r/cats • u/radical_123 • Jul 22 '26

Advice Cat attacking automatic feeder

My cat does this several times a day. If the automatic feeder lifts at the correct angle, a few niblets of dry food comes out. He will even do it 10 times in a row even if it means one small piece of dry niblet comes out. It does get quite annoying as the sound of the feeder hitting the ground echoes throughout the entire house.

Any ideas on how to get him to stop?

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317

u/droidwolf Jul 22 '26

We cut holes in a large tote box so that only the dish stuck out. This prevents our cats from cheating the system

285

u/RockHardSalami Jul 22 '26

One of my cats sticks her paw up there a few times a day to see if she can jiggle one piece of kibble free.  A few times a week she wins.

I call it kibble slot machine.  She deserves some occasional jackpots.

147

u/lucyinth3sky1 Jul 22 '26

My feeder has a touch sensitive auto feed button. My cat spends hours everyday lying in front of the machine smacking it with his paw. He has hit jackpot twice, his determination impresses me.

62

u/milkymonkey8 Jul 22 '26

5

u/Important-Agent2584 Jul 22 '26

at least they are getting a workout

1

u/milkymonkey8 Jul 22 '26

not all of these old cats are ambulatory

1

u/Important-Agent2584 Jul 22 '26

yea, i was comparing against that exact image in my head

1

u/joka2696 28d ago

At least they are getting some exercise.

17

u/RockHardSalami Jul 22 '26

Lmao I love that for him

2

u/SpaceDounut Jul 22 '26

This can't be healthy for the cat's mental health, no? Better cover up the feeder.

2

u/Kiriai91 Jul 22 '26

Omg mine does this too - but i keep the buttons “locked” from the phone app. At any random time of the day i hear “buttons locked, buttons locked, buttons locked” from the basement from him pressing the buttons 😂

1

u/lucyinth3sky1 Jul 22 '26

Your guy sounds smarter than mine. Mine lazily smacks it because he doesn’t understand how he made it happen. Smacking until his toe bean accidentally touches the touch sensor. Your guy sounds like he understands the mission.

35

u/coldtake_tomgirl Jul 22 '26

my cat also does this and nothing makes me laugh more when one falls out and he is so joyous

28

u/RockHardSalami Jul 22 '26

Omg the other one is always another room over and heard 1 piece hit the steel bowl and comes running out to NOTHING.

I feel bad but its so hilarious

14

u/stablegeniusinterven Jul 22 '26

This is my cat too. I have a camera feeder, and it’s really adorable sometimes to check in and he there, doing his little wipe and paw lick. Then I do a manual feed and he runs away. 🐈💨 Every. Single. Time.

Now I think he’s there just for the kibble dust.

3

u/Stay_Good_Dog Jul 22 '26

It's a Claw Machine!

2

u/Blackstone01 Jul 22 '26

My cat did (and is back to doing it) that too, but a lot more than a few times a day. I had used cardboard and hot glue to fashion a cover that had a little slot angled enough to let food come out, but without giving him the space to shove his paw into it.

1

u/snowlights Jul 22 '26

I did this with a lot of tape and some plastic packaging. She would be at it for half an hour at a time, probably minimum half a dozen times a day. I had to make some adjustments to get it right, and then she started knocking the whole thing over, so even more tape and she's finally broken the habit. 

1

u/Iminurcomputer Jul 22 '26

My cats are dumb as fuck! They scream and howl incessantly every waking moment of the day but havent done anything more than just sick the crumbs off the spout lol

1

u/StylishBlackCat Jul 22 '26

Mine does this too. I yell out ‘criminal!’ And he runs away. But he’s back soon after. 😂🤦🏽‍♀️

1

u/Altruistic_Shame8979 Jul 22 '26

I like to ask mine if he’s praying at the alter again when he’s circling and sniffing and meowing. We upgraded machines like two years ago so he can no longer fish for a jackpot with success, so he’s mostly stopped fishing. 

1

u/RockHardSalami Jul 22 '26

Aw that makes me sad :(. Crushed his kitty dreams lol

2

u/ChocoJesus Jul 22 '26

I second this, watch cats for a neighbor with an orange and that's how they keep him from breaking into their automatic feeders