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 2 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 5 pounds of food and accommodates a full range of dry food sizes, shapes, and types. The feeding bowl is removable for easy cleaning. Required batteries, which are not included, sustain a long battery life of six months. One-year limited warranty.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7062 in Pet Products
• Size: 5 Pound
• Color: Bleached Linen
• Brand: Petmate
• Model: 24232
• Released on: 2008-05-01

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 14 inches when assembled. Made in China. A 1-year limited warranty is included.

Customer Reviews

Great product, with a few quirks.
After looking around for an auto feeder it seemed like they all had some issue, but this had mostly positive reviews so I figured I'd give it a try. I bought two so each of my cats could have one. Unfortunately one of them did not work upon arrival so I sent it back and had a new one sent within a week. A few things to point out based on other reviewers problems.

1. Programming is quite easy if you just follow the instructions, it took me about 2 minutes to have it set up and ready to go.

2. If you attach the container and lid on properly your cat will not be able to get into it.

3. It will only take a day or two for your cat to realize if it sticks its arm up the food chute it can get a piece or two out but it's probably more of a hassle than your cat will want to deal with after a few tries.

4. If you are using normal dry cat food (which is smaller than the 1/2" recommended size on the instructions) the portion control isn't very accurate. I found I had to just set it 1/4 cup smaller than I actually wanted them to have.

Once you figure out a few of the quirks of this product it will work without problems. Both of mine have made my life much easier since the cats know I don't control their food anymore than just sit around until they hear the food being portioned out by the auto feeder.

Be sure to use pet food with greater than 1/2" diameter!!!
The product description on amazon.com does not include the description on the box, which says pet food needs to be at least 1/2" in diameter... so when I tried the machine out, it fed WAY MORE food than required when using the classic, small pellet cat food (~1/4" diameter). The box photos are misleading... the feeder is filled with small cat food pellets! And you can only get down to 1/4 cup per meal... which means most average size cats could only get 2 meals per day, not more frequently like the box advertises.

If I had a dog, this feeder would be great. But I have a cat...

Works as advertised, easy to program
We purchased this feeder for our small cat. Just received yesterday. It will dispense in 1/4 cup increments up to 2 cups, 3 times per day. It is VERY easy to program, unlike the horror stories in the reviews for the previous LeBistro models. We ran it through several test feedings and it completed this morning's feeding without a problem. The bowl/chute combo covers the hopper entrance very effectively to prevent a clever cat from accessing the food. A paddle wheel inside rotates to dispense the food, but the paddles are sectioned and made of soft flexible material to prevent jamming. So far so good!