My Review Of Petlibro Automatic Pet Feeder

I have been testing and using several automatic pet feeders with my cat Sophie over the years and there’s always room for improvement. That’s why I like trying new devices and provide you with honest reviews for you to decide the best for you and your kitty. This time I got to review the Petlibro automatic pet feeder. I have to say that in the world of automatic feeders there are so many brands and prices it’s hard to decide. But I was surprised by what I found with this one.

What’s in the box:

1 x Automatic feeder (assembled)
1 x Feeding tray
1 x Desiccant bag
1 x USB Cord
1 x AC Power Adapter
1 x Quick Guide
1 x User Guide
1 x A card offering a gift that you can request by email (Interactive toy, Grooming brush, or $10 Amazon gift card)
1 x stickers

How Petlibro Automatic feeder works

The Petlibro automatic feeder dispenses up to 4 meals per day. You can program the meal times individually and also the portions. The portions can be programmed from 1-9. Each portion equals to 2 to 2 ½ teaspoon or dry food. The recommended kibble size for this feeder is up to 1cm in diameter.

The feeder has an airtight lid that features a compartment on the underside that holds a desiccant bag which helps to keep the food fresh longer. At the bottom of the food container, you will find a rotating mechanism with flaps that are flexible preventing food jamming. You can record a 10-sec voice message calling your cat to eat. The voice message will play 2 times when the food gets dispensed.

Battery Backup

The feeder works with an AC adapter and optionally you can use 3 D batteries as backup (batteries are not included). With this dual power, the unit won’t stop working in case of a power outage.

Tip

If you want a matching set of pet feeder/fountain for your kitty I suggest you take a look at my review of the Petlibro pet fountain. I never thought my cat would love this fountain so much, she drinks way more water than before.

How to set it up

Setting this fountain up is easy, just follow these 6 steps:

1. Remove the plastic off the lid, open the lid, and put the desiccant bag in the compartment inside. Put the lid aside.
2. Remove to food container by pressing on the sides of the base. Clean the food container and feeding tray before use, making sure to dry them very well. Put the food container back on.
3. Plug in the power adapter. Lift the feeder a little and plug in the power socket. Insert batteries as backup in case of a power outage (this is optional).
4. Attach the feeding tray to the feeder
5. Fill the food container with dry food and put the lid back on.
6. Program the feeder

Unpacking and set up of Petlibro Automatic Pet Feeder

How to program the Petlibro Automatic Feeder

Follow these steps to program the feeder. It looks tricky but it’s really simple:

1. Unlock the feeder by pressing the lock icon for 3 seconds, look at the icon that shows unlock. Press the microphone icon for 3 seconds and wait until a “beep” sound goes off and record the message. Press again to finish and you will hear a double “beep” sound which means it’s recorded. If you didn’t like your voice message repeat this process to record a new one.
2. Unlock the feeder by pressing the lock icon for 3 seconds. To set the clock press the setting icon and the hour will blink, use the arrow up or down to choose the hour, press the setting icon to enter, then the minutes will blink, choose the minutes using the arrows up or down, press the setting icon to enter.
3. Automatically the # of meals will blink blank, use the arrow up and choose the # of meals you want, 1, 2, 3 or 4. Press the setting icon to enter.
4. Automatically the hour of 1st meal with a blink, choose the hour by pressing the up/down arrow, press the setting icon to enter. Then choose the minute, press the setting icon to enter. Automatically the portion will blink, choose the # of portion using the up or down arrow. The portion number is from 1 to 9 (*1 portion=2 to 2.5 teaspoons). Press the setting icon to enter. You just programmed the first meal.
5. As soon as you’re done programming the first meal the LCD panel will show automatically the 2nd meal and you will have to do the same steps. Do the same with meal 3 or 4 if that’s the case.

* I found that portion #2 is perfect for one meal for a cat.

Note when programming: If you take longer than 15 seconds for programming any of the steps, the screen self-locks and you will have to press the lock icon again to unlock the screen

Programming the Petlibro Automatic Pet Feeder

How to clean it

You can remove the feeding tray and food container for washing. You can also wipe them clean. Always use warm water, soft detergent, and no abrasive sponges. Make sure to dry the parts thoroughly before reassembling.

PROS

• Easy to set up
• Airtight lid with a desiccant bag to absorb humidity
• Good capacity of 16.9 cups of dry food.
• Accuracy in portions and time of dispensing
• If there is a power outage and the feeder doesn’t have batteries, the settings still are kept in the feeder, including the clock (that happened when I changed the feeder’s location without batteries on).
• Battery backup in case of a power outage so the feeder will keep operating
• Highly polished feeding tray angled from higher back to lower front for smooth dispensing.
• Internal gear with flexible flaps that help to prevent food jamming
• Easy to disassemble for cleaning
• Nice non-intrusive design with a small footprint
• Intuitive and easy to program
• A nice feature of voice message (my cat responded to my voice right away :)
• It comes with an offer of a free gift that you can choose from; toy, brush, or gift card. You just need to send an email and they will send it to you.
• Reasonable price

CONS

• When the feeder it’s plugged on the floor it could be hard to program it if you don’t have a good back. You may want to program it on a higher surface and then put it on the floor.
• It doesn’t have a turn-on/off switch.
• The feeding tray may detach if you need to lift the feeder for whatever reason.

My conclusion

I was really surprised by the simplicity and functionality of the Petlibro Automatic feeder. The unit works as intended, the programming is really easy once you get the idea of it. The ideal meal portion for a single cat I would say it’s #2. I feed my cat 3 meals per day, each portion programmed with #2 (that’s approximately 15 teaspoons dry food per day). That’s my experience with my cat, but you can experiment with your cat and see if that’s enough food for your feline friend.

The unit doesn’t use so much space, it doesn’t look invasive. I really liked this feeder a lot, so far it has worked fantastically so I highly recommend it for a single cat.