The PetSafe Smart Feed allows you to control and monitor the feeder at any time from your iPhone, iPod or Android. With the free-downloading “My SafePet” App you can program feeding schedules, portion sizes, monitor your cat’s feeding activity for the last two weeks and also trigger meals in real time by a tap of the “Feed Now” button.
On this review you will see the PetSafe’s features, how it works and the pros and cons of this device. As a side note, there’s a new 2nd generation PetSafe Smart Feed Electronic Feeder that works exactly like this one, with some upgrades that you can see at the end of this review.
Features of PetSafe Smart Feed Automatic Feeder
- Smartphone Controlled: You can fully control your cats feeding schedule anytime, anywhere, using your iPhone, iPod or Android.
- Customizable Meals & Portions: You can program up to 12 meals per day, from a minimum of 1/8 cup up to 4 cups at a time.
- Kibble: Dry and semi moist
- Feed Now Option: If you want to feed your cat an extra meal or snack in real time simply tap “Feed Now” and let your cat enjoy an extra meal. You can choose a minimum of 1/8 cup to 4 cups when triggering a meal in real time.
- Receive Alerts: My SafePet App notifies you if a meal couldn’t be dispensed.
- 24-Cup Capacity: Large capacity makes you forget about refilling the feeder often. Translucent food hopper allows you to see the food level at a glance.
- Locking Lid: To protect food from mischievous paws.
- High-Quality Materials: BPA-free plastic and stainless steel bowl
- Double Power: AC Adapter (main power source) and 4 D-cell batteries as backup in case of power outage.
- Usability: Indoor use only.
- Dimensions: 20.3” D x 9.4” W x 12.6” H
- Feeder Weight: 5.6 pounds
Key Features
- Slow Feed Option: The feeder dispenses a 1/4-cup or larger meal over a 15-minute period. This option slows down your cat, keeping your pet from inhaling the food. This is extremely important. According to Petmd.com when a cat eats too fast the cat’s brain receives the signal of overearing, which triggers the regurgitation reflex to get rid of the excess of food.
- Effective Conveyor Dispensing System: PetSafe Smart Feeder works with an internal conveyor that handles most kibble shapes and sizes, preventing jamming.
- Easy to Clean: Hopper, lid, bowl, and bowl holder are top-shelf dishwasher-safe.
- Customer Support: US -based customer support that you can contact from Monday to Saturday.
My PetSafe App – Application Requirements and Details
| App Name | My PetSafe |
|---|---|
| Last Updated | 1.17.2 (Feb-Mar 2024) |
| iPhone or iPod version | 9.0 or later |
| Android | 6.0 or later |
| App Size | 94.2 MB |
| Developer | Radio Systems Corporation |
| Price | Free |
| App support | [email protected] |
What Comes With PetSafe Smart Feed Automatic Feeder?
- Smart Feed Automatic feeder
- Bowl holder
- Stainless-steel bowl
- AC Adapter
- User Manual
How the PetSafe Smart Feed Works
The PetSafe Smart Wi-Fi feeder uses an internal conveyor that escalates the kibble up to the chute to finally drop into the stainless-steel bowl. This unique dispensing system helps to avoid jamming and allows to dispense dry or semi moist kibble, satisfying your cat needs. The My SafePet App allows you to control the feeding times and portions whenever you need. Once you program a specific feeding schedule, it’ll repeat every day.
The connection of the feeder to the Wi-Fi allows you to control the unit from your Smartphone, but if the internet fails, the feeder still operates and dispenses the programmed feeding schedule. If a power outage occurs, the battery backup ensures a continuous operation. The lack of internet just means you won’t be able to control the unit from your Smartphone. ThePetSafe Smart Feed is not meant to be used solely with batteries, its main power source it’s AC adapter.
The unit doesn’t have a control panel, only a “Feed Now” button that you push if you want the feeder to dispense a meal. All the feeding options are controlled via My PetSafe App; portions, feeding times, slow feed option and “Feed Now” function as well.
Video Of PetSafe Smart Feed And My PetSafe App
How to Set Up The PetSafe Smart Feed Automatic Feeder
Assemble the feeder, hopper, lid and bowl. The food hopper is held shut by two snap locks and the hopper lid is held by a one push lock. Plug the feeder and optionally, put the batteries (4 x D alkaline) as a backup. Fill the hopper with food, plug it in and turn it on. The next step is to “Prime” the feeder as instructed, which is basically pressing the feeder’s front button to dispense a meal until about ¼ cup is dispensed. This “Prime” action of pushing the button allows the food to escalate and fill the conveyor so the food is ready next to the chute to be dispensed. To connect the feeder to your WiFi, download the free “My SafePet” App, register the unit in the App and connect the feeder to the Wi-Fi router (2.4 GHz).
Programming & My SafePet App Features
You need to program the time zone on your App, which will automatically adjust according to daylight saving time. The My SafePet app allows you to:
- Add meal times & portions
- Trigger an extra meal or snack by tapping on “Feed Now”
- Enable the Slow Feed option
- Notification when a feeding has been dispensed
- Notification if a feeding has failed
- Check on the App if the batteries are low
- Check on App if there is a Wi-Fi lost connection
- Track the history of the cat eating behavior for the last 2 weeks
- Lock the “Feed Now” button to avoid kids or pets to manually push a meal
The App allows you to program the feeder up to 12 meals daily. So you add one meal, choose the time and portion. Then you add another meal and do the same. The meal times can be set in 15-minute increments only. You can’t, for example, choose a meal to be dispensed at 4:25 pm.
The programmed meal times are repeated every day so it’s not possible to program a different feeding schedule ahead of time, for example, program a different portion to be dispensed on the weekend or something like that. What you program is what your cat will eat every day until you change either the # of meals, the time or the portions.
Pros And Cons of PetSafe Smart Feed
Here’s a comprehensive list with the advantages and disadvantages of PetSafe Smart Feed WiFi Automatic Feeder:
Pros
- Easy to set up and onboard the feeder to the Wi-Fi.
- Large 24-cup capacity allows weeks of dispensing.
- App allows you to fully control the feeder and monitor your cat’s feeding activity.
- Change your cats feeding schedule at any time, from anywhere.
- Customizable meal times and portions, individually.
- Easy to use App provides many features, such as notifications, and remote feedings.
- App allows you to control more than one feeder and other PetSafe products, such as the ScoopFree.
- It keeps operating without internet (as long as it’s plugged-in).
- Good accuracy in portions due to its internal conveyor feeding mechanism.
- Stainless-steel bowl avoids cat chin acne
- Bowl, holder, and hopper are top-shelf dishwasher safe.
- Power switch On/Off located at the bottom of the unit prevents kids from turning off the feeder.
- Groove on the bottom for the cord to sit in.
- Battery backup to ensure the unit’s operation in case of a power outage.
- Feeding internal mechanism handles a wide variety of kibble sizes and shapes.
- Slow Feed mode stops cats from speed eating, ensuring a healthy digestion.
Cons
- Kibbles makes a loud noise when falling into the stainless-steel bowl.
- Batteries are not the main source of power, only as backup.
- My SafePet app doesn’t allow you to add a second admin.
- Large footprint uses more space.
- It doesn’t have webcam to watch your cat.
- No notification when hopper is low on food.
- Bowl isn’t wide enough for two large cats to eat together comfortably.
- You can’t use Slow Feed Mode to dispense a minimum serving size (1/8 cup).
Important Tip:
Make sure to always keep the hopper with enough food to allow the conveyor to get full and escalate the portions up to the chute. If you fail at doing this, the mechanism starts putting less food into each conveyor compartment and the accuracy of the programmed meals is reduced.
Conclusion About PetSafe Smart Feed Automatic Feeder
The PetSafe Smart Feed is the Wi-Fi version of the PetSafe Simply Feed, allowing you to control and monitor your cat feeding through your mobile phone. The PetSafe Smart Feed has good accuracy in portions, you just need to make sure to keep the feeder with enough food. The My SafePet app is straightforward and easy to follow.
The downfall is the lack of notifications when the feeder is low on food and the lack of a webcam to see or talk to your cat. Also, this feeder needs to be placed away from bedrooms as it’s noisy when the food is dropping into the bowl.
Other than that, this feeder works excellently for cats and provides busy cat owners good control of the feeder from anywhere. I recommend PetSafe Smart Feed Automatic Feeder. Get this unit on Amazon with free shipping here.
There’s another upgraded version of the PetSafe Smart Feed!
PetSafe Smart Feed Electronic Feeder 2nd Generation
This is a second generation of PetSafe Smart Feed Automatic feeders for cats and dogs. This is an electronic device that is compatible with Alexa, Apple and Android. This device received an award in 20202 due to its innovative design. This device and App work like the 1st generation PetSafe Smart Feed, but with the following upgrades:
- Compatibility with Alexa: You can ask your Amazon Echo device to feed your cat a snack from whenever you are in your house, without pressing any button.
- Low Food Notification: The App will send you a notification when the food hopper is low on food or empty. The notifications of dispensing and fails are the same than the 1st generation PetSafe Smart Feed.
- Never run out of Food: By using Amazon Dash Replenishment your cat food will be reordered automatically, saving you a trip to the store.
- App Requirements: iPhone or iPod devices iOs 12.0 or later. Android 9.0 or later.
Is the PetSafe Smart Feed 2nd Generation Better Than the Original?
Both versions work excellently. However, the second generation PetSafe Smart Feed offers improvements in technology, such as enhanced compatibility with Alexa. One of the standout upgrades is the addition of a low food indicator on the My SafePet app. This feature notifies you when it’s time to refill the food hopper, making the second generation model worth considering. Get the second generation of PetSafe Smart Feed on Chewy with free shipping here.
Whichever model of PetSafe Smart Feed you choose, you will be getting an excellent high-quality device. Good luck!
Hi, does the chute have a protector to prevent my cat from getting extra food? I don’t want my cat to be able to get extra food from the chute.
Thank you for the reply.
Hello Yinyin, the PetSafe Smart Feed auto feeder doesn’t have a special protector but instead, it has a special chute that prevents cats from stealing the food. Cats simply won’t be able to get food from this chute. To get one piece of kibble from the chute takes for the cat to stick its entire arm inside up the chute and move around its arm with a lot of strength and patience to get one piece of kibble, sometimes none. If your cat is a very special and persistent feline and you think it could do something like this (very rare) I wouldn’t recommend it, instead, I would suggest you to get the Honey Guaridan S25. You can check my review here.
Does this feeder have a pause feed feature like the previous model? For trips and etc or would you need to remove the schedule on the app.
Hello, if you use batteries you just need to remove them from the feeder and this way the unit won’t dispense.
Hello,
I notice you mentioned that slow feed only does a minimum of 1/4 cup. I was hoping it would do this for 1/8th. Did you learn this from experience or do you have source material that I can look at? I can’t find this anywhere. My cat eats so fast and I thought I finally found the right product but 1/4 is too much in 15 minutes for her.
Thank you,
Ron
The 15-min delay can be set up if you feed your pet more than the minimum dispensing at once so the conveyor spaces out in between the minimum amounts of food.