Product Description

Great for cats and dogs, this fully automatic pet feeder features a tough plastic base that holds a food reservoir for food "on demand." The electronic pet feeder's simple, programmable electronics prompt the feeder to dispense portions from 1/4 to 3 cups at three selected times per day. The unit can be set to meet scheduled feeding times and amounts when caretakers are away, but it is not meant to replace human care--please be sure someone still visits the pet daily. The unit's hopper holds 4.2 pounds of food and accommodates a full range of dry food sizes, shapes, and types. Required batteries, which are not included, sustain a long battery life of six months. One-year limited warranty.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #24541 in Pet Products
• Color: Black
• Brand: Petmate
• Model: 24230
• Dimensions: 15.00" h x 14.00" w x 10.00" l, 5.51 pounds

Features

• Automatic feeder can be programmed to dispense up to 3 meals per day
• Dispenses up to 2 cups of food per serving
• Use dry dog or cat food only
• Assembles quickly and easily with no tools necessary
• Requires 3 “D” batteries (sold separately)

Amazon.com Product Description
Feeding your pet becomes much less of a chore when using the Petmate LeBistro Portion Control Automatic Feeder. Just program it to dispense .25 to 2 cups of dry dog or cat food as often as 3 times per day. The hopper, base unit, bowl, and food wheel—all fully loaded—will hold more than 10 pounds of food. Only use dry food; never use the feeder to dispense treats or canned, moist, or semi-moist dog or cat food. Default settings are 6:00 am, 12:00 noon, and 6:00 pm, but you can program the feeder to dispense 3 meals of different sizes (in .25-cup increments up to 2 cups) within a 24-hour period. The resilient plastic feeding bowl is easily removed for swift cleaning. 3 “D” alkaline batteries are required (sold separately). Assembly is fast and simple with no tools necessary. The Petmate LeBistro Portion Control Automatic Feeder measures 14 x 10 x 15 inches when assembled. Made in China. A 1-year limited warranty is included.

Customer Reviews

The CHEAT SHEET!
We just got it set up so I can't give a full review as of yet, but - as expected b/c of reviews here - I did have problems programming it. Got this "Cheat Sheet" from PetMate. If you still can't get it, call them. The rep walked us through it on the phone (it didn't sound like there was much rhyme or reason to the method) and then emailed the cheat sheet afterwards. (I hope these instructions work for you - and us when we need to reprogram). Good Luck!

***
Cheat Sheet for Programming Lebistro Portion Control Feeder

Press and hold program button, press and hold + button let go of both at the same time. Unit should go to meal time.
Press + and unit moves to meal size
Press + and unit moves to current time.
Press set.
AM will be flashing, if you need PM press + then press set
First number will be flashing
Pressing program moves to the next number
+ changes the number
When the time is correct press set

Unit will go to meal time, press set

Breakfast will be flashing, press program unit will move to the first number
To change the number press +
To move to the next number press program
Do this until the time is set, Press program one more time and the number in the right upper corner will be flashing
1 means yes I want to feed this meal
0 means no I do not want to feed this meal
Select 1 or 0 and press set

Unit will go to meal time press set
Unit will go to Breakfast, press + and it will move to lunch
***to set 12:00 you will need to set 00:00 unit will NOT set 12***
Press program and the first number will start to flash--set the time in the same manner you set Breakfast
Set 1 or 0 to feed or not to feed then press set
Unit will go back to meal time, press set

Unit will go to breakfast, press + will go to lunch press + again and unit will move to dinner
Press program and first number will start to flash, set time in the same manner you set breakfast and lunch.
Set 1 or 0 to feed or not to feed then press set
Unit will go back to meal time, press +

Unit will go to meal size
Press set
1 in the right upper corner will start to flash
1=1/4 cup
2=1/2 cup
3=3/4 cup...etc
Select amount you want to feed.
**** Unit will feed the same amount for each meal***
Press set and unit will go back to meal time
Press and hold program button, press and hold set button let go of both at the same time.

Unit should have the correct time, the amount you selected to feed in the upper right hand corner and the meals you select on the left side.

***00 in the bottom right corner is the number of meals fed***

***To manual feed press set and hold, press + and hold, let go of both buttons at the same time. Unit will feed until you press set and + again

Great product -- if your cats aren't clever
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R22C3UVAAUTF5R This product worked fantastic for about 6 months -- our cats lost weight, were more healthy, and it prevented them from waking us up at 6:00 in the morning for feedings.

One slight issue is that, as it turns out, cats are relatively smart. Our cat Huascar, after studying our Petmate intensely for several months, finally figured out a way to get all that food that was suspended in air in front of him into the dish. Your mileage may vary, but Huascar has definitely figured out the secret to a midnight snack.

I think the Petmate is still an excellent tool for portion control -- it is such a hassle for Huascar to snack that he usually grabs a few morsels and then heads off to cause more chaos throughout our house. He has remained his svelte, yet troublemaking, self.

Watch the video to find out.

Does good job
I like many have read the poor reviews and had to think out whether the judgment of these dissappointed buyers was valid. It appeared to me that all of the complaints were oriented towards the interface involved in programing the thing and such.

I bought it. Amazon shipped it incredibly fast. It only works on batteries (3 D's) That's really a plus since it provides maximum flexiblity on placement and it's not tied to commercial power, so pwr outages don't mean that cat goes hungry!

I'll say this. The programming is counter-intuitive and you have to work at figuring out what they want you to do. You must read the instructions and you'd better keep for when the batteries die, because I read the settings go with the juice.

I set it up to work in under 20 minutes. Feeds my cat twice a day without a hitch now in two weeks. You adjust the volume and how many feedings you want. Common sense is only dry kibble will really work best with this setup. I can see how soft kibble might gum up the works, due to the physics of gravity. The food sits in the bottle, upended over a paddle wheel that slowly rotates to allow kibble to flow. So soft food would probably tend to clump up in there.

I'm very pleased so far. It has solved a feeding problem for me and I am most satisfied. If the maker could install a watch battery backup thing to hold the settings between D battery changes that would be great and the simplicity of the setup could be better, BUT If that added too much money to the cost, it probably wouldn't sell.

UPDATE: a little over two months of use and I'm really a big fan now. This thing works well. The main thing is... my fat cat is losing weight and she eats twice a day, same time, everyday, thus perfect routine for her. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to any cat owner that would like routine for their pet's eating or has a pet with a weight problem.