PortionPRO RX Automatic Pet Feeder Review

Editor’s rating: (4.9/5)
Avg. rating online: (4.2/5)

Update: This product is unavailable.

I was contacted to make a review of PortionPRO RX, the ultimate selective automatic feeder that has been designed to feed a pet prescription food, allowing the assigned pet to eat and blocking the other pets from getting food. This unit is also a great solution for food theft, when a cat eats the other cat’s food or when you need to stop a dog from eating the cat’s food.

PortionPRO RX Main Features

• Selective feeder that allows the assigned pet to eat while blocking other pets
• It dispenses dry food only
• Food-grade materials that are in contact with the cat food
• Uses a collar tag with RFID technology
• Food bin capacity: 30 cups
• Removable pieces: Food bin, food belt system and bowl
• Programmable for 2,4 or 6 mealtimes p/day
• Customizable mealtimes, according to the best feeding schedule for your cat
• Daily food amount can be set in 1/8 increments, from ½ cup up to 3 cups p/day or;
  in ¼ increments from 3 cups up to 4 cups p/day.
• 2-cup capacity ceramic coated stainless food bowl
• Suitable kibble: 5/8” diameter or less
• Cat-proof lid with finger grip tabs to open
• 6-feet cord
• Bottom with rubber feet for more stability
• Liquid crystal LCD display screen
• Dimensions:12.2”Width x 14.3”Length x 13.4” Height
• Weight: 7 pounds
• 1-year warranty

What comes with the PortionPRO RX feeder

√ Main unit
√ Ceramic coated stainless bowl
√ 1 tag
√ AC adapter
√ User manual

Unpacking the PortionPRO RX

(note: I was provided 2 tags to make the review, but the feeder comes with one tag)

How it works

PortionPRO RX features a motorized sliding food door that opens when in contact with the cat’s collar tag, allowing the cat to eat the special food while blocking the other pets from eating.

The feeder features a RFID (radio frequency Identification) technology that senses the programmed “assigned” tag and opens the door when the allowed cat approaches the feeder within 3-feet distance. Also, you can program a tag as “unassigned” which causes the opposite effect, when the unassigned pet approaches the feeder within 3 feet, the sliding door shuts, blocking the food.

PortionPRO RX feeder comes with 1 tag that you can assign or unassign, depending on the type of settings you want to program the unit, either Open Mode or Close Mode (you can purchase more tags if needed, I was provided 2 tags to make my review).

Selective Feeding Modes

Open Mode: This means the sliding food door will be open at all times so the cat who’s eating the special prescription food (or the cat that is being food bullied) can eat anytime from the feeder without the need of wearing a tag. The pet you want to block will need to use a tag programmed as “unassigned”. When an unassigned pet approaches the feeder, the door will shut, blocking the food. This mode is suitable in case you have a cat that doesn’t want to wear a collar tag.

Close Mode: The food sliding door will be shut at all times and will only open when in contact with the “assigned” cat tag. This setting requires all your pets wearing a collar tag, the allowed cat and the rest. In this case you will have to program an “assigned” tag for the cat eating prescription food and the “unassigned” tag for the pet that you want to block from eating. As the “Close Mode” requires the assigned cat to wear a tag, in order to block the other pets you need to purchase extra tags.

Programming Mealtimes & Portions

This feeder is meant to dispense dry food only, and you can program the unit for a cat or a dog. The liquid crystal LCD screen of the control panel makes it easy for you to program the unit.

LCD Panel & Buttons

The control panel features 3 buttons that is all you need to program the unit. The (+) and (-) buttons allow you to scroll up or down the options. The (√) button enters the selected option. If you make a mistake and need to go back, just press the (√) button for 2 seconds and it will take you to the previous step. The programming is easy because the LCD panel automatically shows you step by step what you need to do next.

Programming the PortionPRO RX for a cat

1. Select the current time and choose cat as the assigned pet.
2. Program the # of meals you want your cat to eat p/day. The feeder can be programmed to feed 2, 4 or 6 times p/day. If you choose feeding your cat 2 or 3 meals p/day you must program the time for each meal, individually. If you choose 6 meals p/day you only need to program the time for the first meal and the feeder will dispense automatically a meal every 4 hours, starting from the hour you programmed and completing 6 meals in 24 hours.
3. Choose the total amount of food p/day, from ½-cup up to 3 cups p/day. (Note: the feeder can also be set to dispense in ¼-cup increments from 3 cups up 4 cups p/day, but you most likely won’t use this setting for your cat).
4. Bind the tag with the feeder to “assigned” or “unassigned”. That’s all. The feeder is ready to feed your cat.

It’s important to mention that, unlike most feeders, with PortionPRO RX you don’t need to choose the portions individually for each meal. You only need to program the # of meals, the total cups of food p/day, and the feeder will divide the total amount equally among the # of meals you select.

Examples:
½ cup p/day, 2 meals p/day= your cat will eat ¼ cup per meal.
½ cup p/day, 4 meals p/day= your cat will eat 1/8 cup per meal.
½ cup p/day, 5 meals p/day= your cat will eat 1/10 cup per meal.
¾ cup p/day, 2 meals p/day= your cat will eat 3/8 cup per meal.
2 cups p/day, 2 meals p/day= your cat will eat 1 cup per meal, etc.

As you can see with PortionPRO RX you can feed your cat very small amounts of food at a time and also large amounts of food per meal.

Programming for a dog

The feeder allows you to feed a dog 2 or 3 times p/day. The programming of cups p/day is the same as cats with the difference that dogs can eat up to 6 cups p/day if you choose to feed your pet 3 meals p/day. This makes the PortionPRO RX suitable for small and large dogs since you can feed your dog from ½ cup of food p/day, up to 6 cups of food.

Manual Features

You can trigger a dispensing manually and also open the sliding food door manually as well. To do this, the tag needs to be away at least 3 feet from the feeder. Check my video how to set up and program the feeder:

PortionPRO RX Set Up & Programming

(note: I was provided 2 tags to make the review, but the feeder comes with one tag)

As you could see on the video, in order for the sliding door to open again to allow the cat to continue to eat, the unassigned pet needs to be at least 3 feet away from the feeder. On the video I didn’t put the tag far enough so that’s why it took a little longer for the food door to open. When I put the tag further the door opened automatically.

Factory reset

Factory reset allows you to erase all current settings programmed in your feeder and clears the memory of any entered assigned tags.  To do this unplug the feeder, hold (-) while plugging the unit back into a power socket. Once the feeder is plugged, release the (-) button. All the current programmed settings will be deleted and you can reprogram the PortionPRO RX.

What are the Pros & Cons of PortionPRO RX pet feeder?

Here’s the list of pros and cons I found during my experience with this feeder. I found more Pros than Cons, which is good.

Pros

• Sturdy, well made unit
• Food grade materials that keep the food purity
• Easy to set up & program
• Clear liquid crystal LCD panel
• Effective mechanism of motorized sliding food door to protect the food
• The feeder senses the RFID tag when the unassigned pet is 3-feet away, not allowing the opportunity of food theft.
• Unassigned pet learns overtime that the feeder is never opened, stopping them from trying.
• Much easier to program by deciding how much you want your cat to eat p/day in how many meals.
• The feeder allows to you feed your cat very small amounts of food at a time, good for cats that eat too fast.
• Accuracy in portions when dispensing
• Ceramic coated stainless food bowl, hygienic and prevents feline acne
• Easy to program the clock (12-hours am/pm)
• Removable feeding bowl, internal conveyor, and food bin
• Cat-proof lid
• Flap protects the food gate, stopping those mischievous paws from trying to steal food
• The feeder keeps all the settings if unplugged.

Cons

• It doesn’t have a battery compartment as power backup
• You need to buy extra tags if you need to block more than one pet (with open mode).
• High price

Tip

In the beginning, the cat may get scared a little with the noise of the food sliding door. This is normal and it will get used to it.

Update about COVID

Due to the corona virus outbreak, this product is unavailable. The co-founder of PortionPRO RX sent an email to current customers apologizing for this disruption due to the Covid crisis. He sent me a link for troubleshooting: Please see Err code 2 for power lost – https://portionpro.com/troubleshooting/

Also he provided a phone number for any question about the operation of the feeder. I can’t provide this phone number because it was sent to current customers but I can see they are trying really hard to provide customer service and being back in the market as soon as possible. 

My conclusion

PortionPRO RX is a high quality selective RFID automatic feeder that I highly recommend. This feeder works as intended, locking out pets from accessing the food that is meant to be eaten for a specific cat or dog. The motorized food door works efficiently and it doesn’t jam. This unit will be a life saver in the following cases:

• To feed a cat (or dog) special RX diet in multi-pet households
• To stop food bullying between pets
• To feed a cat that eats too fast and vomits
• If you want to feed your cat very small portions, up to 6 times p/day
• To put a cat on a diet
• If you want a cat-proof feeder
• If your cat has feline acne

Check also: SureFeed the selective feeder to feed your cat wet and dry food.