Can the feeder replace me for a whole weekend?

No, and using it that way is risky. The feeder handles meal times, but it does not notice if the animal is unwell, does not check the water, and does not react to a jam. For an absence of one or more days you still need a person to drop by and check food, water and the animal's condition. Treat the feeder as help for the hours you are out during the day, not as a substitute for supervision over long periods.

How do I know how many grams a portion really dispenses?

By weighing it, not by trusting the manual. Program a test portion, let it drop into an empty bowl and put it on the kitchen scale. The real value almost never matches the stated one, and it also changes between kibble brands because the density differs. Once you know how much one unit weighs, you can work out how many units it takes to reach the meal's grams and check that the daily total meets the requirement.

Is it fine to use it for wet food?

Only with suitable models. Wet food dispensed and left in the bowl for hours deteriorates, especially in the heat, and becomes a risk for the stomach. There are feeders with sealed cooled compartments made for this, but their run time is limited. If you feed wet food and are out a long time, the simplest solution is often to keep wet food for meals when you are home and leave only dry food to the feeder, which copes better with waiting in the tray.

My cat has learned to shake the feeder to make it dispense: what do I do?

This is common with light, gravity based models. Secure the feeder so it cannot move, for example against a wall or on a stable base, and choose a model with a closed hopper from which food cannot be pulled out by hand. If the cat persists, consider a device that dispenses only at programmed times and leaves no kibble accessible between meals, so shaking it no longer produces any result.

Practical feeding30 minLevel: BeginnerUpdated on August 18, 2026

Setting up an automatic feeder for scheduled meals

How to use an automatic feeder well: calibrate portions on a scale, program the times, keep it clean and plan a backup for when it jams.

Audience: Pet owners
Species: Dog, Cat
Scope: Valid everywhere, Italy, European Union

What you need before you start

Il fabbisogno giornaliero dell'animale, in grammi o in porzioni, già stabilito
Una bilancia da cucina per tarare le porzioni erogate dal distributore
Un distributore automatico adatto al tipo di cibo che usi, secco o umido

An automatic feeder solves a concrete problem: serving meals at regular times even when you are not home, without bringing dinner forward just because you go out early. It is not, however, an autopilot that decides the diet for you, and this is where many people go wrong. Fill it and forget it, and you risk wrong portions, food that spoils, and an animal gaining weight for reasons you cannot see. This guide covers how to calibrate it to the real requirement, how to program it, how to keep it hygienic and, above all, how to plan for the day it jams while you are out. Technology only helps if it stays in its place, as a tool and not as a decision.

Choosing the right type for your food

Before programming anything, confirm the feeder suits the food you actually use. A model built for dry kibble does not handle wet food, and a mistake at this level cannot be fixed with settings. The choice rests on three things: the type of food, the size of the kibble, and how many hours the food will sit in the tray before being eaten.

For dry food, check the mechanism dispenses your kibble size without jamming or crushing it.
For wet food, you need models with sealed compartments and, in warm climates, a cooling element.
With several animals, consider models that open only to a specific animal's microchip or tag.
For fast eaters, some feeders scatter the kibble instead of leaving it in a pile.
Confirm there is battery backup, essential so meals are not lost during a power cut.

Calibrating the portion with a scale

This is where the difference is made between a useful tool and a machine that fattens the animal. Feeders measure portions in their own units, cups or auger turns, which do not match the grams of the requirement. Never trust the stated measure: weigh what actually comes out and adjust accordingly. It takes ten minutes, once.

Start from the daily requirement in grams
You should already know how many grams a day your animal needs and how many meals to split them into. If you have not worked it out, do that first: without this number the feeder dispenses into a void.
Set a test portion and collect it
Program the feeder to a small portion, for example a single unit, and let it dispense into an empty bowl rather than the usual one.
Weigh what actually came out
Put the portion on the kitchen scale and note the grams. It almost never matches the value promised by the manual, and that is normal.
Work out how many units your meal needs
Divide the meal's grams by the grams in one unit. If a meal is sixty grams and one unit dispenses twenty, you set three units per meal.
Check the daily total
Multiply the portion by the number of meals and confirm the total matches the daily requirement. If it overshoots, reduce it: small errors, repeated every day, turn into kilos.
Recalibrate with every new bag
Different kibbles have different densities, so the same unit can weigh different grams. Recheck when you change the brand or format of the food.

Programming times without upsetting the routine

The feeder is there to keep the routine, not to invent a new one. Set the same times the animal usually eats, so the switch is invisible to them. A common mistake is increasing the number of meals just because the machine allows it: dispensing more does not mean more food, the daily total stays the same.

How to spread meals by situation, keeping the daily total unchanged.
Situation	Suggested spread	Note
Healthy adult cat	3 to 5 small meals	Closer to the cat's natural way of eating
Adult dog	2 main meals	Better not to split too much and drive constant begging
Animal on a weight loss diet	More small meals	Spreads the same amount across more moments and eases hunger
Out all day	Extra midday meal	Covers the gap without raising the total ration

If you record a voice message, many models play it at dispensing time: use it in your own voice, because a call the animal knows reduces the fright of the mechanism's noise. In the first few days, stay present for some deliveries, so the sound is linked to food rather than to a surprise.

Cleaning and storing the food

A feeder is still a food container that stays open for whole days, so hygiene is not a detail. Kibble fat goes rancid, moisture encourages mould, and residue in the tray becomes the least clean spot in the house, exactly where the animal eats every day.

Empty and wash the dispensing tray at least once a week, more often in summer.
Do not top up new food over old: finish the hopper, wash it and dry it well before refilling.
Keep the feeder away from heat sources and direct light, which speed up rancidity.
Fill the hopper with the amount the animal eats in a few days, not to the brim for weeks.
Check the food flows and does not bridge inside the hopper, a frequent jam with small kibble.

The backup plan for when it jams

The right question is not whether the feeder will one day jam, but what happens when it does while you are out. Flat battery, blocked auger, an app that will not respond: these are normal faults, and without a backup plan they mean an animal with no food for a day. Safety lies in redundancy, not in trust in the device.

Always keep the backup batteries charged, even if the feeder is plugged into the mains.
Turn on the model's notifications, if it has them, to know when a meal was not dispensed.
In the first days, check each evening that the delivered portion matched the one you set.
For long absences, ask a person to check the device and not only the bowl.
Leave a small supply of food within reach of whoever stands in for you, with the portion written down.

Frequently asked questions

Can the feeder replace me for a whole weekend?: No, and using it that way is risky. The feeder handles meal times, but it does not notice if the animal is unwell, does not check the water, and does not react to a jam. For an absence of one or more days you still need a person to drop by and check food, water and the animal's condition. Treat the feeder as help for the hours you are out during the day, not as a substitute for supervision over long periods.
How do I know how many grams a portion really dispenses?: By weighing it, not by trusting the manual. Program a test portion, let it drop into an empty bowl and put it on the kitchen scale. The real value almost never matches the stated one, and it also changes between kibble brands because the density differs. Once you know how much one unit weighs, you can work out how many units it takes to reach the meal's grams and check that the daily total meets the requirement.
Is it fine to use it for wet food?: Only with suitable models. Wet food dispensed and left in the bowl for hours deteriorates, especially in the heat, and becomes a risk for the stomach. There are feeders with sealed cooled compartments made for this, but their run time is limited. If you feed wet food and are out a long time, the simplest solution is often to keep wet food for meals when you are home and leave only dry food to the feeder, which copes better with waiting in the tray.
My cat has learned to shake the feeder to make it dispense: what do I do?: This is common with light, gravity based models. Secure the feeder so it cannot move, for example against a wall or on a stable base, and choose a model with a closed hopper from which food cannot be pulled out by hand. If the cat persists, consider a device that dispenses only at programmed times and leaves no kibble accessible between meals, so shaking it no longer produces any result.

What to do next

Treat the feeder as a tool, not a decision: choose a model that suits your food, then weigh on a scale how much one unit really dispenses and set the portions to the daily requirement you already established, subtracting any treats. Program the same times as the usual routine, wash the tray every week, and always plan a backup with charged batteries and a person checking the animal during long absences.