Ergo Auto Pet Feeder, Small

Overall a good product. I like the look of it better than other similarly priced feeders. My main reason for getting this was to try and control my cat's food intake as well as prevent me from being woken up at 5:00 am by his whining.The timer is a separate unit that comes with the product and provides up to 8 feedings. It plugs into a wall and provides two outlets, one for the feeder and one for normal use. This is nice so you don't end up losing an outlet to it.I am not a fan of the plastic bowl they provide. It does the job but we replaced it with our cat's regular bowl. To do this we had to elevate the feeder a little but that wasn't a big deal.Many reviewers have complained that smart cats can get extra kibbles by sticking their paw up inside. It depends entirely on the cat. Ours is apparently not that smart as he sticks his head underneath the dispenser before the feeder has completed. This ends up with kibbles scattered around his bowl that he won't eat. In this case I blame the cat not the feeder.The timer is relatively easy to program. It has a battery backup to keep track of the feedings if the power goes out. As a side effect this lets you unplug the timer to program it, which is convenient if the outlet is low to the ground.However a couple minor nuisances prevented me from giving this product 5 stars.1) The timer has to be reset prior to being used for the first time. This involves sticking a paper click in a little hole and pressing the contact for a few seconds. This step is in the instructions but was quite necessary. The timer didn't work correctly until we did this. Just a slight nuisance.2) Each feeding has a start and end time. Both are set according to the time of day. This is silly and can be error prone. If you accidentally set the end time to PM instead of AM (or vice versa) you get 12 hours of dispensing instead of what you really wanted. What would be better is if the timer had a start time and a duration, not an end time.3) The dispenser does seem to need to be cleared infrequently. This involves removing all the kibble and making sure the moving parts are not jammed by food. The difficulty is that this required maintenance may not be apparent unless you watch the feeder dispense food and notice it doesn't dump out the necessary amount. I would have loved better feedback to determine if the machine is not working properly.

I have two cats. I bought this to replace the plain gravity feeder I was using for dry food. The older cat has an increasingly sensitive stomach, and was throwing up when eating too much at one time. Spacing out the feedings with this feeder seems to have helped that problem a great deal. She's actually getting more nutrition, now.I've only been using the feeder for about 2 weeks, so I can't speak of long-term reliability. Thus far, it's working reliably, and on schedule.Overall construction of the feeder seems to be fairly robust. It's definitely not fancy or decorous to look at. The material seems adequately heavy, and the cord is protected from chewing pets by a heavy plastic cover. The current model has a longer, downward-pointing spout compared to earlier units, which had a short spout with a flimsy cover. The improved spout keeps pets from easily reaching in to get more food. I will say it's larger than I'd imagined. I started to go for the the mid-sized version, but I'm glad I didn't. Fully filled, I think this will feed my cats for close to 2 weeks. (Supplemented by a little wet food each day.) The only 2 parts that will fit in my dishwasher are the feeding tray and the lid. Cleaning will be a manual operation. Haven't tried that, yet.Mechanically, the unit is no more than an AC-powered motor driving an auger to push the food out of the spout. The motor plugs into a timed outlet on a digital timer which plugs into a wall outlet. A second, untimed outlet is on the other side of the timer. The timer can be programmed for up to 8 feeding events per day. Those events can be as short as one second. The timer's program is protected by a rechargeable internal battery, in case the power goes out. Obviously, this isn't going to run the feeder, but at least your program won't by lost.Some have complained that programming the timer is complicated. I'd just call it tedious. Once you learn the pattern, it's no big deal. If you can work your TV remote, you should have no problem.I programmed the feeder for 8 events, each lasting 43 seconds. It takes that much time to dispense approximately one eighth of a cup of the particular food I'm using. The time for a desired amount is going to vary depending on the size and shape of the food your using. You must arrive at that timing by experimenting with your chosen product. It will take several trials to arrive at an average.I'm happy, so far, and so are the cats. This feeder certainly inspires more confidence than the cheap, wimpy things I saw in the local pet superstores. While reading, I'll hear food dropping into the feeder tray, look up at the clock, and think, "Hmm, right on time!"EDIT: Still working fine, after just over a year! I'm happy, and so are the Cats...