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 Ergo Auto Pet Feeder, Large By: Ergo Systems Average Rating: 3.0 Total Reviews: 8 More Information Poor mechanical design  On: 2010-01-20We have had this unit for over a yr. The stirring arm (keeps the throat full of food) broke after one month. I took it out and now we just make sure the large bin is absolutely full before we leave. 2 months later the pin that confirms the bin has been installed properly (before allowing the feeder to feed) torn the plastic base. You need to take the bin off every month or so to clean it but that action causes the steel locator pin to dig into the plastic base and after 6-7 time, the plastic breaks. I had to disasssemble the entire unit and by-pass this switch. One of our 3 cats (I think he is actually a small pig with fur) has found that if he sticks his paw in the feed output opening and bats the feed auger he can cause the food in the auger to fall out. Unfortunately for the other 2 cats, when the auger feeds the next time, most of the feed cycle is required to refill the auger tunnel so only a liitle food ends up in the dish. I taped the lid covering the feed output which pervents pig cat from sticking his paw in but he now has learned he can just bat the cover and food will vibrate its way out. Most people would have thrown this thing away after 3 months but I found it a technical challenge (retired engineer ;>). The timer is a separate of the shelf unit which has a battery backup (a must have)and a lot of flexibilty in feed cycles but it is tedious to program. I am in the process of replacing this feeder because I worry it will break again when we are on vacation. Great for Me!  On: 2009-04-14This product does what many will not... hold a full, large bag of dog food, which is a necessity for large dogs! I used three of them in my kennel for my bull terriers. These feeders were able to feed a 50-60 lbs. dog for over a week without needing refilled! They are awesome. These feeders saved me an hour a day easily. They also allowed me to go on vacation. For the money, you will not find a better feeder for large dogs. Ergo Auto Pet Feeder, Large On: 2009-04-03!!!Absolute junk do NOT buy! The supplier only gave me in store credit return. My dog has play toys for the rest of her natural born life! This thing started jamming only six days after purchase. Tried another unit and it did the same thing! Avoid at all cost Buy the pillar perfect feeder $$$ instead. Ive had Pillar mine for 7months and never had a problem! And its steel unlike and the manufacture support was really nice unlike the ERGO junk! Works ok, but not for long. Very unreliable! On: 2008-12-01I bought the feeder and waterer as a set. The water bottle leaks at a glued seam at the top, which empties the water bottle. Im on my third water bottle in six months,and now my second pump for this waterer is dead. All of the water bottles had the same failure. The feeder worked OK but now is also dead after six months. I really tried to keep these things going since they were nice when working, but Im giving up. This feeder and waterer cost a lot of money to be so unreliable. I expected more that a problem ridden 6 months. I would not recommend buying this brand. It doesn't work well On: 2008-09-03I try to use it when I went on vacation. It only work for a few time. Then I have to ask a friend to come and feed the dog every day. The product grinds up my dog food so all the "powder" dog food got stuck at the bottom and plug up the machine and broke one of a piece of metal. Ill return it if I can. Works great On: 2008-06-16works as advertised. Really helps with with agressive eaters, teach thems to slow down and easy to control amount. Very Pleased  On: 2008-04-07I have two cats and would leave food out all day, until they both put on toooo much weight. Our vet decided it was time for a diet for both of them. Well they would drive me crazy in the morning to get up and feed them their reduced amount of food. Im an early riser but 6 am is to early even for me. So it was time for a pet feeder. I love that this feeder lets us feed up to 8 times a day at different times for different lengths of time each feeding. I have the medium feeder and its great cause we can go a month without having to refill. The only drawback is that both of my cats are hogers and the bowl is not wide enough to suit both of them at the same time. Only cause they are each trying to make sure to get their share of food. It would be great if there was some type of divider attachment. Thus far it has not over feed them or gone off at the wrong time. A funny side note is that my female cat found out if she puts her paw under the latch and pulls to have it slam back she can make a few pebbles of food come out. (smart girl) Not a problem, until the food jams in the rotor  On: 2007-12-14Ive had my auto feeder for 4 months. The first 2.5 months were bliss. The instructions arent very helpful in learning how to program the timer. Luckily, Im pretty good with electronic things and figured it out on my own fairly quickly through trial and error. Once learned, the system is easy to work, and actually very logical. I have one that has a tube, instead of a flap, where the food comes out so theres no snacking between meals. The problem started when I inadvertently setting the timing wrong. I got home from work to find the food bowl overflowing with food. At some point the overflow backed up in the dispenser and caused the motor to jam. I cleared it and after some poking around got it to work again. However, ever since, about every other day the thing jams up and I have to knock it around to get to start again. Poor kitty goes with lunch and dinner sometimes if I come home very late. I would design this much differently. I would not recommend buying one. There has to be a better engineered food dispenser out there. Works well On: 2007-12-12The timer is easy to program. The food spews out as advertised. Im not sure why this thing has any negative reviews. It has worked flawlessly for about a month now. Excellent product - worth the money On: 2007-12-11My husband and I purchased this Auto feeder approximately 2 months ago, and we are VERY pleased. Before making our decision we spent a considerable amount of time looking at numerous auto feeders and reading reviews. Though this one was more expensive then some of the others, it was well worth the extra expense. We have one 5 year old cat, who is very large (not fat) and he is also very strong, curious and intelligent. To our surprise he has not been able to break in or destruct the feeder in any way (we thought for sure he would!!!). He took to the feeder immediately, there was no adjustment period and he no longer wakes us at 4:30 every morning. What is especially nice about this unit is that the AC cord is wrapped in a very protective coating so he cannot chew on, which he has a tendency to do with cords. Also, the auger (the area that the food dispenses from) has been re-designed so he cannot stick his paw up there, which previously was a major compliant by others that purchased this product. The cover, I believe, has also been re-designed as he cannot get in to it and that was also another compliant some people had. I will say that the programming aspect of it takes some time but as long as you read the directions you can figure it out and they have a 800 number you can call for step by step assistance in programming (we did not have to call that number but it was good to know that option was available as some people had complained about the difficulty with programming). Another excellent feature is that you can program numerous feedings per day and also different feedings (time and/or amount) for different days of the week. This was key for us as we are typically away 2 nights a week. When home, we have the feeder programmed to give him a bit less dry as we also give him some canned food but when not there we have the feeder programmed to give more dry since he is not getting his canned food. Sorry for the "long" review but I hope this may be helpful to others considering an auto feed for there pet. I would highly recommend this product! We may purchase the water unit next! Well, it worked for a year.... On: 2007-11-19I had this feeder for a year. I immediately recognized that the feeder would not survive my kitties constant pestering, so I built a 6 inch platform on which I placed the feeder and then encased the feeder and platform. This worked fairly well, my more persistent kitty was able to knock out a couple kernels of food out, but this just meant she would go with a little bit less than she would have had later. For a while this worked out fairly well. My first complaint about this feeder is the timer. You have to read thoroughly through the instructions to get the timer to function properly. The setup is fairly convoluted where one could accidentally put the timer on a random setting (null and voiding your preset timer settings)fairly easily. Also the timers have to be out of the way of kitty and childrens touch, as one button will turn the feeder on and will not stop. Lastly, if you buy more than one of these machines, the timers will not sync up. One will invariably run a little faster, leading to a painful monthly reset of the timer. My largest complaint is the unavailability of parts for the product. My timer (due to a malfunction or one of the kitties hitting the release button) dumped the entirety of the hoppers contents (about ten pounds of food) right around the warrantys expiration (go figure), and jammed up the rotating auger, burning out the motor. Since it was a couple days out of warranty, I pulled the base apart and found that design of this machine is very simple. Get the new motor, replace a couple cotter pins and wire connectors, and shes fixed. Problem is getting a new motor. The company refused to provide a new motor (I was willing to pay for it), and stated that I could buy a new base at $75 (84% of what I paid for the entire feeder) or buy a refurbished unit at about the same price. Franky I considered both options a significant waste of both money and materials, when all I needed was the $5 motor (I would have paid up to $25 for it). I have tried to find the motor online, but I can only find it in quantities of 500+. Im going to cannibalize the working parts of the feeder and sell them on a popular auction site so maybe one or two others can salvage back their feeder. All in all the feeders a good concept, but the company has to accommodate the occasional need of parts to keep me as a customer. Ill move on to another feeder. best money i spent this year On: 2007-10-24my dog has a medical condition where she has to eat many times a day. now i dont have to worry about her when i get back late! thank god i found this product. i programmed it go off every 3 hours. so far it works very well! my dog is happy and i have less to worry about. oh i installed this product on a shelf about 5 feet high then easily removed the (removable) bowl, built a paper funnel so the food drops into a bowl on the floor. my dog can open the fridge and without the shelf could take this thing out in about 2 minutes flat. this solution workswell for us. im so glad i did this. ideal for dogs with medical conditions that require them to eat often. Vid Demo Works good On: 2007-10-18Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/RJIS193LGHDJ9 My girlfriend is a vet and says that cats should be feed twice a day the recommended amount on the food can. Open feeding leads to over weight, knee problems and diabetic cats. This feeder works decent. Positives include easy to program, different or same feed times everyday, ability to adjust amount of food easily, chew proof cord and it is quiet. Negatives include auger is easily reached by cat allowing about 10 extra kibbles to fall out if the cat plays with it enough. It only took my cat about a week to figure this out. I have not had any problems since its purchase and my cats no longer wake me for food at 3 am. I built a divider so the food goes into two bowls, one for each cat, and it works good. This unit is pricey but works well. The quality of the product seems cheap for the price, but nothing has malfunctioned. Definitely recommend to anyone who is annoyed in the middle of the night for food or needs to leave the cat alone for a weekend. Good... as long as you can tie it to something immobile! On: 2007-10-18The pet feeder is *great* in terms of giving me flexibility in my schedule. I no longer have to worry about getting up at 6am and coming home right after work. The "faucet" trick (where kitty cats can paw into the food outlet) has been fixed, but there is another problem. My cat has learned that if you nudge the feeder, food falls out. i would come home to find my feeder 5 feet from where it was in the morning (and probably 1 pound lighter!). I fixed this by tying it to my cat tree and placing a chair on top, but its pretty inelegant. ;) It also makes the pet feeder hard to bring to a friends house when I need a cat-sitter. Even with the downsides, though, I love have the ability to feed my pet exactly how much I want. I would definitely get this product again. Saved my sanity!!!! On: 2007-09-20I have had this product for about a year, and it has saved my sanity. I have to get up at 530 for work, and my cat would wake me up every night at 330 or 4 to be fed and would bug me until I finally got up at 530. Needless to say, I was not happy about missing out on 2 hours of sleep every night. I was at wits end, but I couldnt free feed him because he is overweight. I really didnt want to have to make a decision between me getting my sleep and him getting fat. So I tried this product. AND I LOVE IT!!!!! Yes, it did not take him long to figure out he can serve himself, but I did an experiment one day. I programmed the feeder to give him the amount I wanted to give him, and let it run naturally through 8 cycles (one days worth of feedings). Then I simulated a feline paw pulling down extra food after the cycle completes (with my finger) and did that for 8 cycles. Absolutely NO DIFFERENCE in amount of food dispensed. People need to consider....if the cat is pulling down extra food after the cycle stops, it just means that when the auger starts up for the next cycle, there wont be any food right in the end. So it will run for a few seconds without depositing any food into the bowl. The only thing a cat is doing is basically "living on credit". Theyre taking food from their next feeding, not giving themselves extra. I challenge anyone who thinks their cat is getting more if they dig it out themselves to do the same experiment I did. All thats happening is that my cat is deciding himself when he eats. If he doesnt want to wait for the 8pm feeding and wants to dig the food out at 630, well, whatever. If anything, this digging out of food might actually cause a cat to lose weight, because when my cat is going for it, hes on his back, his side, rolling back and forth to get just the right angle. Even if he did manage to dig out an extra kibble or two that he should not have received, I am quite sure that he used up more calories getting the food out than he received from his pilferage. HIGHLY RECOMMEND this product for any person who is tired of being awakened at 2am by a hungry kitty. I have not had any problems with this item and I am admittedly not as good on maintaining it as I should be. When it does finally die, I will splurge on the hundred dollars to get another one. Its well worth getting a full nights sleep and not having a fat cat from free feeding. Good not Great! On: 2007-08-20I got this feeder about three weeks ago. It is VERY pricey for the garbage they are turning out. They could at least make a better lid system with a smooth glide roll on/off action! Getting into it to refill (even if you didnt over tighten it the last time you used it) can be difficult. Mine is the newer model with the 4" long shoot. I have a very smart cat, and was nervous after reading these reviews that she too would use her paw to get treats. But I solved the problem accidentally:) I placed her kitty placemat under it (to catch crumbs) and there is a slightly raised lip on the mat, so since it is located underneath the bowl (NOT the body of the unit), it raised the bowl about 1/4" higher to the shoot, so it is impossible for her to get her paw up there. The opening is now too tight. However, the bad part is in leaving food out for animals 24/7, you run the risk of attracting rodents, so when we go to sleep at night an uninvited guest could visit and go in the shoot and take til its hearts content:( -This unit need to have a better lid system and an opening flap that opens only to let food out, and swings shut when not dispensing so that it is pest proof. Then it would be perfect! Automatic Pet Feeder is great! On: 2007-07-23It seems to be working well. I really like it, especially with the past experience I had with the Le Bistro, which was no good! The Le Bistro had setting buttons that didnt quite work well and the machine all of a sudden stopped working with the settings I gave it, after less than a year, no matter how much I reset it and reset it. Do not buy the Le Bistro, if you read this. But THIS Cat Feeder! The buttons are great, the setting is much more serious and "programmable", you can indeed program 8 different programs, and you can choose to stop using some of the programs and still keep the setting, so you can use them at a later time. I seem to love it. So far so good! Better pay the extra twenty bucks and get this one. Its great! Great product - Could be great with slight modification  On: 2007-07-16We have a fat cat who cant monitor his intake. Whenever we wanted to go away even for a day, we couldnt leave the cat and had to pay to have it go to cat kennel; however, with the pet feeder we can go away worry free for a few days. Also, you can set up to eight feedings a day which is nice because he can get a bunch of small meals and he doesnt bother us for food anymore (although he sits by the feeder alot). The problem is that because the horizontal auger (good idea) comes all the way out to the feeder whole. Even our cat (not very smart) was able to figure out how to jiggle the auger to get food whenever he wanted. We had to cover the whole and dish with some metal to keep his paws out. After getting it all in place, it works well, but the cats will keep trying so we had to try a few different things before we could ensure he wasnt getting too much food. Happy Cats, Happy Me On: 2007-05-15I have two cats, and the three of us have been enjoying this product for a month now. I initially balked at the cost, but has proven itself to be worth every penny. I have an erratic schedule (full time job, part-time student), and this product is a lifesaver. Programming: I could program this, but am not sure I could program a VCR. On schedule: They circle the feeders (and not pounce on my bed) when it is time for their morning feeding. In the past, Id become weak, and feed them early, so I could get more sleep. Then dinner would have to be early, and the cycle would repeat itself. Clever Kitties: The units are in separate corners, becuase they figured out (within about two days) that moving the units (the feeders are sturdy) will sometimes shake a couple extra pieces out of the unit. (I have the newer model with the chute). Another benefit is that it is easy for me to see when it is time to buy food. The units have a large capacity, so I dont need to take up limited pantry space to store big containers of food anymore. Also? My cat sitter can just make sure the kitties have fresh water and playtime, and it frees up her schedule a bit when I travel. These are priceless! On: 2007-05-13Ive had two auto feeders and one auto waterer for over 2 years now, and I love them! I do agree with one of the other reviewers that the auger cover is easy to break off. My indoor cats havent figured that out, but the racoons that try to steal the food for the feral cat colony I feed outdoors, have. Theyre all very easy to use, easy to clean and simple to program. Their website info is limited, I would like to know what this locking auger cover is all about. If they gave more information, maybe theyd sell many more of these. a few glitches but worth it On: 2007-05-02We got this feeder for one of our very sensitive stomach/ gobbler cats and it has been great since Ive figured out a few things- 1)sounds like the feeder has been modified so that the cat cant stick its paw and self feed which is exactly what it needed. We duct-taped a cut off half of a soda bottle so that the food comes out of the little end and the cat can at best get a few toes up there- not pretty but it works. 2)when we switched to a higher calorie dense food, the feeder did not work as the food was too heavy. It works fine if we dont fill up the feeder past about halfway. I thought that I would need to mess with it more, but really its been about a month and I havent needed to refill it. This cat was also a whiner and scream at us and hang onto our pantlegs whenever we went to the kitchen, and now she is much better behaved and doesnt try to beat up the other cats when they are eating their food. Stopped the gobbling and resultant vomiting too. If you have a similar difficult cat it might be worth the cost. They've fixed the dispenser-flap... it is more cat-resistant (04/07) On: 2007-04-21I read several reviews of this product before I purchased it. It arrived today and I was pleased to see that the flap (through which food comes out) that appears in the photos has been changed and is now a long covered chute. It seems like this modification will help prevent the self-feeding other reveiwers have commented on. Best purchase EVER On: 2007-04-12I love my pet feeder! Now my cat doesnt have to paw at me in the mornings to be fed and I can leave for a few days without worrying about feeding her. Shes on a restricted diet so this helped control exact food amounts, wonderful. She has figured out the paw under the flap thing but she hasnt broken it by any means. I think were both the better for having bought it. Make sure you clean and oil it! On: 2007-03-23I loved this pet feeder (I bought the medium size) until it stopped working after using it only 2 months. The company troubleshooted with us and we found food crunched up and jammed around the auger. We had to clean it and oil it as recommended. It never worked the same after that and within 3 weeks, the auger and twistie thing no longer turned. I have contacted the company, and theyve agreed to send me a new one. I will try to avoid this from happening again by cleaning around the auger every week, and I recommend the same advice to all who have one or purchase one. Pretty good product On: 2007-03-22Programming is a bit tricky especially since it dispenses food by time, not volume, but it is flexible and has worked well.Seems well-made. Not for the dieting cat.......... On: 2007-02-25I, too, bought this to deal with an overweight cat, and weekends away from home. Unfortunately, the cat quickly figured out how to help himself to extra food by tapping the auger with his paw. No, he doesnt get much with each tap, but I can hear him messing with it all night long, so I know he is getting more food then his diet allows. So it sits empty and idle in the corner of the kitchen....... To its credit, the device is sturdy and the timers many programs makes it versatile. It is a wonderful item On: 2007-02-24I bought this feeder regardless the negative reviews for my over weight cat. Some time my husband will feed him without knowing that I already did, and he will eat up everything in his food bowl. The instuction is simple enought to just follow the steps to program the feeder. However when I fist plug in the feeder to the timer, the food constantly drop. Then I realize it is on the "on" fuunction. I change the "off" and to "auto" the feeder works great. Later I use the "on" fuction to measure exact time and food drop to reprogram the feeder. My other cat love this feeder too, so I bought another one for her (they dont share food.) She is the one learn to paw out the food. I dont worry very much because she can only paw out certain amound of food afterward she can no longer get more, and it is her future portion too. She will not over eats food at all. I giver them smaller amound of food for 4 times a day. My fat cat lost 1 pond for 3 months and he still get 2 more pounds to go. I am very happy with the feeder and give 5 stars. If I could give it a ZERO I would On: 2007-01-22this thing is a waste of time.. first of all the instructions are not even close to how to work it,. .. after getting the timer to work (things like see page 6... there IS no page 6)... when plugged in all it did was give food constantly.. timer be damned.. its a horrid waste of two days... huge piece of junk.. DONT bother.. (the ergo water dispenser however we like).. Good feeder for fat dog by: Anonymous On: 2007-01-11 This item works very well for our Beagle. If we let him he would eat a 50lbs bag of food each day. It was our childrens job to feed him 1.5 cups of food each day, prior to this purchase, however, upon seeing the dogs sad puppy eyes pleading with them for more, they would willingly fill his bowl with two more cupfulls. This feeder has helped very much. The only reason I didnt give it 5 stars is because while we were gone over New Years the feeder did get stuck ON, delivering our over anxious beagle with a pile of food he was happy to dispose of. We arent sure if the problem was the timer having to change to the new year or if we had a power outage during the time he was to be fed or what. Before that and after that one time it has worked wonderfully and it is so funny to sit and watch him come to the feeder precicely at 5pm and wait for the motor to spit out his food. It used to take him about 1.2 seconds to wolf down his 1.5 cups of food. Now he has to wait and eat like a civilized dog...I think thats great. When the feeder is done, he will still sit there for a few minutes...JUST IN CASE another pellet is despensed and at first he would paw at it and try to stick his nose in the hole to reach for more, but now he knows its in vain. Anyhow, I recommend the feeder as weve had good experience with it. not worth the money On: 2007-01-10I bought this based on the favorable reviews on amazon and was disappointed to find that when you read the operations manual, this feeder only accepts a certain shape (round)and diameter of food. Also, our cat figured out how to self feed after 4 hours. So I dont recommend this product. Its not worth the money. Good feeder for fat dog by: Anonymous On: 2007-01-10 This item works very well for our Beagle. If we let him he would eat a 50lbs bag of food each day. It was our childrens job to feed him 1.5 cups of food each day, prior to this purchase, however, upon seeing the dogs sad puppy eyes pleading with them for more, they would willingly fill his bowl with two more cupfulls. This feeder has helped very much. The only reason I didnt give it 5 stars is because while we were gone over New Years the feeder did get stuck ON, delivering our over anxious beagle with a pile of food he was happy to dispose of. We arent sure if the problem was the timer having to change to the new year or if we had a power outage during the time he was to be fed or what. Before that and after that one time it has worked wonderfully and it is so funny to sit and watch him come to the feeder precicely at 5pm and wait for the motor to spit out his food. It used to take him about 1.2 seconds to wolf down his 1.5 cups of food. Now he has to wait and eat like a civilized dog...I think thats great. When the feeder is done, he will still sit there for a few minutes...JUST IN CASE another pellet is despensed and at first he would paw at it and try to stick his nose in the hole to reach for more, but now he knows its in vain. Anyhow, I recommend the feeder as weve had good experience with it. This worked well until my cats figured it out. On: 2007-01-04I bought this feeder because I travel a lot and have two overweight cats that overeat if they are left with a regular bowl of food. This product worked very well for the first month or so until my cats discovered that they could reach their paws inside the auger to get more food. They proceded to do this constantly until the cover broke off. I looked at the Ergo website to look into ordering a replacement auger cover and found they have products called a locking auger cover kit and a tube style auger cover but there is no real description and when I called Ergos customer service number I got someone who spoke like he was at an Indian call center. Has anyone out there tried ordering these parts to solve the cat food stealing problem? Small feeder silences whining kitty On: 2006-12-15Our kitty loves food. She learned within a day where the food was kept and to associate those strange big people with food almost instantly. Consequently, no matter how much we fed her, she constantly whined and screamed for food. She would make a bee line to the pantry door every time she heard it open or would lie in front of the door trying to stretch her legs as far underneath as she could to reach the food bag. We had to find a way to disassociate ourselves from feeding and do it before kitty drove us crazy. After much research, I concluded there is no perfect or inexpensive solution. I decided to try the Ergo Small Auto Pet Feeder. Positives: * This is one of the only feeders that allows you to program multiple feedings over multiple days and has a large enough canister that doesnt need to be constantly refilled. * Contrary to many of the complaints I have read regarding programming the timer, I found it as simple to program as an alarm clock. Really, I dont understand what the fuss about the "poor" instructions is about ... there are apparently lot of people who dont know how to program alarm clocks ... or, follow directions. * It works as advertised. I had the feeder programmed to feed her 1.5 ounces, 4 times each day, 7 days a week and functioning properly within thirty minutes of opening the box. * Within a few days, our kitty learned to listen for the patter of food hitting the tray, lost most of her interest in the closet as soon as we removed the food bag, and, mercifully, stopped begging us for food. Negatives: * It is NOT cat "smarts" proof. If your cat is remotely intelligent or moderately curious he/she WILL figure out how to shake or tap or paw more food from the auger tube. Our cat figured this out after ONE feeding. This design flaw could have been easily remedied by the manufacturer. Nevertheless, it is not the "all-your-cat-can-eat" exaggeration some reviewers have described. Unless your cat is a behemoth and pounds the heck out of the machine, he/she will only be able to paw out a few kernels at a time from the last twist of the auger. Which is a small price to pay for having a smart cat. Our gambit worked. She is learning to disassociate us from feeding more and more every day. Best of all, she stopped whining and screaming for food. Worth every penny. Personally, I am quite pleased with the Ergo Feeder and due to my own need to "fix" things that can be improved, I plan to build a box to house the feeder in that will solve the "buffet" issue. Highly recommended pet feeder for those on the go! On: 2006-12-07Versus all of the other auto-pet-feeders out there this is actually the most impressive one Ive come across, and so simple too! I use this with my cats. To describe this item: Its three units; the bowl, food compartment and a screw on lid. Pouring food into it is as easy as they say - never had a spilling problem - but cleaning the food compartment is a bit difficult. Im hesitant about pouring water into it with all the mechanical parts, and the top of the lid has giant grids in it so you cant put your hand in and wipe it out. Since its only dry food its not that big of a deal. For the bowl I normally just wipe it out with a warm cloth when grime builds up. The electrical chord is long, chew proof and very thick. This is a good idea if you have pets that like to chew on things, but I find the chord a bit cumbersome; too thick to tuck under something nicely and keep out of the way. How the system works: Simple. If you just plugged the pet feeder into an outlet it would run all day and all night dumping food for your very happy pet! But the system comes with a detachable, programmable timer that allows you to set multiple feeding times for all days of the week. You set the amount of food you want to feed your pet by selecting the amount of time you want the feeder to stay on; kind of like how youd program your house lights to come on when youre on vacation. Example: Monday - Sunday,7:30:00 a.m. - 7:31:10 a.m. This would allow 1 minute and 10 seconds of food to drop. You have to figure out how much that equates to in the brand of food you purchased, but thats not to difficult with a little trial and error. I personally havent had a problem with this pet feeder, except for the ingenuity of my cats. They figured out how to stick their paws up the little latch door and drag out food by clearing the holding section where some of the food is stored before it drops. My one complaint is that the makers didnt glue the door shut! I ended up constructing a mesh/wire barrier that allowed the food to drop out but didnt allow for the cats to reach up and grab it, but they figured out how to tug on it and get bits of food to drop anyway. This was entertaining at first, but then became a fixation that was quite annoying. Needless to say, if they clear this small section of food, this disrupts the amount that you programmed to fall by taking longer to fill before it dumps into the bowl. I offset this by programming a longer time. All in all its a wonderful item! I originally purchased this to feeder so I could sleep in on weekends. The disappointing side effect for awhile was they stopped getting excited to see me when I arrived home. Instead they sat worshipping their new best friend and barely lifting an eye towards me. I imagine they neglected to realize those first few months who actually filled that feeder whenever it went empty. Highly recommended pet feeder for those on the go! On: 2006-12-06Versus all of the other auto-pet-feeders out there this is actually the most impressive one Ive come across, and so simple too! I use this with my cats. To describe this item: Its three units; the bowl, food compartment and a screw on lid. Pouring food into it is as easy as they say - never had a spilling problem - but cleaning the food compartment is a bit difficult. Im hesitant about pouring water into it with all the mechanical parts, and the top of the lid has giant grids in it so you cant put your hand in and wipe it out. Since its only dry food its not that big of a deal. For the bowl I normally just wipe it out with a warm cloth when grime builds up. The electrical chord is long, chew proof and very thick. This is a good idea if you have pets that like to chew on things, but I find the chord a bit cumbersome; too thick to tuck under something nicely and keep out of the way. How the system works: Simple. If you just plugged the pet feeder into an outlet it would run all day and all night dumping food for your very happy pet! But the system comes with a detachable, programmable timer that allows you to set multiple feeding times for all days of the week. You set the amount of food you want to feed your pet by selecting the amount of time you want the feeder to stay on; kind of like how youd program your house lights to come on when youre on vacation. Example: Monday - Sunday,7:30:00 a.m. - 7:31:10 a.m. This would allow 1 minute and 10 seconds of food to drop. You have to figure out how much that equates to in the brand of food you purchased, but thats not to difficult with a little trial and error. I personally havent had a problem with this pet feeder, except for the ingenuity of my cats. They figured out how to stick their paws up the little latch door and drag out food by clearing the holding section where some of the food is stored before it drops. My one complaint is that the makers didnt glue the door shut! I ended up constructing a mesh/wire barrier that allowed the food to drop out but didnt allow for the cats to reach up and grab it, but they figured out how to tug on it and get bits of food to drop anyway. This was entertaining at first, but then became a fixation that was quite annoying. Needless to say, if they clear this small section of food, this disrupts the amount that you programmed to fall by taking longer to fill before it dumps into the bowl. I offset this by programming a longer time. All in all its a wonderful item! I originally purchased this to feeder so I could sleep in on weekends. The disappointing side effect for awhile was they stopped getting excited to see me when I arrived home. Instead they sat worshipping their new best friend and barely lifting an eye towards me. I imagine they neglected to realize those first few months who actually filled that feeder whenever it went empty. Great Product / needs better instructions On: 2006-12-06This is a heavy duty, well designed product. My small cat loves it. I love it. Now it doesnt have to bug me for food, and I can watch her weight. I have a couple of gripes. 1. The manual refered me to a needed timer programming page, which didnt exist. I guess that part of the manual was missing. They had the full manual with all instructions on an included CDROM, but I wouldnt have known if I didnt look. And nothing tells you how to look. 2. The top is difficult to remove and put back on, I guess this is good so your animal cant remove it. Your cat will GAIN weight.... not lose weight On: 2006-12-05DO NOT waste your money on this expensive piece of crap. My cat learned how to steal food from it within 10 minutes. I tried taping the cover down (as recommended by the manufacturer) and that doesnt work. She quickly figured out that she can still steal the food from it. It just takes her a few minutes longer. I bought this feeder to help my cat lose weight and it has done the opposite. Not Cat Proof On: 2006-12-02I recently purchased a medium ERGO auto pet feeder. After some difficulty in understanding how to get the timer working, the directions are poor and the the buttons on the timer are not correctly marked, I got it working. All went well until on the second day of operation. I went downstairs to check on the feeder and the cat. Low and behold the cat had inserted his paw into the feeder spout and was shaking out cat food pellets. He would eat them and then repeat the operation. I then put my finger into the feeder spout and was able to shake the feeding device and get out cat food pellets. Needless to say this was not what I was lead to believe in the product advertising. Failure to make the feeder cat proof is a major design flaw. My cat is no Albert Einstein, so this will be a problem for others. Ok Product - HORRIBLE Company On: 2006-10-12I bought this product 2 years ago and only used it for 2-3 months. When I took it out to use it recently, the timer was not working. Because it was past the one year warranty, they would not replace it. That, however, is not the biggest problem. This is a terrible company with horrible customer service. They have no idea what they are doing and are almost impossible to understand. The people who answer the phones in "customer service" dont even understand their own online system and keep wanting to call you back. Even though the product is ok (the cats can get a little more food out of it) I would strongly recommend staying away from this company. Great for busy people On: 2006-08-27Pros: I origianlly bought the larger food dispenser for my 2 cats when I went away last year on vacation. It made it easier for the pet sitter and I knew they were being fed the right amount. Working full time and going to school full time makes it difficult to always feed my pets on time. Now with this feeder, all my little guys are fed 4 small meals daily. It was really easy to set up & I will be getting another small one for my new puppy. Cons: Trial and error with food amounts (it dispenses based on time, not amount of food, which varies depending on kibble size.) My cats became wise to where the food comes out and broke off the cap that covers where the food dispenses from by pawing at it to get the food out (this was only held in place by small plastic pins on a hinge). I just taped it back on and it works well now, but the cap will not keep a cat from getting its paw under where the food comes out from. They only get a few kibbles, so it woulnd not be a big deal unless your cat has diet restrictions. The convenience of the product, to me, out weighs the small flaws in design. Does the job, with some modifications On: 2006-08-05Ive had this feeder for over a month now, and its working great - with modifications. First off - my cat immediately discovered how to reach in and get more food. However, she was not just stealing from her future meals. She could get her paw in far enough that more food falls in from the reservoir, giving her an unlimited food supply. I juryrigged a couple new covers for it. First one I ducktaped on to reduce the size of the opening. After a little consideration, she pulled off the ducktape with her teeth. So I decided to go heavy duty and attached a new cover with nuts and bolts. She can still stick her paw in a little to get more food, but not far enough that more food falls in from the reservoir. There have been no problems with the timer so far. Except that I had to push the reset button to turn it on the first time. The instructions were pretty crappy, but it was easy to figure out. So it takes a little work to get this going, and I knew this from previous reviews. Still, it works reliably now, which is more than I can say for previous automatic feeders I had. Im satisfied. A Cat's Best Friend On: 2006-07-28A really great product. Secret is in programming it to the schedule you want. Written instructions are a bit brief, but adequate to get going. The included cd is very comprehensive and walks you through all the options. Our cat has learned the schedule and is right there at feeding time. No more waiting til we get home or middle of the night meowing for food. Also, no more over feeding or trying to remember when he was fed last. My cats are too smart for this. On: 2006-07-27Bought this feeder because my cats need a prescribed amount of food daily to keep their weight down, and they need to be fed if we are out of town for a few days. First impression out of the box was that this is a very sturdy appliance, not cheaply made. The timer is very good, a separate device, and it allows up to 8 on/off cycles for a day. The cycles can be programmed as short as 1 second. Thats important, because to get the correct amount of food, I needed to program the unit to run about a minute every day. The cats figured out right away that they could pull on the plastic hinged cover that covers the auger and chute, and cracked it by the hinge. I went on-line to the manufacturers FAQ site, and found their suggested solution to this problem is to tape the cover down to the unit so the cats can not pry it loose. If the cover is replaced, cats will just break the new one. So, I covered the front of the feeder with lovely gray duct tape to outsmart the cats and hold down the cover. Within another day, the cats figured out that they can sit with their front legs stretched out into the bowl, and poke their paws up under the cover into the chute, where they can wiggle the auger and get food to drop whenever they want. The auger is intentionally mounted loosely according to the mfrs web site. My move. I found a small plastic bottle about the diameter of the bottom of the chute covers opening, and taped it on so that the cats can no longer get their paws up into the chute and access food. They now became obsessed with chewing off the duct tape to get the cover loose. So I went out and bought Gorilla tape, which is stronger than ordinary duct tape. Its been 1 day now and although they have tried to work the new tape off, they have not been able to do it yet. This feeder may work out, but it has been a lot of effort to outsmart my cats, and the mfrs solution of just taping the chute cover down seems kludgy at best. Just what the doctor ordered On: 2006-07-27I love it! I am a veterinarian and have some cats with behavioral peeing issues.... I have a very inconsistent lifestyle and they rarely eat at a set time..... With the ERGO pet feeder everything has changed... not only does my cat that eats to fast not puke any more , but the spraying has ceased. My biggest concern is that i am getting used to not feeding them that i have to remember to fill it! It works great! On: 2006-07-23Either were too smart or our cats are not too bright, the feeder has worked great so far. We were not so sure about buying this feeder after reading the reviews, but we need one since we will be on vacation, so we decided on this one and it turned out to be a good decision. My husband put the feeder up and programmed the timer. He commented that the setup was not the easiest but he figured it out eventually. After that everything works as its supposed to. The feeder spits out food on the scheduled time, not one minute earlier nor one minute later. You control the amount of food by controling the length of time you want the feeder to spit out food. Weve been playing with the length of feeding time so that the perfect amount of food will be dispensed because one of cats is prune to urinary tract infection and cannot munch on food all day long. The re-programming is very easy. So far were happy with the purchase and would recommmend it. DEFECTIVE, MANUFACTURER IS RUDE On: 2006-07-22I purchased this product through an online catalog company. When I received the product and set it up, it did not work properly. While I was gone, the feeder overflowed and jammed itself. The product no longer functioned because of the overflow. When I tried to contact the manufacturer, Ergo Systems, Inc. they kept telling me to re-set the timer. Even though I tried numerous times to explain to them that the product no longer worked at all, they refused to listen. Their customer service agents, Randy and Andy, were horrible and rude. When I called to discuss the issue, Randy said he needed to put me on hold, then I heard him laughing in the background. He could not understand what I was saying, and I eventually told him I would hang up and call back hoping to get someone more responsive. I called back and spoke with Andy, who also proceeded to put me on hold (just cover up the phone with his hand) and talk about me to someone else in the room. He said I could return the product but I had to send an e-mail first to get a return number. I did so, but then after six days of no response, I had to send them another e-mail. They finally responded that I would need to pay to return the item, and they would send me another feeder...but would not give me my money back. At that point I contacted the catalog company and explained what a horrible experience the manufacturer had put me through and they agreed to send me a prepaid return label and once they received the item they would issue me a refund. I would never again purchase any product made by Ergo Systems, Inc. or any of its affiliates. Best option I could find On: 2006-03-08I have two 6 month old kittens who were steadily becoming obsessed with feeding times. They would wake my husband & I up at 1am, 3am, 5am, etc. Therefore, I researched all the auto feeders I could find & decided to purchase this one. When first turned on, it did simply dump the food - however after some experiments with the timer it now seems to be working fine. One cat has figured out how to slide his paw under the door flap to grab a few kibbles, however as noted in other reviews, hes just robbing from his next portion, not getting extra food. While this was an expensive purchase I am currently very happy with it; our kittens are now used to the routine of the machine feeding them, not us. Now we sleep through the night & the machine feeds them at 4am. Overfeeds On: 2006-02-16I found this machine to be ineffective. It both gave my cat more food than I had scheduled for and allowed for her to "steal" much more. My 8 pound cat weighed in at 12 pounds after 6 months on this feeder. I am dispensing her food now and she has lost most of the weight. Good product idea, bad execution. It is Junk, But..... On: 2006-02-06With a little bit of work... Which you shouldnt have to do... I have had 2 of these for 2 years. I used to have problems with the timer locking on and dumping all of the food....I cut the cord off of the timers that came with the units and installed a plug. I then purchased a good digital programmable timer and used this to power both units. I never had an "over feed" again. My Smart cat also learned quite early that he could get food from the auger door... I made a shield out of Lexan that goes under the door to keep him from getting in. He then realized that he could use his 22lbs of mass to knock the entire feeder around and get more food. He doesnt realize that he is robbing from his next meal and seems to be happy with that... Kind of a game I guess.... These things were a life saver being that I had to travel for work during the time I had them... I didnt have neighbors close enough to feed them regularly.... If you buy them, be ready to "rework" them.... B JUNK. Don't waste your money. On: 2006-02-01Doesnt work. The motor isnt strong enough to power through the simplest of log jams. Dont rely on this thing to feed your cats while your away. It wont. Its a WASTE OF MONEY. Engineered by a dropout watching the timeclock rather than working on design. The instructions are clearly written by someone who is ESL. A real ZERO. Easy to use, and it helps me not to worry about my cats having food! On: 2006-01-09I have had this for about 2 months, and so far I love it. I have two kittens. So far neither of them had figured out how the feeder works, so they are not over-feeding themselves. But the feeder helps me not to worry about replenishing their foods every morning and night. So in the morning instead of scrambling to put food out for them before I leave for work, I spend that time playing a bit with them. I travel a bit, and using the feeder I dont have to worry about my sitter forgetting to put food out. It is easy to use. Its pretty much a food reservoir with a spiral dispenser, then the whole thing is attached to a timer which allows you to turn the spiral dispenser on and off for up to 8 times a day. It takes a couple weeks of experimenting to find out how many times and how long each time to turn on the dispenser, but after that its on autopilot. Smart cats aren't so smart after all... On: 2005-12-10Although V. Nagpal is correct in their review in that cats can reach into the feeding area to scoop out more food, the food they get is just the food that would have come out at the next feeding. Let me explain: my cat knows where the food comes out and she frequently sticks her paw inside to pull out a few more pellets in-between feedings. When the next scheduld feeding happens, during the first 15 or 20 seconds, nothing comes out, since she has already obtained the food that was "waiting" to come out. At the end of the day, she is still eating the same amount of food that she would have had she not been able to get at the bits inside the machine. Although it would be nice if this were preventable, it is still a highly effective machine and will not let your cats to overeat. Best on the market but not perfect. On: 2005-11-21After several days of research, I decided this model was probably best for feeding dry food to our cats. The precise timing in nice because we have a cat who eats too fast and throws up so we are able to feed her a few kibbles several times a day and avoid that problem. It also allows each of them to eat their own special diet food without trying to steal from the others dish. My cats also discovered they could get more food by slipping a paw into the auger but we solved that with a small hood made of sheet metal. There is enough room for the food to come out but not enough to get a paw inside. I agree that the company should design a better cover for the auger. The biggest problem weve noticed is that our cats have become very obsessed with food and will scramble madly to get off our lap/bed/etc when they hear the feeder. Overall this feeder has been much more convenient than feeding by hand and lets the cats eat when we are at work. Im not tripping over hungry cats when I get home from work. Our overwieght cat has lost weight and the other one doesnt throw up as often. Not Good For Smart Cats or even Kind of Smart Cats On: 2005-10-02I really wanted to like this feeder, as it has many great features (digital timer, large capacity); however, one of my cats quickly figured out its fatal flaw: the cat can get "extra" food from the feeder with just a little work. The feeder uses a horizontal auger with a locking cover, but does not completely block off access to the food. So, my brilliant little kittie quickly (i.e. less than 5 minutes after first being introduced to the feeder) figured out that it could reach its paw under the cover and knock out more food. As my cats are on a diet, the access to extra food just doesnt work. I called Ergo Systems, the manufacturer, and was sent a replacement auger cover, which turned out to be exactly like the cover that came with the autofeeder (so, no fix there). [I will say that Ergo Systems was good to deal with -- helpful, quick response]. Depite my attachment to the feeder, it is being returned as it is defectively designed and will work only for cats that either arent really tenacious about food (if you know any I would like to meet it) or are capable of handling unlimited access to food (in which case you really wouldnt need the feeder). Shoddy engineering - don't trust it! On: 2005-07-10This item was defective when I received it - it would not even turn on! I was forced to return the item to Ergo systems vs. the company I bought it from. To do this, I had to get an address and RMA # from a person who barely spoke English at Ergo systems. To make matters worse, the tech expressed disbelief that the item was broken, implying that I was trying to scam them. In the end, I had to pay for shipping both ways and find a neighbor to care for my pet during my trip. Even if the item did work, Im not sure its worth the money. The materials are bulky and seem unreliable. It looks like an undergraduate engineering student built the system out of parts he bought from radio shack and home depot. |
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