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Petmate Le Bistro Electronic Portion-Control Automatic Pet Feeder, Black | 
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| Brand: Petmate
Category: Pet Products
List Price: $79.99
Buy New: $39.99
You Save: $40.00 (50%)
New (11) Used (2) from $24.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  377 reviews
Sales Rank: 185
Color: Black
Media: Tools & Hardware
Shipping Weight (lbs): 5
Dimensions (in): 15 x 9.4 x 9.3
MPN: 24230
Model: 24230
UPC: 029695242304
EAN: 0029695242304
ASIN: B000BVWVUA
Release Date: July 1, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Features:
| • | Fully automatic electronic pet feeder with tough plastic base | | • | Food reservoir holds 4-1/5 pounds of dry food for food "on demand" | | • | Dispenses portions from 1/4 to 2 cups at 3 selected times per day | | • | Great for cats and dogs; does not replace human care; batteries not included | | • | Measures 14-1/2 by 8-7/8 by 15-1/8 inches; 1-year limited warranty |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Portion control feeding system that saves time for the owner and insures the pet regular controlled feedings for improved health. Dispenses portions from 1/4 cup to 2 cups at 3 selected times per day. Simple programmable electronics hopper holds 4 pounds of food. Battery operated (not included). Black only. Measures 14 1/2 in. x 8.9 in. x 15 in..
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| Customer Reviews: Read 372 more reviews...
 Another POC from China August 18, 2008
This is a good product in theory, since it feeds your cat at regular intervals so it doesn't get fat, but it is difficult to program, and my electronics went crazy after a few weeks. I wouldn't recommend this product. Maybe there's something better that's made in America.
 Poor Product August 18, 2008
Bought this product to try and control my cat's large appetite. Like the others, programming this thing takes a NASA degree, then you still don't know what your doing. No warning when the batteries died. And one day, it just stopped working all together. Getting ready to take a trip and not much else is offered out there, but I don't want to risk getting this thing again.
 Best Cat Investment I Have Made So Far August 18, 2008
I have had this product for at least a year and a half, and I have had no problems so far. I was looking at this page again to see if they had a waterer, which I may buy soon.
The best part about this purchase - I haven't had to change the batteries yet, for over a year. But it does take 4 D batteries, so make sure you have some or buy some with this product.
Other reviewers on this site have had problems programming it, but it comes with directions. I read the directions when I bought the machine, programmed it correctly on the first day, and have been able to just let it run since then. Programming is not entirely "intuitive," though, so the directions are important to keep if you want to change the programming often.
I got this for my cats because they put on too much weight with the free flow feeder we had before. We have had no problems with them forcefully "pulling" food out of the machine, mostly because the lid is tight-fitting and there is a hard plastic paddle holding the food in the receptacle.
Feeder is actually easy to clean because the bowl is large and smooth (for wipe-out cleaning) and the top receptacle can be wiped out easily by taking off the top lid. It is at leat 6 inches across, so it is not too small.
If you are wondering how the food dispenses, you can choose up to three feedings a day, and each feeding can be from 1-4 portions. As far as I remember, the portions are each 1/4 cup, and my vet recommended 1/2 to 3/4 cup per cat per day. If three daily feedings of 1 portion are too much for a cat, you can reduce it to two daily feedings of 1 portion, and they can be spaced out at any time of day.
One major consideration: I have two cats, and I had to make sure, at first, that they were sharing the amount of food. Luckily for me, I found that the bowl was big enough that both cats could eat at the same time, although sometimes my "less dominant" cat would wait it out and let the other cat eat some first. If you have cats that don't like to eat together or fight for any reason, I recommend two feeders in separate areas, although this is an expense I couldn't afford at the time.
Overall, I think this product is one of the best I have bought online, and I would recommend it to anyone with a pet who needs to start a consistent and controlled feeding schedule.
Fixed Portion Problem August 17, 2008
This feeder has been a very useful tool in keeping the cat on a consistent feeding schedule. It also has eliminated the cat waking us up in the morning wanting to be feed. Worked extremely well while we were on vacation as my mother only had to check on the cat every couple days.
Our dumb cat cannot self feed so an automated feeder was really the answer.
The problem:
The advertised minimum portion amount of 1/4 cup could not be further from the truth. With this small cat food, it was closer to a half a cup. So here we are feeding our cat (who is suppose to be on a controled diet) almost a cup and a half of food a day with the three feedings. We thought she was getting only 3/4 cup. Well I thought it was too much, and sure enough after the last three months of use I think she's gained 10 pounds.
We could not continue this so I began looking at other feeders, but complaints with those prompted me to take another look at this one.
After a little thought I figured I could modify it to serve less per cycle simple by reducing the amount of space in the rotating hopper.
After taking it apart I was able to fabricate out of some spray paint caps a spacer that reduced the hopper size by more than half.
Now the feeder spits out a little less than cup each time and is just what we needed. The company should make different size hoppers to better meet the consumer needs.
If you want to attempt the modification I could send you some pictures of what I did for reference. Just ask: fixfeeder@codelevel.com and I'll try to get that to you. I'm sure it voids the warranty, but it wasn't working for me the way it was so I didn't have much to lose.
As far as the cat reaching up in the feeder, I have only seen her do it once and now with the filler it will be a little harder(less flex on the hoper dividers). If it becomes a problem it would be easy to fabricate a shield over the outlet chute that would make it really difficult for the cat to get at.
I wish you could do a onetime feeding by just pressing one button, but instead you have to press two and the same time, then press it again to stop it. I've had a hard time stoping it and when it does stop you could be left with the hopper wheel in-between to settings, which seems to throw the whole cycle off for the next automated cycle. I found it best just to leave that option alone, and just scoop some out if you want to feed them a little extra.
Programming is a bit awkward, but it's manageable. I like the fact that it is battery powered (don't have to worry about power outages messing up the timer, and no power cord to drape across the floor that the cat could chew on). All in all, I'm now satisfied with the product and would recommend it with a warning about the Portion size.
Amount of Food Dispensed NOT Accurate August 17, 2008
We decided to try this product for our cat. She's on a strict diet of Prescription Diet r/d. She's ONLY allowed to have 3/4 cup of r/d per day. We decided this feeder would be great because she could have three 1/4 cup meals without us having to be home three times a day. Sounds great, right? WRONG. This feeder does not dispense the correct amount of food. On the 1/4 cup setting, the amount of food ranged from 1 HEAPING 1/4 cup to almost 1/2 a cup of food!!! This is UNacceptable for anyone whose cat has strict dietary needs. We tried various things including leaving the hopper very full and leaving it almost empty. NOTHING worked. I should also point out that the box and instructions state that the feeder works with ALL shapes and sizes of dry food (and the box even pictured a food in the exact shape and size as ours).
Not to mention the creators of this product seemed to forget that cats are intelligent and they can very easily stick their paws up the chute and release more food. This product might be okay if you're just going out of town and want to make sure that your kitty is fed, but stay away from it if you have more specific needs.
You may feel that the product deserves a higher rating, but the way I see it, claiming that your product can dispense a specific amount of food when it cannot is false advertising and makes the product completely useless to me.
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