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 Petmate Electronic Portion Control Le Bistro Feeder 5 pound - Black By: Petmate Average Rating: 3.5 Total Reviews: 403 More Information Takes a licking and keeps on ticking  On: 2008-10-06I purchased this for my always hungry fat cat in hopes to get her to stop constantly begging. So far this product has been great. She has realized that the mysterious black machine is responsible for her food, and not me! I occasionally find her sitting in front of the feeder just staring and waiting. and if shes in another part of the house and hears it dispense a meal she comes RUNNING. When we first set the feeder up she could see and smell the food and thought she could break in and help herself. She has tried everything from scratching, to knawing, to tipping the feeder over and has failed to get it open. She has finally given up trying to outsmart the machine. Score ONE for me - ZERO for my fat little baby! Great Idea for frequent absentee pet owners... On: 2008-10-06This has to be the best idea for frequent absentee cat owners. It was easy to set up and put in place. I love this product... would definitely purchase it again. Excellent! On: 2008-10-06This feeder [ASIN:B000BVWVUA Petmate Electronic Portion Control Le Bistro Feeder 5 pound - Black] programs precisely by hours, minutes and seconds. Unit performs reliably and precisely. This unit is great for pets that need metered feeding. Le Piece OCrapO  On: 2008-10-05Ive read it out there from other people as well but SERIOUSLY this thing is a piece of JUNK!!! It will probably kill your pet if you rely on it feeding your pet. Ive had two units the first one I got an exchange from the place I bought it because it didnt work as set it had a mind of its own. The second one worked just outside the exchange date and now the internal memory is so secrewed up I cant even set it. Im single and wanted to rely on using it for my cat if I wasnt home yet but NO WAY, it will count a feeding yet not disperse any food even at times. This things a cruel attempt at cheap manufacturing!! I hope the manufacturers get what they deserve for making this piece of junk and somebody sues there butts off!!! MFk#$%^**!!!! A Piece of Junk On: 2008-10-04I purchased this item from Amazon in February 2008, the unit looked sturdy and I felt it was a good investment until using it for two months when the display started to malfunction, then it totally conked out, after reading the reviews in Amazon, I considered that I made a bad investment and out of pocket by $50.00, since I do not have the packaging to sent it back. One thing for sure I WILL NEVER BUY OR RECOMMEND TO ANYONE TO BUY THIS PIECE OF JUNK FROM PETMATE. Petmate Electronic Portion Control Feeder On: 2008-10-03I just LOVE this feeder. My cat does not nag me anymore for food- she just knows breakfast is at 6am and dinner is at 5pm. For some reason 6pm was too late for dinner so I re-programmed it. That was NOT an easy task. The directions were extremely hard to follow- so I just played with it until I figured it out. I also think my prescription catfood will last longer because it is portioned out better than I could do it. I would definitely recommend this feeder- a little spendy though- Amazon was the cheapest I could find although the price fluctuated a few times- not sure why.? destroyed in 2 days  On: 2008-10-03feeder was destroyed in two days, top is too easily removed and feeder needs some way to be attached to something that cant be drug under the house. Wonderful On: 2008-09-30It has been great, it is battery operated and I dont know how long they will last, so far so good... You definetely need the instructions to operate the feeder so DONT throw them away- It dispenses the amount you want at the time you want and up to three times a day, I just wished it would have a power backup... specialy if you go away for a couple of days and the batteries die. No more food sitting on a plate for hours... the dog waits for it and eats it all up... I love it  On: 2008-09-29I love this product. I saw a lot of bad reviews, but there are always complainers so I tried it anyway. I did not feel like it was hard to program or difficult to use and Marbles loves the more regularly timed feeding. go with it On: 2008-09-23After the initial assult of less than perfet step by step directions (you have to assurme a follow-thru on the limited initial instructions), this item was a god-send for our overly-pampered kitty. We tested it for two days before our trip and it preformed very well. He would sit and try to pry more food out but only on occasional nugget would fall. Love it!! LP from Salem, OR Feeder works but On: 2008-09-23Feeder works but Local Raccoons are able to easily open and empty the feeder. This issue makes it impossible to use outside. Poor customer service On: 2008-09-22I contacted the manufacturer after my machine started missing feeds (it would randomly not dispense food for a given feeding time despite adequate programming and battery life). They were extremely unhelpful and made it very difficult to get service and obtain a replacement or repair. Beware the bad service backup for this product. My rabbit likes it! Works great with small pellet food. On: 2008-09-22We know is works well with dog and cat food, this review is for rabbit owners. I picked this up to feed Bud, my large free run rabbit who loves his Oxbow pellets. During the summer I go on extended motorcycle road trips and leaving for more than one day was difficult. Pellets should be a supplemental food source to hay but if I put three days worth of food in his bowl hed eat it all within the first night. If left with hay as his only food source, hell go on a destructive hunt for his pellets. Rabbits are very sensitive to dietary change so I decided to try the Bistro and so far its been flawless. Not only did it work perfect while I was on vacation, I left it as his regular food bowl which should help him lose some weight. Instead of begging me for food he now expects it from the Bistro and knows to wait next to it at its preprogrammed times. Construction seems good. With the D batteries installed and the hopper filled its pretty heavy. Bud weighs about 15 lbs and he hasnt moved it an inch. Operation is quiet and the amount of small pellets it spits out is very accurate. It allows for many options such as feeding one, two or three times a day off a standard time clock. The food delivered can range from a 1/4 cup to two full cups, however you cant vary the amount at each schedule (eg. 1 cup for breakfast and 2 cups for dinner is NOT possible). Theres a manual feed option by pressing two buttons at the same time and a counter in the upper right of the display that keeps tract of each feeding. Only thing keeping this from a five star rating is the PROGRAMMING. Whoever designed the logic needs to be taken out back and shot...a 1981 VCR is a walk in the park to program compared to this! The included instructions are accurate and if followed youll be able to program it. Just dont lose them! There is no memory backup while changing the batteries so youll need to reprogram at that time. Also turning the power switch off erases the program which is really bad if you only want to use it periodically. Overall its a great product for the price and works well with small pellet food. Stupid programming, great functionality On: 2008-09-20Like most say, the programming on this thing was designed by a monkey, and the manual doesnt help much. We bought this and returned the first one thinking it was broken...got the second one and realized my mistake. The last line in the instruction manual under the "PROGRAMMING" section is actually the first instruction I would have put in the "SETTING CURRENT TIME" section. Once youre into programming, you have to watch out for inconsistent use of the different buttons...and setting the time on the thing is not like any other clock Ive ever programmed. You have to set the first digit of the hour and minute separately from the second digit (0 or 1 for the first digit, then 1 through 9 for the second). Dumb. Aside from that the unit functions perfectly and has made feeding our 2 cats at the same times each day very easy. The 4.2 pound capacity of the hopper on our unit was enough for at least 2 weeks of meals, depending on your settings. Aside from its programming, there are a couple things I would have liked to have seen done differently on this product. First, you can only set one meal size in incriments of 1/4 cups. I would have preferred to had the meal size programmable for each meal. Weve set ours to dish out 2 meals a day at half a cup each. That seems to be just a bit too much for our cats. But the only alternative would be 3 meals of 1/4 cup each, which was closer to what I would like them to eat, but when we did that, one cat would eat almost all the food, ending up with one overfed and one underfed cat. Also the unit only runs on batteries. I would have preferred an AC/DC combination, even if it cost more. The batteries we put in it had not been used, but were past their best-by date, and they have lasted over a month now, but if youre on vacation and the batteries run out...well, there you go. With AC/DC the unit would run without problems and if the AC went out while you were away, the DC backup would act as a fail safe. Still, worry free feeding is amazing and even with this units drawbacks, Id still recommend it. Happy cat On: 2008-09-15I am away a lot and got this feeder so I dont always have to arrange for someone to come in and feed my cat. It works great. You can set it to feed 2 or 3 times a day. It is a bit tricky to program but once you figure it out (and save the instruction book) its fine. Very cost effective compared with other sources. Good helper! On: 2008-09-13Works well, a little difficult to program and food container is loose fitting. But my cats love it and you dont have to worry about them going hungry! I wish it wasnt battery operated. it didn't work On: 2008-09-11a friend has this pet bistro so i bought one to prepare for a two week vacation. mine worked for one or two days and then stopped working. the counter advanced however, so i didnt realize it wasnt working until my cat showed signs of extreme hunger. shes always hungry, so it took a while to catch on. luckily, i was able to borrow my friends for the duration of the trip and it worked fine. i will return mine for a replacement and hope for the best. frustrating, though. bottom line: when it works, i have no complaints about this gizmo, but when it doesnt, all bets are off. buyer beware. We have 2 we loved the 1st one so much we got another On: 2008-09-10We have 2 cats and wanted to try one out to see how it worked. its not the easiest thing to figure out but oncw we got it programed it works great. we knew we were going out of town so we bought a 2nd so we had one for each cat. So far they have worked as well as we could expect. Great product On: 2008-09-09It takes a few minutes to figure how to program it, but once you get the hang of it, this thing works well. My cat took a day to get used to it, rather than looking at it like it was a mouse or predator. Ive used it 5-days straight for twice daily feedings and am confident that itll work well the next time I leave home for a few days. Great buy! About to buy my second On: 2008-09-06Ive had great success with the item. Yes, I agree that you have to get the instructions out each time you reprogram it. But since I only have to do that when I changed the batteries (which last for months) and when I was originally setting it up, it really isnt a problem. You do need to limit it to dry food; I cant see how it would work with moist food at all without gumming up the works. The minimum is 1/4 cup. If these dont meet your situation, Id suggest one of those units where you manually measure out each of the meals for 4 - 8 days. PIECE OF JUNK On: 2008-09-05Stopped dispensing the propper amount of food after one month. Total junk, dont waste your money What a load of junk On: 2008-09-01Like everyone else I think this product is a load of junk. The display is not intuitive, I had to keep the instructions nearby so that I could work out what was going on each time I tried to adjust the thing. Further it worked fine for about a year, and then I changed the batteries out and it just broke. Conveniently after the 1 yr guarantee was up. I tried everything to fix it short of throwing it against the wall. The interface would start working when I inserted batteries, and then the clock would stop (the colon would stop blinking - if you are having problems with yours then check to make sure the time is incrementing) so it would never feed my cats. I thought I had a problem as my cats were always hungry when I returned home. Further it cost me about $100 in Petsmart. Its in the trash. Love it! On: 2008-09-01I own two of these for each of my dogs. They dispense the appropriate amount of food and do it consistently and reliably. My dogs are 20 pounds and 70 pounds each. As gently as I can say this: If you have trouble programming this, YOU are the problem. You need to sit down in a quiet place and do this with patience. This has made life so much easier. They get breakfast lunch and dinner and are fed on time every day. I will never be without this product again. Great!! On: 2008-09-01one month and is working very well, I was afraid because I read bad reviews about the difficulty of programming it, the clock, etc. I havent touch the programming since the first day, and it wasnt that difficult. I`m confident my two cats will have food every time, and Im less worried about overfeeding them. Smarter than the average user! On: 2008-08-28I just read some of the 1 star reviews and I couldnt disagree more. If you have even the slightest bit of common sense, you can set this machine up. For those complaining that the cat knocks over the bin, it TURNS to lock in place. Be smarter than your cat. I have had this for over almost 2 years, with no problem. In fact, I am barely getting a "low battery" light now, this week. I will agree that the lowest setting still dumps out too much food. My solution, only set it to dispense food once a day, around noon. Or twice, early morning, and late afternoon. I find that what my cat doesnt eat, she snacks on later. And I happen to think its super cute when she claws into the slot for that extra little bite. Its hardly worth crying about. that nibble isnt going to make your cat fat. The crappy food you put into the machine might though. Another person complained about cleaning it. My solution, DONT. Other that dusting the exterior, i have had ZERO need to clean out this device. But then again, I only use quality food such as Nutro or Eukanuba. It doesnt crumble or powder up, or leave much residue. I absolutely love this machine and would have given it 5 stars, if it had smaller food dispensing settings. But its a sturdy, solid piece of equipment and has saved my life when Ive had to go out of town for a day or two. another 1 star reviewer commented about the programming, and someone was kind enough to post some better instructions, so I will pass them on here. ------------------------------------------ Initial post: Aug 20, 2008 3:42 PM PDT Sandstone says: Ive had one of these for a few years, and it has worked without difficulties. However, I do agree with most of what WorldyOne says. Regarding programming the unit, it is difficult. Ive rewritten the instructions for myself in a way I find easier to follow, here they are in case anyone else wants to use them: (P&H means push and hold) SET cycles thru what you want to set in time mode, PROG cycles P&H PROG + to enter P&H PROG SET to exit Time: + + SET select am pm then SET then PROG to go thru fields, adj w + SET to finish Meal time: SET then use PROG upper right corner 1 feeds 0 no feed use + to advance to next meal SET to finish + to advance to meal size, SET to change Meal size: + to change 1/4 cup = 1 1/2 cup = 2 SET to finish exit setup: P&H PROG SET Completely fails at one of its primary functions On: 2008-08-24To me, the purpose of this item is two fold. One, to provide your pet with food at certain times. Two, to limit the amount of food your pet receives. My cat figured out on the first day that I had this that she could just reach her paw inside and grab more food. This completely destroys the purpose of this item. If my pet can access food whenever she wants, whats the point in trying to restrict her access to food in the first place? Maybe it would be more successful with a dog who might be unable to get the food out on its own, but with a cat, this item is a complete failure. Poor Product On: 2008-08-18Bought this product to try and control my cats large appetite. Like the others, programming this thing takes a NASA degree, then you still dont know what your doing. No warning when the batteries died. And one day, it just stopped working all together. Getting ready to take a trip and not much else is offered out there, but I dont want to risk getting this thing again. Best Cat Investment I Have Made So Far On: 2008-08-18I have had this product for at least a year and a half, and I have had no problems so far. I was looking at this page again to see if they had a waterer, which I may buy soon. The best part about this purchase - I havent had to change the batteries yet, for over a year. But it does take 4 D batteries, so make sure you have some or buy some with this product. Other reviewers on this site have had problems programming it, but it comes with directions. I read the directions when I bought the machine, programmed it correctly on the first day, and have been able to just let it run since then. Programming is not entirely "intuitive," though, so the directions are important to keep if you want to change the programming often. I got this for my cats because they put on too much weight with the free flow feeder we had before. We have had no problems with them forcefully "pulling" food out of the machine, mostly because the lid is tight-fitting and there is a hard plastic paddle holding the food in the receptacle. Feeder is actually easy to clean because the bowl is large and smooth (for wipe-out cleaning) and the top receptacle can be wiped out easily by taking off the top lid. It is at leat 6 inches across, so it is not too small. If you are wondering how the food dispenses, you can choose up to three feedings a day, and each feeding can be from 1-4 portions. As far as I remember, the portions are each 1/4 cup, and my vet recommended 1/2 to 3/4 cup per cat per day. If three daily feedings of 1 portion are too much for a cat, you can reduce it to two daily feedings of 1 portion, and they can be spaced out at any time of day. One major consideration: I have two cats, and I had to make sure, at first, that they were sharing the amount of food. Luckily for me, I found that the bowl was big enough that both cats could eat at the same time, although sometimes my "less dominant" cat would wait it out and let the other cat eat some first. If you have cats that dont like to eat together or fight for any reason, I recommend two feeders in separate areas, although this is an expense I couldnt afford at the time. Overall, I think this product is one of the best I have bought online, and I would recommend it to anyone with a pet who needs to start a consistent and controlled feeding schedule. Another POC from China On: 2008-08-18This is a good product in theory, since it feeds your cat at regular intervals so it doesnt get fat, but it is difficult to program, and my electronics went crazy after a few weeks. I wouldnt recommend this product. Maybe theres something better thats made in America. Fixed Portion Problem On: 2008-08-17This feeder has been a very useful tool in keeping the cat on a consistent feeding schedule. It also has eliminated the cat waking us up in the morning wanting to be feed. Worked extremely well while we were on vacation as my mother only had to check on the cat every couple days. Our dumb cat cannot self feed so an automated feeder was really the answer. The problem: The advertised minimum portion amount of 1/4 cup could not be further from the truth. With this small cat food, it was closer to a half a cup. So here we are feeding our cat (who is suppose to be on a controled diet) almost a cup and a half of food a day with the three feedings. We thought she was getting only 3/4 cup. Well I thought it was too much, and sure enough after the last three months of use I think shes gained 10 pounds. We could not continue this so I began looking at other feeders, but complaints with those prompted me to take another look at this one. After a little thought I figured I could modify it to serve less per cycle simple by reducing the amount of space in the rotating hopper. After taking it apart I was able to fabricate out of some spray paint caps a spacer that reduced the hopper size by more than half. Now the feeder spits out a little less than ¼ cup each time and is just what we needed. The company should make different size hoppers to better meet the consumer needs. If you want to attempt the modification I could send you some pictures of what I did for reference. Just ask: fixfeeder@codelevel.com and Ill try to get that to you. Im sure it voids the warranty, but it wasnt working for me the way it was so I didnt have much to lose. As far as the cat reaching up in the feeder, I have only seen her do it once and now with the filler it will be a little harder(less flex on the hoper dividers). If it becomes a problem it would be easy to fabricate a shield over the outlet chute that would make it really difficult for the cat to get at. I wish you could do a onetime feeding by just pressing one button, but instead you have to press two and the same time, then press it again to stop it. Ive had a hard time stoping it and when it does stop you could be left with the hopper wheel in-between to settings, which seems to throw the whole cycle off for the next automated cycle. I found it best just to leave that option alone, and just scoop some out if you want to feed them a little extra. Programming is a bit awkward, but its manageable. I like the fact that it is battery powered (dont have to worry about power outages messing up the timer, and no power cord to drape across the floor that the cat could chew on). All in all, Im now satisfied with the product and would recommend it with a warning about the Portion size. Amount of Food Dispensed NOT Accurate On: 2008-08-17We decided to try this product for our cat. Shes on a strict diet of Prescription Diet r/d. Shes ONLY allowed to have 3/4 cup of r/d per day. We decided this feeder would be great because she could have three 1/4 cup meals without us having to be home three times a day. Sounds great, right? WRONG. This feeder does not dispense the correct amount of food. On the 1/4 cup setting, the amount of food ranged from 1 HEAPING 1/4 cup to almost 1/2 a cup of food!!! This is UNacceptable for anyone whose cat has strict dietary needs. We tried various things including leaving the hopper very full and leaving it almost empty. NOTHING worked. I should also point out that the box and instructions state that the feeder works with ALL shapes and sizes of dry food (and the box even pictured a food in the exact shape and size as ours). Not to mention the creators of this product seemed to forget that cats are intelligent and they can very easily stick their paws up the chute and release more food. This product might be okay if youre just going out of town and want to make sure that your kitty is fed, but stay away from it if you have more specific needs. You may feel that the product deserves a higher rating, but the way I see it, claiming that your product can dispense a specific amount of food when it cannot is false advertising and makes the product completely useless to me. Worked great for 2 years straight. On: 2008-08-16We purchased this for our cat 2 years ago for about $80 without reading any reviews. It ran every day for 2 straight years with no problems at all. The first set of Duracell D batteries lasted over 9 months and were still going strong but I replaced them because we were going on a 2 week vacation. The second set lasted over a year. Only now is the unit starting to show its age. Like others have noted the clock gains time but ours gains only about 5 min a month. The real problem now is that it is occasionally missing a feeding but again thats after 2 years. Were going to get the new version next. Good concept, not so good in reality On: 2008-08-16Thought this was a great idea; still do. It does feed on time but the measured amount it delivers is WAY off. I had it set to deliver two cups at each feeding and what actually came out was only 3/4 of a cup. My dog (whos huge) was starving all the time. Within a few weeks it stopped even delivering the number of "scoops" it was supposed to (8 scoops is supposed to equal 2 cups) and started delivering about half that. Im back to feeding her on my own. Im still searching for that perfect automatic feeder for long weekends away. Great Price for a Great Product On: 2008-08-15"Meow!" Thats cat speak for Thank You from Anna Belle and Jade Kitty. We appreciate it very much. Because now, whenever Momma is at work pulling a double shift or out visiting Grandma and cant get home when we are ready to eat, we wont go hungry anymore. Momma sets the timer and we have food three times a day, every 8 hours! Its perfect for us because our little tummies are full and we can do what we enjoy best...CATNAP!! all day long. :):) <3 --Anna & Jade Thank you for their new Automatic Feeder by Petmate Le Bistro. It works beautifully and at the price that I paid, Im glad I bought it at Amazon.com instead of SkyMall or going through the manufacturer because I would of paid at least double the cost. It has helped me out immensely and I know my girls love it also. Thanks again! -RC Later 'Linen' Model is great! On: 2008-08-13After reading the reviews here, I purchased the "Linen" color one that is a later model. It was super easy to set up - less than 5 minutes. My cat cant get food out, although shes not aggresive either. She acts like a new cat since I purchased the feeder. Although we fed her at almost the same time everyday, it wasnt the same. Shes a cat and likes perfect routine. She has gone from an 13lb cat to playing like a kitten. She looks like shes lost weight, but most of all shes much more playful and HAPPY. Works w/ Helpful Hints  On: 2008-08-11I wont bore you with all the pros and cons of previous reviews. I have been satisfied with the 4 or 5 times we have used them. Other concerns of DOA or short life can be mitigated by buying from a good company like Amazon. Just to add my experience. I have owned two ( purchased from Amazon )for over a year and have learned to work through the programming issue. We are using them as vacation suppliment feedings for a large and a medium Retriever mix dogs. The small bite Pedigree dog food we use does jam the feeder if you do not manually override the program and let it operate a couple of times before leaving it unattended. It is probably as a result of a few things. First the dispenser vanes are very flimsy plastic for the size pellets. Secondly, the dispenser vanes should be set manually to form a V (looking from the top) before putting the storage bowl on top so that the food does not jam them during its first turn. Finally do not overfill and squeeze the top on as the compacting of the food doesnt help. The new batteries will last 5-7 days depending on quality. Protect from the elements. We are using them outside but covered by porch and behind x-large dog portable kennel. One last consideration. The amount of food may vary by pellet size so experiment with times and amounts dispensed. Works Great! Nice and Easy! On: 2008-08-04Either they recently changed the programming functions for this unit, or the people reviewing that complain about difficulties with programming it are new to electricity. :-) I bought the medium size (10 lb hopper) version of this unit. Setup was extremely easy and quick! You set the current time, then you set the time and amount of food you want to feed for up to three meals per day. Took about five minutes take it out of the box, put the batteries in, fill it with food, and program it. It also has a place to plug in an AC adapter, however you will need to buy the adapter yourself. It is a little light overall -- I wouldnt mind if they had made the base a little heavier as I can imagine that my dogs might figure out how to tip this over. Ill have to monitor this and might have to secure it somehow if they get smart. :-) I set the meals to feed 3/4 cup. Using the manual feed function I tested the unit and measured what it spit-out. It was right-on at 3/4 cup every time. This thing is pretty cool and will make it much easier for our house/pet sitter when we are out of town. Recommended. Cats and I both like it On: 2008-08-04OK, the programming is counter-intuitive on this thing. Sometimes pressing a button combination does one thing and sometimes another depending on where you are in the process. But it does work and it is not really that hard once you realize it isnt consistent between menus. For the reviewer who said it dispensed too much food - it will dispense as little as 1/4 cup per day! How small IS your cat, fella? I really like this device - it will feed my two cats for almost two weeks with no input from me. Also, it seems that the cats have started to think their food comes from the feeder and not from me, so they dont pester me so much to put more food in their dish. They have learned the times of day it dispenses food so they wait patiently for it to feed them. One trick I have learned is to layer different types of food in the reservoir. That slowly changes their food type over the space of few days and back again. They seem to like the variation. You can also mix in some dry treats with their normal dry food so they get a bonus every once in a while. I have not tried it but I suspect you could mix in some semi-moist treats as long as they were well dispersed in the dry food. Id give the LeBistro feeder five stars if it were not for its annoying programming. Love it and shocked by some reviews, please read. On: 2008-08-03I have owned the same unit for 2.5 years and love it! At first the programming was difficult, mostly because I am not a directions reader, but once I figured it out it was smooth sailing. I travel a lot so am often changing it from "at home" to "on the road" portions and times, so maybe that keeps me trained on how to use it. The only problems I have had with it were my fault. The "kids" figured out one day that they could bump into it and get food out of it. Imagine my surprise (not really) when I realized that when you put the container on you are supposed to turn it and lock it in. Hello! Me not reading directions again! lol I havent had a problem again. I also love how my cats seem to know when its about to dump. They will start running toward it before I even hear the intro grind to food dispensing. When I first got it, it took about 3 days for my cat to realize what the noise was and to enjoy and not be afraid of it. Please, if you buy this unit, read the directions, give it some time it your cat doesnt warm up to it at first, and sit back and enjoy being able to walk into the kitchen without being begged for food. When this one finally goes kaput, I will definitely buy another! No more begging for food! On: 2008-07-31My only hesitation in purchasing this product was the litany of complaints about the confounding system to program it. The system *is* totally craptastic and seems like something youd have found cutting-edge in the mid-eighties. I mean, its just not intuitive AT ALL and is hindered by a few quirky limitations (like the portion size has to be the same for all feedings). However, any patient, intelligent person can follow the directions and have LeBistro up and running in no time. I spent about 15 minutes programming it. The plus side--and this is a HUGE plus for me--is that my cat no longer begs me for food. He used to spend a good portion of the day meowing at me in anticipation of his next feeding (particularly annoying in the morning). Now he gets the same amount of food, but doesnt waste any time yelling at me like hes starving to death or tangling himself up in my feet every time I walk toward the kitchen. He seems more playful and less stressed out because he knows his food is coming on a punctual schedule and he doesnt need to lobby me for it. Id love to free-feed my cat, but I cant because hed turn into a furry blimp so this was a great solution for the attendant annoyances of portion-control. Honestly, I wish Id made the investment long ago. At last sleep zzzzzz : ) On: 2008-07-29Im pretty happy with this product. As others have said, the set-up is awkward and not the most convenient. I am more than happy though that my cats are on automatic breakfast feed, which means no more, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow (you get what I mean) meowing cats waking myself and my neighbors early in the morning. If you cherish your sleep and wish to avoid neighborly feuds, I highly recommend this product. The product is fine, I just have a stupid cat. On: 2008-07-28I purchased this at the recommendation of a co-worker and even after reading some of the negative reviews still decided to go forward with the purchase. Though I understand some of the complaints about the manual, it only took a slight reinterpretation to understand what they forgot to include. It would be an easy fix for them to make the instructions clearer, but I dont know how that would help all of those who already have it. Perhaps an updated manual could be posted here. I dont know. Even the way it was written, I programmed it in about 3 minutes. I will admit, I scratched my head about 1 of those minutes. The food is dispensed as it should be and like clockwork. The problem is my cat doesnt "realize" it has been dispensed. He is so used to me giving him food manually he will not go into the "cat room" until I do -- morning or night. Ive been awakened by the sound of it dumping food, its loud and obvious, so I dont get why he still waits for me. One of these days hell get the fact that the food has been there and I didnt do anything other than walk into the room with him. Again, the product is fine, I just have a stupid cat. My only complaint would be its size. There needs to be a smaller version. Finding the floor real estate this requires would be tough for someone in a small apartment. The one major positive to the product is my cat now eats normal. Dont know why he used to devour his food like it was his last meal. Now hell nibble throughout the day. He used to binge and purge. Hasnt happen once since I got this. Again, dont know why since hes still always waiting for me to "go in with him" just like before. Whatever it is, Im happy about it. This product, just like my plan to live for ever, is going well so far. Love it!! On: 2008-07-24Great design, well made and easy to use. Our cats love it. They no longer have to worry if the kids will remember to feed them on time. I think the cats have a watch now, they hear it go off and away they go. Does what it says... On: 2008-07-18I was thinking its lowest food setting (1/4 cup) was going to work for us. Turns out its much more than I feed my cat at one feeding and I wouldnt want her to be fed that amount 3 times per day. Shes already gained a little weight and Im only doing one feeding with the Bistro and manually feeding her smaller portions other times during the day. Otherwise, this product is nice. Its reliable, easy to program, and hassle free. Its much cheaper through Amazon than any other pet store in LA that I could find. Le Fat Kitty On: 2008-07-15The cat figured out withing 1/2 hour ( I kid you not) that he could swat the unit and pellets would come out. Might as well just leave food out. Petmate Automatic Feeder On: 2008-07-10The programming is extremely counterintuitive. Once figured out it works great and is perfect for weekend getaways. Be patient On: 2008-07-05This feeder is fantastic for cats that need diet control. While the programming IS difficult, the company does provide a phone number and will walk you through it, very patiently, even waiting while you do it with them on the phone. I am not much for writing reviews, but in light of some of the bad ones on this product, felt compelled to write my own. Otherwise Good Product with One Major Flaw... On: 2008-06-30I have owned these cat feeders for several months, so this review is from a seasoned owner. My two cats, when left to their own devices, will overeat, and put on too much weight. So, I was hoping these pet feeders would provide good portion control without me having to be around all the time. Setup: Several other reviews say that the setup is difficult and unintuitive; I completely agree. The secondary instruction "cheat sheet" linked to elsewhere was a big help, and once I had that, programming was not too hard. Operation: The devices run for a long time on their D cell batteries. Operation was as advertised, and the devices dispensed the food reliably. One complaint; when you have to replace the batteries, the unit has to be reprogrammed from scratch. However this happens once every few months, so its not that big of a deal. This brings me to the Achilies heel of these units: within one month, my cats had both learned how to defeat them. The cats quickly figured out that if they stuck their paw all the way up the chute and poke around, that it would dislodge a pellet of food. Granted, just one pellet, but being cats, they have little else to do all day, and can repeat this as necessary. Ultimately, the cats ended up getting to eat as much as they wanted anyway. Might as well have just left big bowls of food out for them. Programming Simplified for LeBistro On: 2008-06-28Programming the Le Binsro is a pain, and the provided instructions are not good. Below is a set I created. I suggest having one person read the steps, slowly, and a second person push the buttons, deliberately. Legend for the codes is at bottom: Simplified how-to Le Bistro programming steps - starting from normal display: Turn on/off Breakfast feeding: p+,s,p,p,p,p,p,+++,s,ps Turn on/off Lunch feeding: p+,s,+,p,p,p,p,p,+++,s,ps Turn on/off Dinner feeding: p+,s,+,+,p,p,p,p,p,+++,s,ps Set Breakfast time: p+,s,p,+++,p,+++,p,+++,p,+++,s,ps Set Lunch time: p+,s,+,p,+++,p,+++,p,+++,p,+++,s,ps Set Dinner time: p+,s,+,+,p,+++,p,+++,p,+++,p,+++,s,ps Change meal size: p+,+,s,+++,s,ps Change current time: p+,+,+,s,+++,s,+++,p,+++,p,+++,p,+++,s,ps Manual feeding: s+ on, s+ off To return to normal display from any point: s until "meal time" shows, then ps Where ... p = prog button + = plus (+) button p+ = prog and plus buttons at same time s = set button ps = prog and set buttons at same time s+ = set and plus buttons at same time +++ = hit plus repeatedly till desired value instructions????? On: 2008-06-28Great product.....the programing instructions are AWFUL!!! Please get word to manufacturing source or distributor.... Sale$ could double with u$eable in$truction$...get it??? This Feeder Can Be Dangerous.... On: 2008-06-27...if you depend on your cats meowing to be fed to wake you up in the morning. Ive been using this pet feeder for a couple of weeks and I find myself sleeping later and later each day because the cat isnt meowing at the bedroom door at 6:30 am wanting to be fed. The meowing at 6:30 am wasnt a problem during the week when I had to be up anyway, but I was getting tired of having to get up so early on the weekends. I was dreading the early daily summer wake-up calls by the cat (because I wasnt going to have to be up early during the summer) when a friend recommended getting an automatic pet feeder. I did some research online and at the pet store and decided that the Petmate Le Bistro would be the best option for me. I was a little concerned about the programming because most of the reviews said it was difficult. Ill agree it could be a bit easier, but you dont have to be a rocket scientist to figure it out. Just keep the instructions close at hand if you want to "fiddle" with feeding times and schedules at first as I did. (It appears that they have addressed this programming problem in the new model which I would have purchased had it not been on a long backorder at the time I was ready to buy.) This programming "problem" is the only reason that I didnt give the product 5 stars. So now the kitty is getting fed when she wants in the morning and Im getting that extra couple of hours of sleep in the morning that I wanted. I wonder now why I didnt buy this product years ago! Great product! On: 2008-06-25This product lives up to expectations. I was a little worried after having read other reviews, but the manufacturer instructions werent so bad. I programmed two of these in less than 10 minutes. It is a savior for us too! Our cats dont wake us up for food anymore. The only change I would make to this product is to allow for different portion sizes throughout the day. But its fine - we give our cats a 1/4 cup twice a day and they are happy. Buy this product with peace of mind! Fido is starving! On: 2008-06-23This product is unreliable which renders it useless. After my first one would not dispense any food (after about three months) I sent it back to the manufacturer who promptly exchanged it for a new one. However, the same problem happened again after a month or so. The motor would run and no food would come out. The clock and timer are a little backwards but if you read the manual you can learn how to set it - that is not the problem. The problem is it doesnt dispense the food and if you arent home to see it for yourself (which you probably arent - thats why you got it in the first place) you may wind up starving your pets! Total piece of JUNK!!! On: 2008-06-22The programming instructions are impossibly wrong and cofusing (Im an engineer). It worked fine after a frustrating few days of changing the programming but then I noticed the clock was gaining over 1 minute per day - a month into this it was feeding 30 minutes early. After a few weeks it grew a brain of its own and started divering varying quantities of food. I programmed it for 1/2 cup per feeding but watched it as it sometimes delivered 1/4 cup, other times it delivered 3/4 cup and sometimes didnt deliver anything at all. DONT BOTHER WITH THE CHEAP PRICE AS IT IS A TOTAL WASTE OF MONEY!!! Le Bistro fulfills need On: 2008-06-19The Le Bistro automatic pet feeder was purchased about 1 month ago. So far, it has operated perfectly. I also found the instructions for programming not at all difficult to follow and was able to program and reprogram several times without difficulty. The only problem, and the reason for 4 stars not 5,was a design flaw the allows small paws to reach up into the feeder and dislodge extra food. I modified the feeder by screwing a small piece of metal across the opening, leaving enough room for the food pellets to still come thru, but little paws not able to reach in. I also have been using the feeder on my deck outside even though it says for indoor use only. I made an enclosure for the feeder to keep squirrels, racoons, other cats, etc. out and it has worked perfectly! No animals, and the feeder doesnt seem to mind being outside as it is protected from the weather. I am very pleased with the feeder, and except for the one design flaw, which I was able to modify, it is well worth the price. This feeder is wonderful! On: 2008-06-12I love this feeder! Technical Thoughts Ill admit that the programming was a bit confusing at first. But, really its very easy. Each "click" dispenses 1/4 cup of food. So for each feeding you set the number of "clicks" you want and the time. I read the instructions, had the time set, and had three feeding times and amounts set in just a few minutes. But, keep the instructions handy because I forgot how to get into the programming when I needed to change it and had to look it up again. Cat Reaction My cat has always begged for food by pushing her food bowl around and picking it up by the rim with her nose and then loudly bouncing it on the floor. Shes overweight by about 8 pounds. Which is a lot for a cat, I know. So my goal was to get her to lose weight but her obsession with her food made that hard. I didnt want her to go hungry. I first set the timer for times she always starts pushing her bowl around, the first being 5 AM!! She was a bit confused at first and the first time the food came out she sat and looked at it for several minutes. She then took a quick nibble and backed away as if she thought it would put more out any second. She repeated that for several minutes until shed eated what was in the bowl. This lasted for only the first two feedings on the first day. By her third/ last feeding on the first day, when she heard the noise, she came running and emptied the bowl. Progress Now Ive had the feeder for about a month. Ive since reduced her feedings to two which chanegd her food amount to a healthier amount and, changed the times on her slowly, about a change a week. I made slight changes, such as an hour time difference until she got two feedings close together so they eventually merged into one, thus reducing her to two feeding times. My cat is very skittish but also pesky about getting her food when she wants it. Other cats may not care so much. Now, she no longer gobbles down all of her food when it comes out. She originally tried begging for more after emptying the bowl at the feeding time. But I was firm and gave her no extra feedings since she was getting feedings pretty close together at that time and I didnt feel too badly about it. She now knows when the food is coming and when it does she eats a little and leaves some. Shell come back later for a snack and have some more. By the time its time for her next feeding theres just a couple pieces or no pieces left. She now gets 1/2 cup per day in two 1/4 cup feedings and is very content with it. I havent heard a bowl being pushed around in weeks, and let me tell you how nice that is after years of getting up at 5 am to feed her then go back to bed. Trust me, shes loud and has broken her bowl once from pushing it into things. However, giving her food before bed just meant shed eat that over night and then want more at 5 am, which would not solve the weight issue. She has been trained and her hunger seems to arise near the feeding times as I have found her sitting near it or staring at it when its close to time and when it goes off, shes up and ready to eat. I find it amusing how she has adjusted and gotten so used to the times that she now paces herself and eats each feeding in two or three trips over the course of the day. Most importantly, in the two weeks that shes been on the 1/2 cup diet recommended by the vet shes lost a half a pound! Shes always been energetic but shes even more energetic now and doesnt need my usual encouragement to play. I imagine Ill have a healthy, trim cat within a few more months! This feeder is worth every penny! Don't buy this machine On: 2008-06-05This was the worst machine i got ever, I bought the first one because I needed an auto feeder with a bigger case, so this was the biggest I found, it worked very well for a couple of months, after that it began behaving in avery weird way, so for example I set it to despence two rotations of food in every meal, I found that it stopped doing anything, I set it on 7 just to have it do the two I want, and after another 3 weeks it stopped doing any automatic work completely. I got the second one thinking that may be the first one was just bad because of luck, but the second one worked fine for one month, after that whenever the auto cycle starts, it works forever until it discharge all the food inside on the ground and carpet and it keep rotating forever until I press the OFF switch. So my experience with this machine is very bad, I used it to do 3 meals a day and every meal is 2 cups, not sure why mine worked this badly! Great for cats on a portion plan On: 2008-06-04Our cats are high-maintenance eaters. We got the feeder because our cats will eat too much if we just leave food out in a dish like most people do. Their vet said we need to feed them smaller portions, so the timers allow us to spread those out over the day. They get one portion for breakfast and one for dinner. You can program the feeder to dispense up to three times a day, and there are different food amounts you can choose. One negative of the feeders is that the set food amounts were too much for me to give them three meals a day (theyd get too much overall), so we had to keep it to two. The other negative is that one of my cats reaches her paw up into the dispensing area and gets extra food out. We had to buy metal plates at the hardware store and super-glue them on so that the food can still come out but she cant get her paw up there. I would not think that would be a problem for most people, though. Overall we are quite happy with these feeders. We started out with one (for two cats) and then went to two (for four cats) and now have four (one per cat -- otherwise a couple were eating more than their share). Petmate Le Bistro feeder On: 2008-06-03The very confusing and overly complicated instructions do a disservice to a very nice product. It does what it sets out to do, releases whatever amount of dry food that you have selected at exactly the time that has been programmed.. Programming this feeder is frustrating and much more difficult than necessary, Oftentimes the buttons pushed did not work immediately, and there does not seem to be a way to change the times without going through this whole process again. I have questions which I hope customer service can answer. But once I programmed the three serving times, it did work very well.. I would have liked a heavier, better made food container. It is very easy for a smart pet to dislodge or tip it over if the feeder is only partially filled. I do recommend this product and would have given it more stars if the instructioms werent so complicated. Love Love LOVE this product! On: 2008-05-31My dog eats 2x a day and is really hungry in the morning. Which means that he wakes me up at 6:30 am whether its the weekend or not! I bought this automatic feeder and it works like a charm! Im really kicking myself for not doing this five years ago. I read some other reviews which said that this feeder is difficult to program, however I found that if you follow the included directions there isnt really anything confusing about it. This Product is Well Worth the Money! On: 2008-05-29This product is well worth the money. I love it! Bought it 6 months ago and has worked perfectly. The programming took me a few minutes to get the hang of it, but as long as you read the directions, the set-up can be done in just a few minutes. Once programmed, it does its thing. Feeds my cat 3 times a day and he no longer wakes me up at 5 am for his breakfast. Been working on the same batteries for 6 months now, and still havent had to change them. I am very pleased with this feeder and would recommend it to anyone!!! Controls food portions with ease On: 2008-05-29Easy to set up. Works consistently. Nothing bad to say about the Bistro (although my three overweight cats might differ now that the Bistro has them on a diet!) When Dad's away, the cat's can play...and EAT On: 2008-05-27My main purpose for buying this feeder is that Im single with two cats. I couldnt ask for better cats, but feeding them one time during the day (when I get home, whether on-time or late) was hard on them. While one of my cats has always had an intenstinal issue (if he gets too hungry, he eats quickly and, well, its not pretty), the other will keep me awake at night until I feed her. Yea, just like kids. So, one morning after an especially long night of no sleep, I realized I had to do something and do it quickly. I did a search for automatic pet feeder and this is the first product that came up. I researched it a little bit and liked what I read. Amazon offered it, I ordered it with overnight shipping, and its worked flawlessly for me. Before ordering though, I read that feeding your animals more than one time a day is better for them than just once. Im happy to say that both of them seem pleased with it, they eat more regularly and my cat with the intestinal issues doesnt get sick nearly as often. I believe that hunger had everything to do with it. My ownly negative is the programming part of it is not as easy as I would like it to be. It took me about an hour to get it done, but its worked just fine once I got it done. I have mine set to disburse food three times-a-day, 9:00 am, 2:00 pm and 6:00 pm...a 1/4 cup each time. When I got to bed around 10:00ish, theres still a little food in the bowl so Im not kept up at night as much as before. The cats had absolutely no difficulties eating from it...they werent afraid...in fact, they were very curious about it (go figure). Thumbs up! Not Pet-Proof On: 2008-05-27You definitely have to read & save the instructions to operate the timers & set up the machine. It worked good for 2 weeks & then the cat figured out that she could reach in to rake food out. I thought about modifiying the machine by cutting the bowl off & installing an extention, so that she couldnt reach in to the supply, but with the batterys installed on the bottom, that might be a difficult chore. I think they could redesign & market a better machine for about the same price. Therefore, those 2 corrections would make it a 5-Star unit, but as it stands----it is a 3-Star machine. Relationship Saved! On: 2008-05-24This product saved the relationship between me and my feline. Every morning I would be ambushed and assaulted by my friendly critter to feed him and it was getting to the point where I was ready to throw him off the balcony...not really, but you get the picture. I read the reviews and I was hesitant because there were some negative ones but I appreciated them because it prepared me to be patient when setting up the timer for feeding times and reminded me to save the instructions for when the batteries get old. My cat now gets regular feedings and doesnt associate me with food. Our relationship was saved!!!!! Insufficient instructions for programing On: 2008-05-24Works well when you figure out the programing instructions. I wish I had gotten the larger version. I am afraid my begal will chew in to the bottle. Worked for for a few months.... On: 2008-05-23The programing controls are awkward and confusing, but after I got the thing working it was great. Then kitty figured out how to stick her paw up the chute and get food at all times of the day. (turning out she was eating twice as much that way) Figured out how to rig something over the chute to stop that, and all was good again. After a few months of use, the clock started to either lag or speed up feeding the cat at varying hours each day....and sometimes only once. (had it on breakfast/dinner) Replaced the batteries thinking they were low, and not halfway through the day the clock was wrong after being reset hours earlier. Total piece of crap if you ask me....which is really too bad since when it worked it was a huge help. I would not recommend this to anyone. Well worth it On: 2008-05-23What I love about it: --It is amazing not to have to think about feeding my cats at all. To know I will never have to think about feedings again is invaluable. I loved it so much I bought a second when we got a second cat. --The set of D batteries Ive had in there have lasted for about a year and a half now. (And its good it doesnt run on power, in case you have a power outage while out of town.) We went out of town for 3 weeks and were able to leave the cats at home. --Seems to be a sturdy product. Ive had two machines for many months without a glitch. --Looks elegant. Whats not as great: --The programming really is ridiculous. HOWEVER, if you are fairly smart youll figure it out in a few minutes. --My cats stick their paws up into the machine and get out extra food. But...it doesnt really matter, since theyre just stealing from themselves! Overall I would highly recommend it. Solid Product for the price On: 2008-05-19I have been using this product for about one month. The initial programming was simple, if slightly awkward, and the portion sizes measure up exactly. I have one cat, who has not managed to manipulate the device as others have stated. It would be nice if the bowl could be removed for cleaning. The clock has lost about 2min since the initial setup. Overall, I am very satisfied with this product. It is a consistent performer for the price. auto cat feeder On: 2008-05-19The feeder works great, once you get the programming in. That part was difficult as the buttons arent that resposive. I was surprised that the plastic was brittle, rather than sturdier, but so far (in the past two months) its worked great and makes my life easier. The problem I see is that you are stuck with the same portions per feeding, e.g., you cant do a 1/2 cup morning feeding and 1/4 cup evening feeding--both feedings have to be identical in portions. Retrain your Cat and get some Sleep! On: 2008-05-14Nothing disturbed me more than the cats waking me up at 6:00am because they were hungry...just because I cant lay around and sleep 23 out of the 24 hours, does not mean that I very happy when they want to disturb my sleeping for the 15 minutes they will be away eating and pooping. This curbed the morning feeding almost instantly. Get this... I set the timer for an hour later than when they were waking me and guess what? they stopped waking me and know that the food will drop. It seems they can hear that food hit the bowl from any room in the house. I do admit that the first few days of hearing this noise, I was a bit startled. Now I know the sound and can block it out just like I do when the kids are fighting in the car. The feeder has been a godsend for our "fat cat"--a hefty 20lb. We have been trying to monitor his food intake for the past three years but he would sit by the food dishes and eat both his and the other cats food when he could. This caused us to "cheat" a little knowing that the skinny cat didnt get all of his food. With this feeder, we set it and forget it. Not only are they not begging for food, the heavy ones belly is not touching the ground anymore. Wow. We should have got this years ago. Overall, I am very satisfied with this product. I did find it odd that it took size D batteries--this is the only thing in my house (probably since the 1980s) that take these huge batteries. The programming can be a little difficult for the technologically challenged. Most of the setting are self explanatory with the exception of the portions size. They use a code (ie 1, 2, 3, etc) to mean things like 1/4 cup, 1/2, and so on. The "legend" is located in the instruction manual which is usually already in a landfill before you need it again. I did find the manual online at http://petmate.com/Products/LeBistro-Portion-Control-Feeders__24240.aspx and also printed a copy and saved a copy to my computer in my "important" folder....might be worth taking the time now to download it, just in case it isnt there the next time you go for it. How can you beat the price On: 2008-05-11Its been exactly a month since I got the feeder and it has worked flawlessly. Im so pleased that I bought another one. And guess what, the price at amazon has dropped from $50 to $45 a month later! Wow, how can you beat that. I went to petsmart and it was sold at $79 there. The product is very well designed. The pet could knock the feed flat but the food will still be securely intact. Yes, some small cat may sneak some food out of the opening as does my miniture Schnauzer but I dont see how that can be a big issue. The programming is easy. The material of construction (plastic, so the whole thing is light)is not the best but it costs a mere $45. Le Bistro Pet Feeder On: 2008-05-10This has been a great product. My cats were a little stand offish at first but now they look forward to the times the food dispenses. Great Product! Good for vacation time and everyday use (for weight control). Second one works great On: 2008-05-08I read the review about this product about the direction, so I read it carefully. I got it to work BUT the portion size was huge, on the small amount (1) and on the large (8) amount. I return it to Amazon for a new one and this one works. I did not have a problem with programming it. Altho, the buttoms you have to push acouple of times to go to the next setting. Finally, a full night's sleep On: 2008-05-07While we desperately love our cat, we have become sleep deprived. She wakes us up earlier and earlier begging to be fed. On top of that, we went away for the weekend and she ate more than double the amount of food she should have. It was time to do something. I read reviews of this product and was worried about purchasing it, but I had to give it a try. I took it home yesterday, spent about 1 minute programming it and filled it up. My husband was going to set his alarm clock, the first time in years, but I told him there was no way it would work the first day. Sure enough, he was late for work this morning. I realize that I havent owned the product long enough to write a full review, but I wanted to help people worrying about the programming. Apparently, they have have revised their instructions. There was nothing to it. The lid was another concern, but it does snap on. The food hopper has two notches on the side, so I set it the base and twisted it a bit. It seems to be securely in place. I will update my review after owning the product longer. So far, its fantastic! A Life saver!! On: 2008-05-07I was a little wary when I ordered this feeder because of all the negative comments I read about it here but I must say that Im glad I didnt pay too much attention to them. I received mine promptly via UPS and programed it in five minutes. It works perfectly and its really easy to use as long as you read the instructions. I have two cats and they used to beg me incessantly at 5AM everyday until I fed them. Now (three weeks later) they leave me alone and I can leave them alone for longer than 12 hours at a time without having to worry about them. It has definitely made my life much easier. My Cats are too Smart On: 2008-05-04I didnt have a problem with the programing, although it didnt like the fact that you cant vary the amount of food in each portion at different times of day. My big problem was my cats (both of which are highly food motivated) figured out how to reach their paws up the chute and get kibble. I tried jerry-rigging different things to stop the stealing, but then they just would bang the unit on the ground and get kibble out that way. Not a great thing to wake up to at 2 am. I wouldnt recommend this unit to anyone. I am THRILLED with this product! On: 2008-05-03I bought this portion-control feeder to make it easier for us to help our tubby kitty lose weight. And it has WORKED LIKE A CHARM! He is just about down to his ideal weight, and seems happier and healthier for it. Our other cat, who is of normal weight, has maintained her weight just fine. One worry I had was that the bowl/feeding area would not be big enough so they could both eat at the same time. No worrying needed; its plenty big for the two of them. I have not experienced the problems that the 1-star reviewers faced; perhaps its just luck of the draw. That said, I felt that the quality matched the price, the programming instructions were easy to follow, and its looks are aesthetically pleasing. One unexpected bonus is that its slightly amusing to watch them gallop away when they start to hear the 2-second racket of the dry food tumbling down into the bowl area. It took less than two days for that Pavlovian response to set like concrete. :-) On the serious, though, we live in a tornado-prone area, so its good to be able to have a 100% dependable way to call them when the sirens go off and we need to get everyone down the basement in a hurry. Shaking the treat can/bag usually worked, but this is fail-proof. Useless! On: 2008-04-29This feeder is useless. My cat figured out how to jiggle food out of the chute in under 24 hours. The programming was a nightmare and when I did a manual feed, it wouldnt shut off! I had to take the batteries out. I also think it should be able to feed smaller portions. Finally, the lid on the hopper doesnt twist on securely. A determined animal would find a way to get it off. Pet Feeder On: 2008-04-28The idea is great, we wanted to be able to feed the cat at intervals, esp. when gone for a weekend. Quiet operation and small or large amounts of food are automatically dispensed. The directions for set-up/timing are poor, you have to sort of "wing it" to get through some parts. Le Bistro Feeder On: 2008-04-27Make sure that the quantities that it dispenses are the amounts you are looking for. The instructions are worthless. Search on the Web for a cheat sheet for programming, then, it can be programmed easily. Overall a reliable good unit. Does your cat cry at you for food? CRY NO MORE! On: 2008-04-21I have two cats and purchased this as a temp fix for when i go away for the weekend. I have had it for a year now and it is AWESOME. My cats used to cry at me at 5:30 in the morning for food. Since they are used to these new machines giving them food they no longer cry at me they cry at the machine. which is great because the machine is far far away from my bedroom, so they no longer wake me up. The machine feeds them twice a day like clock work. There are a few down sides, the interface is a pain in the butt, but its workable. My cat does put his paws inside it and is able to knock out a few crumbs but not enough that it is a big deal. Als because it is battery run my two feeders even if i set them to the exact same time within a few days they end up a few mins off from eachother so every two weeks or so i have to re-set the time or they will end up 10 mins off from one and other, and the cats fight over who gets to eat first, or one will eat twice and the other goes hungry. Over all though i have to say this product really has made my life so much easier. Feeding time is less stressful and definatly much quieter. I purchsed the prodct because both my cats were overweight, as i was feeding them all the time to keep them quiet. They have both lost weight and are much happier and more active, they dont stress me out about feeding times any more, and i can go away for a few days with out having to worry about them getting food. It is great. They only thing i really with they would change is the problem with the clocks not always being the same, but im not sure thats the machine so much as the batteries. automatic cat feeder On: 2008-04-21We are 85% happy with the product - however, like many of the other reviewers mentioned - the programming is not at all intuitive... and once you figure it out, the time setting options are limited. Aside from that, it seems to function and accomplish what we intended (cat doesnt wake us to be fed, and seems to be losing weight) Le Bistro WORKS On: 2008-04-20A great help in controlling portions and regulating feeding times. The unit holds an ample amount of food so a weekend trip away can be managed without worry. The instruction manual skips some steps in the programming process, but when setting lunch and dinner times, just keep pressing the indicated button you pressed to get to the breakfast menu, or the plus button, it took me a couple minutes but I figured it out. And since then the product has worked wonderfully. I FULLY RECOMMEND THIS PRODUCT. Pet Bistro is superb and EASY to program On: 2008-04-19I had very low expectations for the Pet Bistro because of some of the reviews Id read. Much to my surprise it was SUPER EASY to program. It took less than 5 minutes to unbox, load batteries, set the current time, program for 3 feedings, and load food into the hopper. Now Monty gets 3 1/4 cup feedings per day (instead of only two feedings with much larger quantities) and hes eating smaller portions. Hopefully hell lose weight and become a leaner healthier cat with the help of the Pet Bistro. I love the Pet Bistro because I no longer have to worry about rushing home for feedings and the portion sizes are perfectly measured. Monty has adapted nicely to the change in his feeding routine. excellent product On: 2008-04-19We got this for all the obvious reasons. Our cats now let us sleep in longer and we were able to go away for the weekend recently without worrying about finding someone to feed them. One of our cats will eat everything thats put out so simply leaving a large bowl wont work. When daylight savings time came we wanted to change the time. The LCD display stopped working as soon as we pressed the program button. Petmate sent us a new unit that works perfectly right away. I rate highly their customer service. Brilliant! On: 2008-04-19We have two cats and ordered one for each. They no longer wake us up in the middle of the night. They were scared of them for a couple days but learned to get over the fear if they were hungry enough. Now they recognize the sound and go running for the food. Brilliant! Convenient On: 2008-04-17Programming is a little tricky, but not rediculously difficult. Timer works accurately. Only problem is my cat can stick his paw in the shoot and grab a few pieces of food. Its not like a whole lot comes out. Just enough for a little snack. This could be problematic, especially since they call it protion-control. I did not buy it for portion control. I got it so when I went away for the weekend, my cat would still be fed. It works well for me. Not smarter than my cat On: 2008-04-14First, I love not having to get out of bed to feed the cat in the morning or rush home from work at night. However, shes not stupid, and she learned on the first day that she can stick her paw up in the slot and get more food to come down. After a few attempts, we finally created a flap that keeps her from getting at the food when shes not supposed to (for now.) Nobody likes an obese kitty... Maybe ok for some cats On: 2008-04-12Programming is clunky, but works. But our cats quickly learned how to reach in and get a snack any time, so I had to tape a board on the front to make the opening smaller. Also there are too few choices for portions.. for us, "1" is too little and "2" is too much. So far has worked great On: 2008-04-07I have only had it a week, but pretty much works as expected. My cat always begged for food, so I wanted to take myself out of the mix. Pros: 1. Programming is not that hard. If you read the instructions, you will be fine. Had it done in about 5 minutes. 2. Nice for those days when you dont get home on time. 3. Has elimated my cat from driving me crazy!! 4. Counter on the front so you can see how many meals have been dispensed before the batteries croak. Cons 1. Battery operated only. If I was out of town, I would have to replace the batteries beforehand to make sure it did not stop working. A plug would be nice. 2. Settings need to be re-done when you change the batteries. My cat picked right up on the concept and the amount if food on the smallest setting is good for her. Thankfully she has not tried to get "unauthorized" feedings by sticking her paw up the shute! Overall, I would recommend this product. Just add a plug and it would be great! works great On: 2008-04-06For the price you can not beat this feeder. It works just as it says. Has good timer features. Now I do not have to rush home to feed my dog! Works fine On: 2008-03-31I bought this product two weeks ago and Im glad I made the purchase. The machine is alittle bulkly and not too difficult to program once you fully read the directions. My cat knows there is food there and he sticks his paw in to release some. After awhile he gives up when nothing comes out. He gets a little scared when it dispensing food because it is a little noisy. Other then those minor issues, it works fine. Life Saver On: 2008-03-30This feeder allowed us to get sleep at night- now the cats no longer associate us with food which is GREAT! It was worth every penny and we didnt have any problems like others reported. The programming isnt the easiest, but its totally worth it. Now we actually have some peace in our home at night! Might be ok for cats... On: 2008-03-27...but this device did not hold up for one day against my 9 year old, 20 lbs soaking wet Sheltie. I came home to discover she had knocked it around quite a bit so that the top part had come off, the food was eaten and the plastic cover over the control panel had been chewed. Perhaps the two stars should be assigned to my food crazed pet, but shes not exactly a junk yard dog. Programming the device was also very challenging and Im almost always fine with that sort of thing. The instructions were poorly written and the steps counter-intuitive. The feeder did seem to work just fine when I did a trial run at dinner the night before leaving it alone with the dog while I was at work. As I said, this might work very well for cats. It simply isnt sturdy enough for many dogs, even of the smallish variety. Good product while it works On: 2008-03-27I bought 2 of these for my 2 dogs. First I agree with other reviews that it is a bit difficult to program at first and the small buttons are a bit hard to push, but after I got the hang of it, I had no problem. I have had these for 3 months so far. I noticed the other day however that one of them was only dispensing 1 portion each time even though it was programed to put out 3. When I played with it, it worked fine on the 4 and 5 portion setting and gave the correct amount of food. I have not had problems with my dogs getting into it at all like other people mention with cats and it was nice that they would get fed at the same times every day. If you do have one I would recommend making sure at least once a week that it is truly giving out the correct amount of food. I am currently trying to get a replacement, but since it has passed the 30 day return policy it seems to be difficult. It may have been a better investment to get the more expensive one or to get it through Petsmart so I could more easily exchange it. I will try calling the company, but since my pets are my children, I wish I would have just splurged and gotten the one that costs twice as much. I felt so bad when I discovered my poor cocker spaniel had been starving for a few days. Wonderful Product! On: 2008-03-26I received this feeder as a gift and I love it! I have two cats and the youngest had taken to waking me up at 5:45am or earlier by meowing for food. This feeder has stopped that completely. The programming instructions are very easy to follow (unlike some reviews would have you believe) and the machine makes very little noise when dispensing food. It also helps when I get home late from work and I know the cats have already been fed. The cats have figured out how to reach up into the chute and pull down one or two pieces of kibble, but nothing beyond what Id give them for a snack. Overall, an excellent product! Works with issues On: 2008-03-25This product works as stated with some comments. 1) It appeared to be broken when it is really just out of battery power. The little screen will still be lit but it wont dispense. If you replace the battries it will work again. 2) The programming interface is not intuitive but if you have the instruction guide it works just fine. Dont lose it! 3) It gobbles up batteries! I would suggest rechargeables. 4) I agree that it dispenses really large portions. I only have one cat and once a day feeding on the lowest setting is enough. But I only have to worry about little Charlie once a month so its a great product! Depends on your cat On: 2008-03-24I bought this about 4 months ago for my two cats. I have mixed feelings, but I am keeping it. I had very little trouble programming it and setting it up. Once you get the hang of it it only takes a few minutes to adjust the settings. I bought it for weekend trips out of town and its great because I set it for two daily feedings and when you get home you can see how many meals were dispensed on the display. So I have two cats. One greedy fatty and one slim jim. Greedy fatty likes to lay next to the feeder with her belly sprawled out on the floor and her hand in the feed dispenser. She wiggles her paw in there and a few pieces fall out. I figured that this was a small amount of food, but it is high calorie food and it seems like she does it while I am not home an awful lot because she has gained at least 2 pounds since we got it. The other cat eats when the food comes out and leaves it alone the rest of the time. I now only use it for the morning meal so that they will eat early and let me sleep and then I put it away all day in the closet, feed them wet food at night (fatty gets about an 1/8 teaspoon) and put the feeder out before bed. I should only use this for vacations. I heard there is a way to rig it so they cant get the food out with their paw, and that is what I am online to find now. I left them with the feeder and plenty of water for 4 nights and when I got home the feeder was on and in tact. It has been running and feeding daily since I first set it up for about 4 months now. Only concern is for my clever chubby kitty. Great for a traveler! On: 2008-03-23I was a bit leary using a timer for feeding my cat while I was away for a short period of time, but this product worked great. The programming was a bit confusing at first, but once you figure it out it is not any problems. I did have to return the first one I received since it would not work correctly. Amazon quickly replaced the item. Entirely unreliable On: 2008-03-10This device worked fine for a few weeks, but then it started to dispense smaller than requested meals, and sometimes skipped them all-together. Reprograming it did not help. Changing the batteries did not help (and wasnt that fun, since it automatically means you have to reprogram it!). It looks like theyve come out with a newer model, but I think Ill try a different brand. does the job! keeps my cat happy! On: 2008-03-10had it for over 7 months, would buy again easily!! i had a simple 3 times a day automatic feeder, that always caused problems b/c if i got home late after the time i needed to reset the portions for the next day, all the times would be off base, and i would have to manually give scoops of excess foods to supply him while i was at work. this unit is great. good quality. i think of my cat is very smart, but he hasnt figured out he could put his paw up to try and get a few more kernals. one consideration i had to make. if i give him a bigger kernal food, he gets a lot less to eat, versus a small food, he got alot more to sit and munch. its based on this whell and how many turns it makes depending on the size you set. the menu is a tad confusing, but not rocket science. my batteries have lasted over 7 months now, and im pleased with that. i give my cat a ton of affection but its nice to know his feeder works and supplies almost 2 full weeks of food without refilling it. and great for weekend trips if you have a 18lb cat which i do, leaving a huge bowl will not do. he loves food! Love this feeder -- regardless of the bad reviews received. On: 2008-03-09We travel a lot and needed a dependable feeder for our two cats that would hold more than 3 days worth of food. I read the reviews on this product and almost didnt purchase it because of the bad reviews. Maybe the folks who wrote the negative reviews received defective products and had good reason to write the, but I have to say that this is one gadget that I am extremely pleased with. I purchased two of these feeders and they both have been in operation for over a month and neither of them has missed dropping a feeding. This is a wonderful product. I purchased the smaller version that holds about 4 lbs of food and its perfect. I recommend this product highly. I have high expectations of items that I purchase -- and I would feel confident in recommending this feeder to any and all who need dependable feeders for their pets. Best Buy! On: 2008-03-09We bought this feeder over a year ago and it has been fantastic. Our cat would wake us up about 5 am every morning and then in the evening follow us everywhere letting us know he wanted to be fed. No more. He lets us sleep and doesnt play the in and out game (wanting outside and then coming back in in a couple of minutes.) I travel for my job and my husband works uncertain hours so it is nice to know that he is getting fed. We can even leave him for a day or so and not have to worry about food. The programming is difficult, keep the instructions. One thing that the instructions dont tell you is that 12 noon is pm 00:00. I had to call the company directly to get that bit of information. The batteries last a long time. After more than a year we are still on the original batteries. One problem is that we have to remember to check that the hopper has food. The cat lets us know if it is empty. A big plus, our king-sized kitty, who use to weigh 22 pounds has lost 4 pounds since we got this. He is a lot healthier and much more active. Bought a pet feeder...and a couple hours of sleep! On: 2008-03-08Petmate Le Bistro Electronic Portion-Control Automatic Pet Feeder, Black I was a little skeptical about this product after reading other reviews, but its ended up being a great purchase. Programming is a little tricky, but its no big deal if you read the instructions. My only complaint is that the portions are a little more than what theyre supposed to be. Other than that, I think this is a great product and its allowed me to sleep past 4am most days! Yay! Awesome! Lifesaver!!! On: 2008-03-07If you are active and need to leave your cats alone for extended periods of time (day or two or three), this is a lifesaver. We use it full-time, not just for vacations. Cat loves it. Works perfectly. Automatic feeder is Awesome On: 2008-03-03Love the fact that even on weekends there is consistancy for our 3 cats. Now they receive 3 meals a day and are on their way to controlling the over eating habits. Our oldest cat hasnt thrown up since we got the new feeder. He used to stuff himself and then bring it back up. It is so much healthier for them to have a little 3 times a day versus one large helping. Programming can be confusing at first so keep the instruction handy and have patience. Best wishes for happy cats like ours! I like it but my cat dosen't because she's on a diet On: 2008-02-28The product does as advertised and my cat gets fed twice a day. I bought this product because my schedule does not permit me to feed her on schedule (and I sometimes forget). It gives her the right amount of food and she dosent like it because she doesnt want to go on a diet. I think its a good way to keep her fit. Easy to fix only problem. On: 2008-02-26I was really looking forward to seeing for myself how this feeder works. I remember seeing about cat owners finding their kitties sticking their little paws up the hopper and getting a free meal and I KNEW mine would be just another tally to that board. I have 2 sibling almost 2yr old cats that know just the buttons to push to get my dad to feed them just a little bit of kibble by blocking his path everytime he walks from one end of the house to the other... well, my two could survive on air alone, without the snacks from grandpa so I began researching this feeder. Not only did amazon surprise me with having my packages arrive at my door the day they were just supposed to be shipped (do they live next door?!) So very happy with that quick delivery with free shipping! Opened the boxes and used someones cheatsheet on here to help me figure out the programming... not that hard, really. Of course within 24hours my tortie learned how to stick her paw up the hole and get a few bites all while her brother watched so of course he picked up the habit as well. Finally I had time to modify the feeders... I just took a coffee can lid, cut it in half and played around with the manual feed option till I was satisfied w/ the kibble flow and pretty sure no little paws would go up the hopper. I used electrical tape so I can remove if more mods are needed. Only other problem is getting the 2 feeders on the same time (they were 2 mins off but I fixed that today) Overall, very satisfied. I have clever kitties but this product is at least helping them to be more trim! Poor interface On: 2008-02-25The digital interface is very hard to program. The amount of food released is insufficient for a dog over 50 lbs. The storage bin is light weight and easily toppled. The lid does not fit on very tightly, I had to taped it shut with duct tape. It does delliver the food on time. JCA DVM Awesome product On: 2008-02-25If you cant set a VCR clock i dont recommend this, its too complicated for you. If you can, however, its the best thing I have bought for my 3 cats in a long time, the proportional feeding has got them on a strict food intake now and effectively, they have been put on a diet. No insane breakins by the cats and its always very funny seeing them jet to the food bowl when they hear the sound of it dropping. Love it! No problems with it On: 2008-02-24Ok, i have no idea what people are talking about it being impossible to program. My husband programmed it with NO PROBLEM. The instructions are NOT INTUITIVE, but if you just read and follow along you will not have any problems with it. We have two cats, we use this feeder daily. Always works, no problems with it, no problems reprogramming it or anything of that sort. Cats try to paw up there but never get anything out and gave up trying after the first few failed attempts. I give it 4 stars b/c you can not really take it apart and clean it. But you should only use dry food anyways, so it should last a good long time b4 the dry kibble builds up. Anyways, i dont want to read anymore of those "can not program" reviews about this product, not all things have to be made for intuitive programming anyways, as long as you can read the instructions and follow along you will have no problem and that is all that matters. If you're looking for an automatic feeder, don't wait - buy this now On: 2008-02-24So youre looking for an automatic pet feeder for your beloved furry creature, as I was a month ago. I bought this feeder due to its low price and overall good reviews, and I have been nothing but completely satisfied and pleased with my purchase. Other reviewers have noted some negatives about his feeder: 1) the food hopper doesnt secure in the feeder but just "balances" on top of it. This is false. While the instructions dont specify this step, the hopper does twist to lock in place. The clear hopper has tabs that align with slots in the feeder. Align the hoppers tabs with the slots in the feeder, insert the hopper, and then twist the hopper while holding the feeder secure to lock the hopper in place. 2) its hard to program Yes, the programming isnt very intuitive, especially with only 3 buttons on the control pad, but its not very difficult. It took me about 3-5 minutes to program. Yes, it does lose its programming when you change the batteries. This isnt a big deal since you only need to change the batteries a few times per year. 3) it comes "dead on arrival" There is an on/off switch on the bottom where the battery compartment is. My feeder arrived with the switch in the ON position, but perhaps others have had theirs arrive in the off position. The instructions, as I recall, dont specify the existence of this switch. 4) pets can see the food because the hopper is clear This is true - it seemed to cause my kitty some psychological angst that she could *see* a whole bunch of her yummy food but not get to it. She tried to attack Le Bistro for a few days but wasnt able to actually damage it. Now she leaves it alone. 5) cats can stick their paws up the chute to get more food This is also true. It took Oreo all of about 30 minutes with the machine to discover this. I promptly cut a rectangle out of cardboard and duct taped it over the upper half of the chute, thus allowing food to still fall out but not provide enough room for her to get a paw up. She no longer even tries to get food out of the chute, and I recommend making this modification before introducing this product to your pet (so they [hopefully] wont learn/discover the undesired behavior) I think these are the major negatives I and others here have experienced, and as Ive indicated, none of them are a big deal. Now for the positives: This thing works - very well. It looks like it holds about a month of food supply (1/2 cup twice a day). Its very much "set it and forget it". It costs a lot less than its competition - for the price, it cant be beat. Being battery operated is both a plus and minus; it means buying and changing batteries, but it also means no wires and more flexibility in where to put it. In summary ... if youre reading this review, go ahead and but one of these now. It will be money well spent. Great product -- if your cats aren't clever On: 2008-02-24Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R22C3UVAAUTF5R This product worked fantastic for about 6 months -- our cats lost weight, were more healthy, and it prevented them from waking us up at 6:00 in the morning for feedings. One slight issue is that, as it turns out, cats are relatively smart. Our cat Huascar, after studying our Petmate intensely for several months, finally figured out a way to get all that food that was suspended in air in front of him into the dish. Your mileage may vary, but Huascar has definitely figured out the secret to a midnight snack. I think the Petmate is still an excellent tool for portion control -- it is such a hassle for Huascar to snack that he usually grabs a few morsels and then heads off to cause more chaos throughout our house. He has remained his svelte, yet troublemaking, self. Watch the video to find out. Feeder Just Stops Working after a while On: 2008-02-24I had to take the first one back because it would not feed. On the second, the feeder is easy enough to program but even after new batteries it just stopped responding. I reprogrammed it and tried a manaul feed by pressing the Set and + buttons and it would not despense food. It did work for about a year. Made in China. Need I say more. I think I had a defect On: 2008-02-23The setup for this is rough. With only two non-intuitive buttons to program time, meals, qty, etc... Keep the manual handy! I had fresh 4 D cell Engergizers in this and the clock became too fast. In one day, it was nearly 2 days ahead! Well, my cat liked that! My dumb cat can reach under the feeder wheel and help himself whenever. Feeder DUMPS food, and sometimes does not stop! Maybe because cat food is too small in size. The clock reset after two days... What the heck? Ended up with a five day circular feeder (one 9volt). Amazon quickly refunded item. Good luck! I think mine was definately defective. LOVE IT!! On: 2008-02-18This product has been heaven sent. Id run out the house some days - forgetting to feed the cats. I could never spend the night at my GF place after a night out or go out of town without dumping lots of food on their plate. Its one less thing I have to worry about. Before I had this I had reduced my cats (2 of them) to 1 cup of dry food for both (1/2 cup each if they eat fairly - but I think the girl (Nikita) eats most of as the boy (Payton - after Walter Payton - not Peyton Manning) licks her. I get them the low-fat food and try to restrict the amount that they eat - and I think after doing this for about 1 year they have gotten used to eating just the correct amount. I dont have the problem where they are sticking their paws into the feeder to get more food - but I did stick my finger to see if it was safe - and it doesnt seem to be much of an issue. Its a very soft plastic that dispenses the food. I have more of the issues where I have to throw away some of the old food in the bowl and wipe it down to get all the hair that falls in the bowl to keep it clean (Nikita is a long haired). The feeders computer is a bit interesting - but having a science degree and have taken EE classes - it seems that it works like this. 1. It gives you the options of up to 3 meals per day (morning, noon, night). When you go in to set it up - you enter the current time and you also enter the time you would like to dispense the food for each meal. I think where people are getting caught up is the part where the manufacturer could have made it a bit easier. On the right hand side of the display of what time to dispense the food is the option of "1" or "0" - or in simple terms - "on" or "off." Had the manufacturer just placed the words "on" or "off" - then most of these issues wouldnt be here. So decide it you would like them to eat 2x a day, 3x a day or only once and what time would you like that to be. 2. Then a lot of it goes with how much food you wish to dispense - and it only comes in 1/4 cup increments. Since I feed the cats 1cup a day - I cant use the 1/4cup increment 3 times a day - cause then they would only get 3/4 cup a day and might still be a bit hungry. So I turn on (aka as option "1") the breakfast and dinner and turn off (aka as option "0") the lunch option. The potion dispense also uses a numbering system. 1=1/4cup, 2=1/2cup, 3=3/4cups, 4=1cup, and so on up to I believe 9. You are only aloud to pick one of these options since the dispensing portion is separate from the feeding time and on and off switch - it cant dispense 1/4 cup in the morning and 1/2 cup at night. So whatever this is set at it will dispense that amount 1, 2 or 3x a day. In my cases - in the morning they get 1/2 cup (or #2) as well as at night - which gives them the 1 cup of food. This product runs on D batteries (4 of them) which it doesnt come with. The batteries that we have in there now have lasted longer than 2 - going on 3 months. Overall - I think it is a great purchase - just as long as we all understand that cats associate their feeder as God - so if they start listening to the cat feeder more than you - you cant get mad at them. : ) Excellent product On: 2008-02-17I ordered this for my cat and it is working out great. It is not very intuitive to program, but if you follow the directions that come with it it is relatively easy to program. I highly recommend this product. We are finally getting a full night's sleep! On: 2008-02-13I was skeptical reading some of the reviews about non-working timers, etc. But my lack of sleep pushed me into ordering two of these for our nocturnal cats. We were routinely being awakened twice a night for feedings. If we tried to kick the cats out of the room and shut the door they would scratch and meow until we fed them. It was a vicious cycle that had to be broken. Along came the Petmate Le Bistro Electronic Feeder. As of night one, and I am not kidding, our cats stopped bothering us. My only complaint about the feeder is the screwy timer and how you have to set it. We had to set the current time opposite (am when it was actually pm) because it didnt allow for feedings after 11:59pm. But, that really wasnt that big of a deal since it still works great. Weve only had it a little over a month now, but I am impressed! glad I bought it. On: 2008-02-11Once you get past the initial set up of the feed programming, this product is great. Give yourself about 15 minutes to set up the programming the first time. The instructions provided are a bit vague and you end up pressing buttons until you get the desired program. Watch it for a few days to ensure that the quantity etc, are what you intended. You will need your instructions handy to do this, so dont throw them away after the first time you program. So far the unit has worked like clockwork. The only imprvement that Id like to see made is to have the pre-allotted quantities come in smaller increments. Id rather feed smaller amounts more often, then larger amounts fewer times a day (as I am feeding two cats) and it is tough to do that when the smallest measured incrememnt is still fairly large. Overall the product has worked well. I like the amount of food that it holds. Enough food for a couple cats for about 7-10 days. Just long enough that you arent constantly refilling, but just short enough that you keep an eye on it. works well but a cat can steal food from it... On: 2008-02-10I bought this feeder about two months ago and it works great. However, I have a cat that loves to eat and is smart enough to figure out how to reach in to the bottom slot and get unlimited food from the plastic fingers. As a result my cat has gained quite a bit of weight and thus i am not using this feeder with her anymore. I would recommend this feeder to anyone that has a pet that does not have a tendency to overeat coupled with the tenacity to figure out how to beat the feeder. Works great, easy to program! On: 2008-02-10I was concerned when I purchased this considering some of the reviews. It works great and if you can read an instruction manual you will be able to program it with ease. Best of all, our cat doesnt wake us up at 4am to get fed anymore. Works Great On: 2008-02-10I have been using this system for several weeks now and love it. Works great and my cat hasnt figured anything out about trying to get additional food. I put an extra large stretchy wool hat over the container so the cat cant be teased by looking at the contents full of food and trying to figure a way to get at it. I bought two Ergo 8 day feeders previously and they both broke between 6 and 12 months. Those are more $$ and were less efficient. The cat would push the lid when it started to open and probably worn out the motor. I would not recommend the Ergo system, but would recommend this one. This unit also stores a lot of food, so Im not always filling it. works as described On: 2008-02-09Works great! I had no trouble programming it. Dog unfazed by it after only a day (he tried to break in the first day) Only drawbacks: Bowl would be easier to clean if detachable; also you cannot change the portion sizes for each feeding (we like to give a smaller serving at night,..) Does what it claims to do. On: 2008-02-09This product does exactly what it claims to do. Setting feed intervals and quantities is not difficult as some individuals have stated. The instructions tell you exactly how its to be programmed. If you are able to read, you should be able to program this device. The method by which youll program the feeder seems strange, but, just follow the written directions and youre done. Do keep the instructions though because youre scheduled program will erase when the batteries are removed or the feeder is turned off. Buyer beware... On: 2008-02-09Be forewarned about this product. The unit I received works and is accurately described. It is not too hard to program. However, if your pet has an IQ greater than a jellyfish, this product is not for you. As soon as my small-sized dog saw food coming out, he grabbed it and dragged it around the kitchen (if you have a big dog, this thing will be his next chew toy.) He was able to get the next round of food out of the hopper by sticking his Gene Simmons sized tongue up the chute. But when he realized the flimsy lid, which loosely snaps on the top instead of securely screwing on in place, can be popped off easier than a Tupperware lid, he just knocked it over and fed himself. The unit has a lot of design flaws that need fixed, especially eliminating the risk of a pet getting their head stuck in the unit. Overall... Very Good... On: 2008-02-08Great product, but like everyone here has said, its not easy to clean it, and the instuctions are vague. Good product On: 2008-02-08Weve had great luck with our auto pet feeder. Was easy to program, something like programing a watch. Our cats love to be on a rigid schedule so its working out wonderfully. best auto feeder I could find on market On: 2008-02-08feeder has meet and exceeded all expectations so far. I have been using the feeder for about a month with no issues. Read a lot of reviews leading up to my purchase and i have to say that the complaints about the setup of the digital controls and the complexity of the instructions were way overblown, only minor complaint is that the settings are not saved when either the power is turned off or batteries die, but I have been using the same set of Ds for over a month and they are advertised to run the unit for 6 months so not a real issue to me. I think people have become spoiled by Ipods and Graphic interfaces. This thing was no more difficult to setup than a digital watch. And the results are well worth whatever time is invested in setup. Food is dispensed on time and makes sure that our cats are well feed and happy since they know exactly when the meals are coming. A full hopper of Dry food in our case lasts for about 3 weeks with no issues. I am also very impressed with the level of customizations available with this product not only can you adjust the meal time to the minute, but you can also pick 1, 2 or 3 meals a day and the size of the meal down to the 1/4 cup! very very pleased with this product. Easy to set up On: 2008-02-07For $50, this is a nice setup. It dumps the food out no problem and is quiet. The only downfall is it runs on batteries. Ill have to see how long they last. If you have any technical knowledge at all, this thing is easy to program. I had it setup and running inside of 15 minutes. Works wonderfully & Predictably |