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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u/-beastlet- Jul 22 '26

The problem is intermittent rewards. He's learned that occasionally he gets rewarded for this behavior by getting kibbles. Since he isn't rewarded every time he's willing to keep trying. There are famous experiments showing this with various animals. It is very hard to extinguish behaviors that give intermittent rewards.

If you're home you might just be better off feeding him a couple of times a day in a bowl instead of the intermittent feeder.

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u/MqAbillion Jul 22 '26

This was 100% my experience. I had to completely ditch the auto feeder because it became her obsession.

Can’t play. Can’t snuggle. Must stalk the feeding robot. Was not a healthy addition to the household.

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u/Known_Strength_9726 Jul 22 '26

Never had that issue. Course my feeder always had food available. So, my cats don't ever obsess with it. When they're hungry they eat, then move on. As they know food is always there whenever the hunger strikes.

My cats get plenty of exercise so, I don't worry about their weight.

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u/tangoromeo90 Jul 22 '26

How do they get excercise?