugar, so do not leave long gaps.
- Adult medium breeds: 2 meals a day, morning and evening.
- Large breeds: 2 meals a day, and avoid strenuous exercise for an hour after eating — standard advice for preventing bloat, and especially important for large dogs.
- Senior dogs: 2–3 meals a day; as digestion weakens, smaller and more frequent meals are kinder.
3. Using a feeder during a food switch
Switching too fast causes diarrhoea. The usual approach is a 7-day transition:
- Days 1–2: 25% new food, 75% old
- Days 3–4: 50% new, 50% old
- Days 5–6: 75% new, 25% old
- Day 7: fully switched
Pouring by hand makes those ratios hard to hit precisely every day. This is where a feeder helps: pre-mix the two foods and load the hopper, and the machine dispenses fixed portions — the ratio is accurate by construction.
Note: Do not load the two foods into separate feeders and alternate — pets pick out what they like first. Pre-mix; do not separate.
4. Separate feeding in multi-pet homes
A feeder cannot solve this. An ordinary unit cannot tell who is eating, so if one finishes first the other gets nothing. Three workable options:
- Physical separation: different rooms or different times. Cheapest, but you need to be home.
- Microchip-reading feeder: the lid opens for the pet’s own implanted chip, so only that pet can eat. Costs more, but least effort.
- Timed feeding with separate bowls: place food at fixed spots far apart at the same time to reduce competition. Limited effect.
5. Judging whether you are feeding too much or too little
Do not look at the bowl, look at the body. Two simple checks:
- Feel the ribs: rest your palm on the chest — ideal is feeling the ribs without them jutting out. Cannot feel them means overweight; every rib sharp to the touch means underweight.
- Look at the waist: from above, there should be a slight tuck behind the ribs. From the side, the belly should draw upward — especially obvious in cats.
Scale numbers are skewed by coat and build, so these two hands-on checks are more reliable. Check and record once a month at a fixed time.