Animal Planet pet feeder is an electronic automatic food dispenser with an integrated digital LCD control panel that allows you to set the meal times at your convenience up to 3 meals per day and set the portions according to your cat’s diet with a minimum of 1/4 of a cup.
The digital control panel is very easy to program with buttons “up” “down” and “enter” to set the times for each meal. The hopper has a large capacity to hold up to 10 pounds of dry food (4.5 kg).
It works with 3 “D” batteries (not included). Animal Planet feeder has a port to plug in a DC power adapter to run off AC, input specified is 4.5V at 800mA. If you use an adapter, the batteries have to be removed. Their main components are detachable for easy cleaning.
FEATURES
- Integrated LCD control panel allows you to program customized meal times and portions
- Feeds up to 3 meals per day.
- Hopper has the capacity to hold up to 10 pounds of dry food.
- The main components are removable for easy cleaning
- Cord-free convenient 3 “D” battery operation allows you to have portability
- Dimensions are 17 x 11 x 19 inches.
- Option to use AC adapter instead batteries.
PROS
- Very easy to program and set the times with LCD panel control.
- Friendly and well-designed user interface. You don’t need to read the instructions every time you need to make a change in the programming.
- The feeder has been made with fine-quality materials.
- The clock is accurate and reliable.
- It has the option of an AC adapter (not included).
- Quiet when operating.
CONS
- The feeder does not dispense accurately portions if using small and flat size pellets (1/4”) or less in diameter.
- Cats can reach up inside the food chute and get extra food.
- The feeder is tall and with a cat obsessed with food, the hopper could get tipped over.
- Hopper is thin and flimsy regards the other parts of the feeder.
- Hopper’s lid does not screw strongly on the base (see below in “tips” on how to lock it into place right).
- The unit can use batteries or AC power, but not both in conjunction (if you want a feeder with batteries as a power backup check the Westlink 6L automatic feeder).
- It does not retain the programming when turned off.
TIPS TO USE THE FEEDER:
- Animal Planet feeder performs better with large size pellets (1/2”) in diameter or with small round/spherical kibbles (1/4”) in diameter. This prevents jamming issues and also gets accuracy in portions.
- To make the lid stay on, you have to line up sections and twist to lock. This way the lid stays on fine.
- Place the feeder in a corner to give it more stability.
- This feeder is sensitive to low batteries, so if you get an “ERR” message while trying to operate, make sure to try a fresh set of batteries.
CONCLUSION
Animal Planet automatic feeder does not seem to be as desirable as other existing options to feed your cat. Customers on Amazon report some design flaws like the ones described above in the “Cons”.
I would not recommend this unit as the first option because of the CONS mentioned and because some units came defective from the factory according to customer reviews and videos online. Though only some batches came defective in the past and they fixed that problem, I believe this automatic feeder isn’t very reliable. I am sure it works well for some people but it’s not a unit that I could blindly recommend. You can check more options in my automatic cat feeders reviews and see what adapts better to your needs.
This automatic feeder may not be suitable for your cat, especially if you match any of these situations:
- If your cat is obsessed with food and very determined to get extra meals.
- If you feed your cat a small flat-size pellet (1/4”) in diameter as portions are not accurate (portions are bigger) and the feeder might jam.
- If your cat is on a diet
- If your cat has a 3-times-a-day feeding schedule.
- If you want a unit that assembles easily.
- If you have a cat that likes to tip things over with its paws.
Note: The normal daily intake for an adult active cat is half a cup of dry food. Eating twice a day would achieve this intake. More than that would exceed the recommended intake for a cat.
Gregory Davis says
The animal planet pet feeder was easy to assemble and not hard to program. Im using batteries to see how long the feeder will work dispensing 3 meals a day. The portions were accurate the first time i pet it and the feeder has been working properly for 7 days without any errors. I only put enough food in it to last for 5 days bcuz i think it mite jam if the hopper is full bcuz of the weight of the food in the hopper. I use dog chow for adult dogs. Thanks
Lorena Ávila says
Hello Gregory, thanks for your input! The unit is more accurate with big pellets like the one for dogs so the 3-a-day feeding schedule it is OK for them. My reviews are a little more oriented to cats so if a cat eats 3 times a day a 1/4 cup each time (with recommendable big pellet to get more accuracy) would exceed the recommended intake for a normal adult cat. Then I recommend it for the 2-times-a-day feeding schedule so they would eat half cup of food by day with spherical/round or big pellets.
Thank you very much for sharing your experience as a dog owner. It will help more customers to give the Animal Planet feeder a try.
Keep me posted how your dog behaves with this feeder.
Thanks!
Michelle says
I bought this for my outside cat, so when we went away for the weekend we didn’t have to bring her inside. It was easy to program, I did get a few error messages at first, but it is working great so far. I was sceptical about getting the auto pet feeder after reading some negative reviews, but i wanted to try it out & see for myself. Glad I did becsause I had no issues with anything that was listed. When we got home she was happy & there still was a little bit of food in her dish! i just have to make sure she doesn’t get to fat may have to cut back on portion size.
Lorena Ávila says
Hello Michelle, thanks for your comment. I am happy to know you have a good experience with this automatic feeder. A good or bad experience with an automatic pet feeder sometimes depends on the cat personality, your princess behaves good with food which is great using this feeder. I would like to know how long you have had this automatic feeder and ask you if you could give me an update in a couple of months. I would really appreciate that. What pellet size do you use for your cat?
Thanks Michelle again!
Kirsten says
Hello Lorena. I bought 2 of these feeders for my 2 cats and guess I should have read the reviews first. My pellets are apparently too small. Both dispensers were serving way over the programmed 1/4 cup and when I got up this morning they had pooped all over the house – diarrhea in my daughter’s room, etc. They are getting sick and filled up the 2 litter boxes in one day.
I started using the feeders Monday after Christmas. I’ll try again with larger pellets 2x per day before I give up completely.
Lorena Ávila says
Hello Kirsten, I am sorry about your bad experience with this feeder. My main goal is to avoid exactly what just happened to you and that is why I don’t hide any “con” in my reviews; I mention exactly what people need to know.
I hope the feeder will work better with bigger pellet size. I recommend you to change the pellet progressively and not at once since to change suddenly to a new pellet might harm your cats digestion even more.
Feel confident to ask me any question in the future. Thanks for sharing your experience Kirsten, it will help more people for sure.
Denise says
Lorena – I am not impressed with the feeder. I got it as a gift from my daughter. It only dispensed the 1/4 cup amount once, and I can’t change to a different kind of cat food because my cat has food allergies. The top does not snap down into place because the little tabs don’t reach into the groove in the hopper. I can see where it would work better for dogs that have larger kibble sizes. So for now, we have to pick out almost half of the amount of food dumped.
Lorena Ávila says
Hello Denise, I am sorry about your bad experience and I wish you read my reviews before buying it. What I can suggest you now since you already have the unit is set it up with a 2-a-day feeding schedule so you don’t overfeed your cat or on simply trying to look for a different option to feed your pet. The best options are the one classified in this website as 5 stars. Good luck Denise!
Lisa says
I have tried 2 different Animal Planet Electronic Pet Feeders now and I am having the same problem. It works the first day I program it and then stops dispensing the food every day after that. The clock runs about 20-30 minutes slow and there are no error messages, just wont work every day. I returned the 1st one and I will be returning this one too. I have 2 more expensive electronic pet feeders that have worked properly for more than 4 years now.
Lorena Ávila says
Hello Lisa, thanks for sharing your experience with us.
Don Phillips says
I was very happy with mine until one day I looked and noticed the clock was not on. I checked the batteries they were good. The feeder just stopped working after 6 months. very unhappy
Lorena Ávila says
Thanks for your contribution Don. I am sure your testimony will help cat owners to decide better with this information. That is the main goal of this website, to give the best information when it comes to know real pros and cons of the different automatic cat feeders existent in the market.
Ron Hall says
Hi. I’ve been using this feeder with my two cats for six months and it’s great. It’s been perfectly reliable so far. Batteries did wear out about four months along. Replacement was easy. When batteries wear out it just stops working.
I’d like the option for it to drop a bit less food in a day’s feeding. The hopper mechanism turns twice on what I think is the lowest setting and if it would turn once at one of the two feedings, it would be just right. Any ideas?
I’d also put in fresh batteries if I was leaving it for any length of time. Is there a dedicated a/c adaptor available?
Lorena Ávila says
Hello Ron, you can setup the feeder to dispense once a day and if you use small pellets for your cat (1/4″ diameter) it would be a good daily intake for it as the accuracy on the dispensing is a little more in small pellets so your cat would get more than 1/4 of a cup by day.
This feeder has a port to plug in a DC power adapter to run off AC. If you use an adapter, the batteries have to be removed.
Thanks for sharing your experience with this automatic feeder.
Heather says
I bought this feeder from Groupon. From the beginning I would have to turn the feeder on and off in order for it to release food. It would work for a few days and then all of a sudden it would stop. I would find the plastic pieces that controlled the food amount in my cats food. Then, all of a sudden, all the food poured into the dish along with all the other plastic pieces. I would not recommend this particular brand to anyone.
Lorena Ávila says
Hi Heather, thanks for sharing your experience using this automatic feeder, it will help our readers to decide with more information.
Kevin says
The poor fitting top can be helped by just adding some paper masking tape around the edge of the hopper to build it up.(don’t use duct tape ,it’ll come loose when it gets warm and it leaves a mess on everything when it does) The timer should only rotate the set amount of times no matter what size or shape food is in it .The problem here is a miscalculation of proper component values on the circuit board. The power supply requirement is an odd ball size at 4.5 volts and should be a bit larger and at least a more common size like 5 or 6 volts. Its a great idea but just an all round bad design from start to finish. I mean really…how could you not see fault in a conical shaped top heavy hopper. Everything about it just says amateur entrepreneur.
Candy says
I just spent about half an hour trying to program this @#%&( thing and can get the first feeding programmed in but no other. Who in the world designed this thing???????? I think you’re right, Kevin, it is an amateur production!!!!!!!!
Paul says
Can you direct to a good source for the wall charger. Exactly what size tip fits the feeder.
Thankd
Lorena Ávila says
Hello Paul, you can get a good Universal tip DC Adapter. See a good one here.
Kevin brown says
Hi
We’ve been using this feeder for a couple of years, with no real problems. But after a couple of months the little fins on the wheel that turns to dispense the food, have one by one, fallen off.
It still works but it dispenses way to much food. Can that wheel be replaced?
Lorena Ávila says
Hello Kevin, I don’t believe the wheel can be changed as the Company so far does not offer this piece as replaceable.
kristi says
I purchased three of these feeders 1 year ago. Easy to program, I feed twice a day and we travel on weekend three of our four dogs stay home. So we needed these to work. We’ll we just completed one year, one dis error in the beginning and we sent back and reordered another. They are inside in the pet room, batteries are energizer and they are still on the first set of battery’s over a year! The dogs love it and know the times it’s going to go off! Once in a while I stack them in line and reset times cause they get a few minutes off each other, and I like them to go off in seconds of each other! My dogs have never knocked off the lids which I though we’re not tightly secured in the beginning! I am a overall satisfied customers. So satisfies my mom bought 4 after I bought my 3! I have small pellets in one for a jack Russell and large pellets in other for a German Short hair Pointer, and a Rotwaller / heeler mix. I buy organic Castro Pollux food!
connie rowney says
Can some please tell me were I can buy just the hopper for my feeder. please help.
Lorena Ávila says
Hello Connie! I don’t think you can purchase replaceament parts for this feeder. I am sorry I could not help you more on this.
Scott says
The major problem I have is the cat food absorbs moisture while in the unit and makes the food…mmm… sort of like you put out some Pringles Chips at a party and when the humidity is high you have to toss them out after an hour.
Now imagine your cat after a week of food in this machine. Even after an hour the food is soggy or stale – in the bin!
The machine is also way too large for an older cat. I have it set to one serving for day at the minimum setting and she eats some, but most lays in the dish soggy and then disgusting to eat.
Just a few mins ago I gave my cat fresh cookies in the normal old dish. It is crunchy and she perked up and enjoyed.
This absorption of ambient moisture is a serious problem that in my opinion makes the machine detrimental to my cats health.
Lorena Ávila says
Thanks Scott for sharing your experience!
Jacqueline Jordan-Grady says
So if using the adapter how long do it need to stay plugged up to come on. I plugged mines up since 9am. It’s now 4pm and it still says loss battery. I had it off will on the charger. Help???!!!?
Lorena Ávila says
Hello Jacqueline, it seems like the feeder isn’t getting power from the adapter or the unit stopped working. I recommend you to contact customer service.
Bibiana Restrepo says
Hi Lorena. I bought this unit couple years ago and had been working properly but this last time the feeder ran out of battery and after change them, it remains off; i cant make the display turns on again. Any advice?
Lorena Ávila says
Hello Bibiana, make sure the battery compartments’s metal prongs are contacting the batteries properly, sometimes these metal connectors loosen overtime and need some bending for them to work again. If this doesn’t work, contact the manufacturer because this feeder’s main power source are batteries so it should always work with them. Hope that helps!
Ron Williams says
I have bought 5 of these in the past 3 years. I use them to feed our African Grey Parrots. I like the program. It works well for them. The cons- The Rats are my worst enemy! I live next to a wilderness area so the Rats are many. I tray about 30 a year! Well they crawl up the shoot and chew off the paddles and there are no replacements available. Today I have five working units that are wide open and useless. The last design had a trap door I thought would help. They chewed off the door then the paddles. I even custom cut a 5 gallon bucket to cover it leaving a 3/8″ slot for the food to fall through. Very costly and frustrating not having replacement paddles. I’m forced to make the replacement paddles from sheet metal or even a tube!