Every experienced cat or cat owner knows that these night hunters eat up to 10 times a day, in small portions. At the same time, a cat catches and consumes a significant part of its food in nature at night or in the early morning.
The advantage of an automatic feeder
Owners of lazy gourmets know that their cat is able to swallow a whole bowl of their favorite treats without even blinking. Leaving for work, you fill it to the brim, and in the evening you will be met by a starving animal. If you are a desperate cat lover, you are of course familiar with the morning wake-up call for breakfast. It is simply impossible to leave home even for a couple of days without taking a pet with you. But all these problems will disappear as soon as you have an automatic cat feeder . Whether it is bought in a store or made by one’s own hands depends on the availability of free time and the size of the wallet.
Creating a natural environment for your pet will improve the quality of his life in a city apartment. To release mice on the carpet so that the cat can hunt, not everyone will decide. Automatic feeder perfectly simulates the forage in the nature. Make it easy. The tools available will always be on the balcony, mezzanine or in the garage. Some details will have to be purchased at the construction hypermarket. Automatic batch feeder is not cheap. Not every cat will like every device. At the same time, do-it-yourself stores exist in every area. Therefore, a home-made automatic cat feeder is sometimes more affordable.
Basic principles of work
Some rules for the construction of the feeder will help you do the job efficiently and not harm the pet:
- Hygienic requirements - the material for the feeder must be harmless and resistant to chemical attack. A sharp smell should alert you. A cat feels it 14 times stronger than a person. Your animal will simply not be from such a feeding trough.
- Strength - a hungry animal can gnaw a feeder made of thin plastic or plywood.
- Accessibility - feed should not be delivered on its own. The cat or cat should receive food on demand, after some effort. Almost all automatic cat drinkers and feeders are based on this principle. An exception is devices for caring for a sick animal.
Home-made feeder for sloths
The first type of feeder is the simplest, an analogue can be bought in stores. Its meaning is to find food for animals. Small portions of food are placed in glasses of different depths, fixed on one base, and preferably on the floor. The animal will search for delicacies in cups until it finds it. Deep containers with a small amount of food at the bottom should make the sloth get food for himself.
Creating such a device is easy. In fact, this is not a fully automatic cat feeder. Instead of electronics, it uses the natural tendency of the animal to hunt. However, the benefits of such a device are obvious. Ideally, you will need several cylindrical glasses of different heights with smooth edges. Cooking forms, children's toys or a clerical organizer are suitable. In random order, fix them with universal glue on a round cutting board. Rubber circles can be glued on the underside of the board for stability. After the glue has dried, wash and ventilate the product in fresh air. Pour a little feed into each cup. When it is over, the animal will seek food in deeper containers.
Automatic cat feeder with clockwork
The second device will make your pet wait a bit. You have to work hard, but you get a real automatic feeder. You will need:
- For the base - a can of Danish cookies.
- To process the inside of the feeder, clay will be needed for modeling.
- Automation will be provided by a clock mechanism and a battery; for fixing, double-sided tape is required .
- In addition, you will need glue, two thin bolts and nuts for them (in extreme cases, they will be replaced by two nails), electrical tape and plywood for the cover.
The principle of operation of the feeder is simple. It is a container divided into segments that open depending on the rotation of the lid. Thus, the animal becomes access to a small part of the feed at a certain time interval. Despite the complexity of the task, to assemble the device is quite realistic. Almost nothing will cost an automatic cat feeder. Owner reviews often speak in favor of a homemade finished option.
Disassemble the unnecessary clock. Take measurements in advance from the clockwork. Save the hour hand. The tin can must be coated with clay, fashioned inside the partition. Make four divided segments and a rounded notch in the middle. Take clay for which firing is not required. When it dries a little, insert the clock mechanism into the round recess with the dial up and until the walls have finally hardened, fix it. Brackets, toothpicks, matches will do. You can use double-sided tape. Place the pieces on the bottom of the container. The main thing is that later you can remove the mechanism and replace the battery.
The hour hand needs to be strengthened. If it is made of thin metal, fold it in half and wrap it with electrical tape. If you only have a plastic watch, do not make the cover too heavy. You can further strengthen the arrow with a piece of plywood by wrapping it with tape. It is not easy to calculate the pressure of the arrow on the cover; to check the operability of the structure, one should experimentally.
Final stage
We make a cover. We cut out a circle from plywood, cut a segment in it, drill two holes in the center for metal bolts, an hour hand will be attached to them. Insert the bolts into the holes and fasten them with the nuts. Instead, you can drive two small nails, then cut off the sharp ends with wire cutters. Fix the hour hand to the clock mechanism.
Paint the lid on top, cover the metal bolts with a decorative lid, putting it on the glue. It can be cut out from the remnants of plywood and decorated with an image. Pour food into the feeder. Then simply insert the hour hand between the two bolts. Now the automatic cat feeder is ready. The stop of the mechanism is not provided. At a time when the feeder is not in use, it can simply be disassembled.
Is there an alternative?
The principle of phased opening of several segments can be used in another way. Come up with your own version of the mechanism that provides cover movement. The same principle is used with a purchased device. What you failed to do, you can easily buy. Do not strive to purchase the most expensive and high-tech feeder. When choosing a product, first review the reviews. “Oh, a cat feeder with Internet access, heating and an organizer!” - you say, having seen a fashionable novelty. However, an animal may not like such a device, and it costs significantly more.
There are also sophisticated feeders that cat owners make themselves. With the help of purchased parts and custom-made forms, you can make a real robot that takes care of the cat in your place. Describing in detail all the options is not easy. If your pet is sophisticated in feeding methods or requires special food and special schedules, you may need a programmable device.
Feeding trough reviews
A few reviews of the owners will help you navigate when choosing. Some customers have noted that batteries in the feeder are running out too often. This is inconvenient when the cat or cat is left alone in the apartment for a long time. Most devices are designed for round feed. Treats and foods with large chunks may not work. Some owners of feeding troughs note their periodic seizing. Most owners are satisfied with the fact that the animal does not overeat and eats regularly in their absence. Setting up a feeder is quite simple, but it is not always possible to record a voice signal. Some models with the function of recording sound do not transmit it very clearly, and the animal does not respond to the signal. Is it worth it to spend additional funds on these innovations, you decide.