CoolPets Dog Harness Leash Set

You will pay a premium price for this unit, but you get all the best features in it with less worry than other types.I am rewriting an earlier review that I had of this, in part due to great service from the company when I had a problem with my unit. They fixed in quickly and with a great deal of grace, so they deserve a better review.After having used other cat feeders, I purchased this one to avoid some of the other problems I had. Namely, that a smart cat (and I have two) can either learn how to steal from a feeder or how to assault it to the point where it becomes useless. My last feeder required a lot of duct tape and books to weigh it down.For the most part, this model solves that problem. It is solidly built, looking like a speaker cabinet. It cannot be knocked over (by my cats anyway) and the lid and tank are seriously secured--in another model, the cat knocked over the tank bowl and spilled food.Whether designed on purpose or not, the back of the unit bows in, so you can park it in front of the plug without the latter being seen. It has battery back up, so if you go out of town and lose your electricity, your cat doesn't starve. The set up instructions are comparable to others, which means not totally intuitive. It will take a few tries to tweak the food supply and not under- or overfeed.This model works better than others and is more reliable. That being said, it does have a couple flaws that should be worked out in subsequent models. For instance,* The augur is very prickly. If not installed absolutely correctly, it will jam. The jamming is also related to the next issue. There's a slider at the top of the augur that is supposed to be set to the food size you use. It's made of flexible plastic, which contribute to problems (see below) when it bends or gets twisted* Small animals can filch food. My cats were very quick to figure out that a paw up the chute works very well (which is wider than a cat's paw--why not fix that?). I suspect that my first augur broke from all the theft attempts. The company fixed this with a 90-degree angle spout cover that you can add over the chute. That does make it theft proof, as my kitties found out quickly. So quickly that they quit molesting the unit in their spare time. I recommend that the spout cover be included in all future models. When the company sent me this cover, it bought them a lot of good will.

I bought the Feedster in February 2015 when I got a cat that would eat a 2 to 3 day supply of food all in one day. I loved it from day one since it gave me the freedom to feed my cat multiple times a day for several days in a row.THE GOODThe minor assembly required was pretty simple. I thought that the flex feeder was a little bit of a pain to set up and into the hole properly, but not difficult. Once assembled and plugged in, it took about 10-15 minutes to set the clock and program the feedings. The unit makes no noise until it's feeding time, then the only noise you hear is the motor kick in and the food dropping into the bowl. I don't think it's loud or annoying and I like it that it's loud enough for the cat to hear since she runs to the feeder when the food dispenses.I think all newer units come with the updated timer/board which lets you program up to 8 feedings a day and it's a little quicker to program.THE NOT SO GOODIt is pricey, but I think that it's worth it. I bought mine when it was $200 and haven't regretted that decision. It's also large and I would recommend about a foot of floor space (plus room to get around it and for the animal to sit/stand while eating). You put the food through the top, so you want to give yourself enough room to open the door and pour in the food.THE SADIt worked great for 2 years and then a couple of weeks ago (end of Feb 2017) it stopped dispensing food.The clock was set, the timings were set, but when it was time to dispense food, it said "FEEDING" but the motor didn't start. I tried troubleshooting using the help on their website and couldn't get it to work. After determining that the motor worked, the flex feeder wasn't broken and that the clock and programming was correctly set, I called their technical support.As some other reviewers said, the people on the phone were both friendly and a little difficult to understand. I was told that I needed a new (control board) timer and promptly ordered one from their website ($53 including shipping). It took less than a week to arrive, unfortunately I didn't get a shipment notification so I wasn't sure if it had been shipped or not. Installation was very simple and at first I couldn't use the controls and it took me a few hours to figure out that the tiny plastic washers that came with the new board caused there to be too much room between the buttons on the outside with the buttons on the board so the buttons on the board weren't getting pushed. I installed the board without the washers (no idea if that was a bad thing) and I set the clock and the feedings.THE HAPPY ENDINGThe newer board has more options. You can have up to 8 feedings a day and both increase and decrease the clock, feeding times and the amount dispensed. I also think the the new timer is easier to program.Although I think that the Feedster and replacement parts are on the pricey site, I think that it's well worth it. The cat is happily fed!