Sure Petcare -SureFlap - SureFeed - Microchip Pet Feeder - Selective-Automatic Pet Feeder Makes Meal Times Stress-Free, Suitable for Both Wet and Dry Food - MPF001

Why it's worth it

The SureFeed opens only for the cat whose microchip or RFID tag you've registered. If one cat is on prescription food and another keeps stealing it, no timer-based feeder solves that problem, and this one does.

It gates access to the food, which is a different job from scheduling it. The lid reads your cat's implanted microchip and opens only for the registered pet, closing when anyone else comes near. It works with 9-digit Avid Secure, 10-digit FDXA and 15-digit FDXB chips. Your vet or shelter can look up the number. If your cat isn't chipped, a lightweight RFID collar tag does the same job.

It takes wet food, and that's rare. The bowl holds 13.5 fluid ounces of wet or dry food, and the lid seals against a neoprene lip to hold moisture in. Pâté that would skin over on an open plate stays edible longer. For a cat on a wet prescription diet, that combination of sealing and gating simply doesn't exist elsewhere.

From our review of 10 automatic cat feeders, by James Bennett, Associate Editor

What we like

• +It gates access to the food, which is a different job from scheduling it
• +It takes wet food, and that's rare
• +It stops the slow-motion problem in multi-cat homes: the wrong cat getting fat
• +There's no training involved

What to know

• –The bowl is small, and it isn't a hopper
• –App features cost extra and require another box
• –One cat, one feeder