Petmate Le Bistro Portion-Control Automatic Pet Feeder, 5-Pound Capacity

After reading through pages of reviews, I felt the positives were worth giving this a try. My 25 pound Maine Coon Cat is highly verbal, demanding and LOUD! Most of all he was becoming dangerous as he dodged between my feet causing me an occasional tumbles.I purchased to 10 pound model so that if all else failed, I could use it for my dog. It arrived in four days and from the moment I opened the box, it was an easy, smooth process. Set up of feeding times was quick and easy, although I wish the readout was backlit. One of the biggest problems others mentioned was irregular, inconsistent food amounts and problems with smaller sized food. However, my owner's manual specifically says it works BEST with food LESS than a half an inch...the size or normal cat food. For a trial run, I set it up on my bathroom counter, programmed the timer, added some food and cycled through a dozen feedings or so to see what kind of problems I might encounter. There were none. I tried all of the settings up to 1 cup and found they were all fine.My cat was only minimally startled the first time the motor whirled and the food rattling into his bowl. Fortunately his enormous appetite does not allow for timidity. The very next morning I woke to the morning sun instead of the sound of a possessed cat screeching before dawn. I was amazed that within 48 hours he was checking the bowl and not looking to me for food.I have yet to have any problems with him putting his paw inside, or knocking into the container and causing any giblets to fall out. I did purposely knock against it while I was doing my trial run on the counter and I did get a few nuggets to come out, but it was literally only enough for a bite or two. I discovered, as another reviewer mentioned, that those extras (if they can get them out) would only cause the next meal to be a little less than normal. The 24 hour total food consumed would be the same even if the cat did this at every feeding - if he cheats a few bites at one meal he simply would have a few bites less for the next meal.The price was not exactly cheap, but reasonable for the value and less than a number of others on the market. It seems well made, although I might be cautious using it with some dogs who might be large of overly boisterous. And I would not recommend outside use where the plastic hopper could become brittle from constant exposure to the sun and elements. I heard that an AC cord was available, however I like it's battery powered design which gives you the freedom to place it anywhere you'd like. Just as desirable, the battery power keeps power fluctuations from resetting the clock, which would be an inconvenience most times, but a disaster if it occurred during a vacation. The capacity is generous enough for vacations, unlike some of the other automated feeders that only hold several meals. This feeder is designed for ease of mind and infrequent owner involvement.I wish I had done this ages ago!!!! I can't think of anything negative to report. My cat is no longer in danger of needing a new home and sleeping in on the weekend is a dream!

This feeder is a piece of junk. The plastic container that holds the food is flimsy, and there's no seal on the lid. When my cat got frustrated with not having enough food she simply tipped the whole thing over and the top fell off, spilling food everywhere. Oh, and the timer mechanism broke after just 2 months. So sometimes it dispenses just a few food pellets at designated mealtimes, other times it will spill out a bunch of food for no reason. I called the manufacturer--it was past Amazon's 30-day return window--and they refused to refund my money, only offered to replace it.I had the previous model which was a bit more solidly constructed, but that one broke too after about a year.Buy the Petself Electronic feeder instead, it is much better built and reliable. Do you really wanting to be guessing if your cat was fed properly every day?

The Petmate Le Bistro is a great idea - an automate feeding system with customizable feeding times and quantities. Throw a large food reservoir on top and you'd think you're in business. Unfortunately the Le Bistro is a fantastic idea that is poorly executed. Let's start with the good. Timing is fully programmable for a full 24 hour feeding schedule. Quantity is also fully customizable ranging from 1/4c to 3c in 1/4c increments theoretically allowing for very precise portion control. Unlike what many others have mentioned, I've found that the programming is actually quite simple and intuitive. Whether or not this is a new feature, I'm not sure. Finally, a removable bowl allows for easy cleaning.Now for the unfortunate drawbacks. The entire unit is constructed of cheap and light plastic. It weighs less than 5 lbs meaning that as your food reservoir goes down, the unit becomes light enough for your pet to noisily knock it around, trying to squeeze out some extra food. Therein lies another huge problem - the cheap plastic food distribution mechanism often leaks extra food into the bowl with just a light disturbance. My cat has also learned to manipulate the flexible plastic feeding mechanism to force extra food out of the feeder. This is a huge problem and essentially renders this feeder useless.Pros:Very customizableLarge quantity reservoirRemovable bowlSimple programmingCons:Cheaply constructedLight weightCannot effectively control food distributionBottom line: Really what is the point of a feeder if you can't actually control feeding portions and times? I would look elsewhere for a more reliable automated feeding system.

What I like* The price is good for what you get* Styling is good* Programming is even easier than previous models* Holds a lot of food* ReliableWhat I don't like* It is not cat proof (it still works, though)Our cat is an over eater. He will basically eat anything (leftover nachos my niece left out) and he loves his food. He waits by his food dish an hour before to get his food and this means he's finding every way he can to get food. Other people state that cats can reach their paws up to get a few pebbles of food but our cat can get the whole next serving by reaching up their multiple times. In a way this kind of works because when it's time for feeding now only a couple of pebbles of food fall down and he has to reach up to get the whole next serving to eat. It is, however, not working as it should and I can only imagine will lead to it not lasting as long as it should.This could be fixed by having the plastic "fans" that hold the food back a little more stiff to not make it easy for a cat's paw to get past.Would I buy it again? Probably because of the price. I feel like you have to pay a lot more to get something more reliable. I just think that they're really missing the ball with not making small changes to make it a little more cat proof. If this one issue were fixed, there wouldn't be any reason to look for another product.