Cat-proofing a cat feeding machine • Hacker News Board

Re: Cat-proofing a cat feeding machine

#111

Post by ars » Wed, Dec 21, 2016, 8:07 PM UTC

jevinskie wrote: post #86

bryondowd wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For a cheap and simple hack solution, I would imagine you could just get one of those outlet timers. That's assuming the device uses wall power, defaults to locked when unpowered, and doesn't require any user input to resume function when power cycled. Just set it to power on at 7AM and either set it to power off at the time you usually refill it, or just manually switch it off when filling. Not as much fun as an IoT…

Great idea but unfortunately it is battery operated. I suppose a relay on Vcc might do the trick though!

It would probably be easier to power it via a wall-wart (voltage adapter) and an off the shelf plug-in timer.

Just cut off the end of the adapter and wrap the wire around the battery terminals.

Re: Cat-proofing a cat feeding machine

#112

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Dec 21, 2016, 8:14 PM UTC

sofaofthedamned wrote: post #7

jevinskie wrote: post #4

I recently got a SureFeed RFID feeder. It can read your cat's microchip or an RFID collar tag. When an authorized kitty approaches, a flap raises and lets the cat eat. I got it to prevent other family pets from stealing my cat's food. It works well for that purpose and seems well designed. The feeder has clear side "walls" and the flap itself acts as a wall on the rear of the feeder, helping prevent food theft during…

I've got the same one and it doesn't stop cats tailgating other cats. It was however hilarious during the 'training' phase watching the stupidest of our two barrel towards the flap and go crunching into it. Did have a good idea for gamifying it though - a cat airlock with a camera, $5 a month, getting bored old ladies on Facebook to compare the cat in the airlock and making the decision to let it through or not...

[deleted]

Re: Cat-proofing a cat feeding machine

#113

Post by pdxandi » Wed, Dec 21, 2016, 8:17 PM UTC

ScottBurson wrote: post #100

dodders wrote: post #64

Had similar problems with our cat who was able to retrieve food from every automatic feeder we tried, apart from the perfect pet feeder [1] which was the only model that defeated him. [1] http://www.perfectpetfeeder.com/

Why not just leave the dry food out? Most cats won't overeat.

Exactly, most. Mine, however, do, and then they get sick and nauseous and barf.

Re: Cat-proofing a cat feeding machine

#114

Post by lolc » Wed, Dec 21, 2016, 8:17 PM UTC

When people talk about how their pets are acting funny, I always wonder whether they realize that it's because of the boring habitat their pets have been put in. Asking them about it is delicate because it implies that their pet might be unhappy about its situation.

Re: Cat-proofing a cat feeding machine

#115

Post by massysett » Wed, Dec 21, 2016, 8:21 PM UTC

He/she needs the Feed and Go.

http://www.feedandgo.com/

It is expensive but impregnable. My cat can smell the food in there, so for the first couple of days he relentlessly attacked it. But he can't get in so he has given up.

He can figure his way into many things, including most trash cans, so we put kitchen trash into a 5-gallon bucket with a screw top lid.

Most pet feeders are cheap, poorly thought out, and easily penetrated by cats.

Re: Cat-proofing a cat feeding machine

#116

Post by cwkoss » Wed, Dec 21, 2016, 8:22 PM UTC

ayuvar wrote: post #17

This is the best up-armoured cat feeder I've seen this week. Kudos to Quinn for never giving up. I'm terrified to think what the next step will be once Sprocket chooses to escalate.

"Today I came home and found my cat using a plasma cutter"

Re: Cat-proofing a cat feeding machine

#117

Post by Segfaulter » Wed, Dec 21, 2016, 8:25 PM UTC

tlrobinson wrote: post #83

jevinskie wrote: post #4

I recently got a SureFeed RFID feeder. It can read your cat's microchip or an RFID collar tag. When an authorized kitty approaches, a flap raises and lets the cat eat. I got it to prevent other family pets from stealing my cat's food. It works well for that purpose and seems well designed. The feeder has clear side "walls" and the flap itself acts as a wall on the rear of the feeder, helping prevent food theft during…

I wired up my Super Feeder ( http://www.super-feeder.com/ ) to a relay and C.H.I.P. ( https://getchip.com/ ). I wish I had multiple animals so I had an excuse to RFID it. So far these are the triggers: 1. I put a hall effect sensor and another C.H.I.P. on his exercise wheel ( https://onefastcat.com/ ) so it feeds him every few revolutions he runs (not sure if he's associated the two yet) 2. Alexa skill. 3. Daily 5am…

Do you know of any systems that portion out food by weight?

Re: Cat-proofing a cat feeding machine

#118

Post by pdxandi » Wed, Dec 21, 2016, 8:25 PM UTC

dominotw wrote: post #27

do not feed cats from a machine. Even if you are super busy, give her food in the morning and after you get home from work, that's more than enough. Perhaps at the same time as your breakfast and your dinner. Despite the common perception of cats as 'loners' , they still want to be part of your 'gang' not a lonely creature feeding from a machine. Ideally you would want to play with the cat before feeding her so she a…

My wife and I have two cats and I work out of the house and getting automatic feeders was a godsend. They used to routinely wake us in the middle of the night by meowing and jumping on us, and meow incessantly in the evenings. Our feeders give them a little bit of food five times a day and they no longer meow at us when they're hungry; they sit by their feeder and wait for the food. We cuddle with them multiple times a day and play with them as much as possible, and they are incredibly loved. I like your sentiment that cats should be more than just fixtures in our household, but I feel your advice is a bit unfair.

Re: Cat-proofing a cat feeding machine

#119

Post by kstenerud » Wed, Dec 21, 2016, 8:26 PM UTC

jevinskie wrote: post #4

I recently got a SureFeed RFID feeder. It can read your cat's microchip or an RFID collar tag. When an authorized kitty approaches, a flap raises and lets the cat eat. I got it to prevent other family pets from stealing my cat's food. It works well for that purpose and seems well designed. The feeder has clear side "walls" and the flap itself acts as a wall on the rear of the feeder, helping prevent food theft during…

Feed him at 7 pm.

Re: Cat-proofing a cat feeding machine

#120

Post by massysett » Wed, Dec 21, 2016, 8:26 PM UTC

astral303 wrote: post #26

jevinskie wrote: post #4

I recently got a SureFeed RFID feeder. It can read your cat's microchip or an RFID collar tag. When an authorized kitty approaches, a flap raises and lets the cat eat. I got it to prevent other family pets from stealing my cat's food. It works well for that purpose and seems well designed. The feeder has clear side "walls" and the flap itself acts as a wall on the rear of the feeder, helping prevent food theft during…

Don't feed your cat until 7am no matter what. Ignore all foot rubs and meows. He'll eventually learn and give up. Operant conditioning. Watch out though for that extra-hard last ditch effort he will put out before giving up. Stay strong.

We tried this with our cat for years. He had a designated feeding time. We never broke it. His internal clock is pretty good but not exact, so he starts to pester for food an hour or two before feeding time.

So he would surely wake us up if fed at 7:00am, so one solution is to feed at night. This results in a cat constantly underfoot begging for food for two hours, which is literally a tripping hazard.

The solution is to feed him from a machine and to make sure he never sees us touching the machine. Now, at feeding time he sits by the machine and stares at it, waiting for it to open.