Feeding Royalty: The 6 Best Automatic Cat Feeders Tailored for Maine Coons

Our feline fluffballs seem to have a knack for waking us up at ungodly morning hours and pawing at us. It may be just to watch us get annoyed and amuse themselves, or it may be because they’re hungry. Or both.

Either way, mankind has found a solution to their devious antics in recent years – automatic feeders. To the busy corporate worker who works late or a parent of toddlers who can’t seem to find much free time, automatic feeders are a godsend. Just fill it up, and the robot will dish out the appropriate amount of food for the next few days.

This post critically reviews 6 of the best automatic cat feeders for Maine Coons, who seem to have never-satisfied and surprisingly huge appetites. We’ll also discuss more about automatic feeders, such as when it’s suitable to use them and why.

A Quick Look at the Best Automatic Cat Feeders in 2024

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Are Automatic Feeders a Good Idea?

The answer to this question depends on your specific situation. Generally, automatic feeders come in super handy for pet parents who have to stay away for long hours or those who can’t find the time to dish out many small meals throughout the day. It’s also a life-saver, or more like a sleep-saver, for owners with kitties that love to wake them up in the middle of the night or at the crack of dawn demanding food.

That said, automatic feeders shouldn’t be used for long vacations that you may be planning to take. Unfortunately, technology can’t be trusted so much that you can leave your Maine Coon on its own for days at a time, as devices can malfunction at any time, leaving your Maine Coon hungry.

Some say that cat feeders can negatively impact cat-human bonding, as it leads to cats becoming less dependent on their owners. This assumption isn’t true – cats need humans for playtime, affection, and companionship, no matter how aloof they act. It also helps if you hand-feed treats to your Maine Coon and do not depend on devices to do that for you all the time.

In sum, you can use automatic cat feeders daily, but you’ll have to keep checking up on the device to see if it’s working right. If you don’t rely on them blindly, they can prove to be nifty little devices that feed controlled portions to your Maine Coon on time without you having to be at home all the time.

The Top 6 Automatic Cat Feeders For Maine Fluff in 2024

1. Best Overall: WOPET 6L Automatic Cat Food Dispenser

Although there are dozens of futuristic and modern automatic cat feeders out there, the WOPET 6L cat food dispenser tops the list as the most useful in terms of features.

The setup is done through an app you can install on your phone, and the whole process is a breeze – the only requirement is that your wifi should be 2.4 GHz. It works with a USB C cable and power adaptor, but there are slots for batteries in case of a power outage.

With a 6-liter capacity and a kibble size range between 5-15 mm, you can program up to 15 meals a day with WOPET.

Where the app really shines, though, is that you get to have a lot of control over the portion size. 5-gram increments can be made up to 50 times, so you can set the quantity anywhere between 5 grams to 250 grams per meal, making it a great pick for overweight cats.

There’s a sensor above the bowl that prevents overflowing of kibble and notifies you in case anything gets blocked. The app also notifies you when the food level is low and needs a refill.

Meanwhile, the food storage lid locks securely at the top, and the bucket inside is detachable, making it a whole lot easier to clean. The bowl is harder to detach, which works in your favor if your Maine Coon tends to move around their food bowls.

It would have been nice, though, if the bowl wasn’t made of plastic, as it can harbor bacteria. Nevertheless, this cat feeder is quite a steal, as it’s about a third of the cost of some of the other smart feeders that are available.

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2. Best Budget: Petory F01 Automatic Wi-Fi Cat Feeder

When it comes to affordability, brands often cut corners with cheap materials and fewer features. However, the Petory F01 cat feeder isn’t just Wi-fi enabled with a backup battery function and smart controls, but it’s also made with high-quality material.

Featuring wifi connectivity of 2.4 GHz, you can easily program the robot to dish out up to 10 meals per day. The meals can be portioned into 1/10 of a cup or around 10 grams, so it doesn’t offer as much control over the size of the meal.

Even so, the overall design of the device is enough to impress. The lid is pretty airtight and locks securely, and can only be opened by two fingers. So no matter how smart your pet is, they won’t be able to unlock it.

The entire storage compartment can be twisted and detached from the lower section to be washed, and yes, it’s dishwasher-safe too. Most importantly, the food bowl is made of stainless steel, and the bowl holder can also be detached to be washed.

Alongside all this, you can set the meals to be fed at a slow pace, so the device releases small amounts of food every few minutes. You can also record your voice to lure your kitty towards the food bowl when you’re not available. Although the capacity of this cat feeder is not a lot (4 liters), it’s a pretty affordable and nifty little device that will let you be away for the day with peace of mind.

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3. Best for Portability: PetSafe Eatwell 5

If you’re looking for a more compact option that doesn’t require you to be so tech-savvy, the PetSafe Eatwell 5 automatic feeder will be the perfect pick for you.

It doesn’t need any complicated app configurations or settings, and instead, five simple buttons under the lid help you set up the timers. The device has five sections for five meals, which become available as the tray rotates over the day. Because of the way it’s designed, the first slot is always available immediately for consumption, so the device is only good for use for the next four meals.

However, each compartment is pretty deep and spacious and can hold up to 1 cup of dry food, so you can rest assured your large Maine Coon can have its fair share of food. The tray is also dishwasher-safe and made of BPA-free plastic.

Do note that it’s battery-operated, which will need to be replaced after every few months. Size-wise, the device is 3.5 inches in height, so it isn’t as obstructive and doesn’t topple over. It measures 15.5 inches in length – the size of an average laptop – so you can carry it on the go if you need to.

Because it’s not a hopper-style feeder, nothing gets jammed and there aren’t any chances of incorrect portions being served. Simple, easy to use, yet useful.

Considering the price point, it does lack ice packs, which could have been easily integrated into the design.

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4. Best for Two Cats: PETLIBRO Automatic Cat Feeder with Camera

If you’ve got two cats who need to be fed while you’re away, nothing does the job better than Petlibro’s 5-liter automatic cat feeder with a smart camera.

The two bowls it comes with are made of stainless steel, have holders that attach to the main device, and are big and wide enough to comfortably feed two cats. However, the capacity of this device is only 5 liters, which is a bit small if you’re going to feed two large Maine Coons daily.

Nevertheless, the camera integration on this device makes it worth the extra bucks. It’s 1080p (although it’s slightly more grainy than you’d expect) and is equipped with motion sensors, allowing you to monitor the area at a wide angle whenever your cats approach the device.

You get notified through the app when it happens, or you can watch the recorded video that’s stored in an SD card (not included). With night vision, you can watch your Maine Coon at night as well. You can also speak to your cats through the integrated microphone in the device in real-time. Talk about being smart, huh?

Petlibro’s app is pretty smooth and easy to use, allowing you to use the camera, microphone, and program settings with a few clicks. It seems to send prompt notifications about pretty much everything, especially if it detects your cat nearby. When it comes to assigning meals, it only lets you program up to 6 meals a day, which is much less than other devices in the same price range.

Design-wise it’s pretty solid, with the twist lid locking securely with an airtight seal. There’s also a desiccant bag at the top to keep the dry food fresher for longer, and you can refill the bag once it’s fully used. You can find a single-bowl, no-camera version of this device too.

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5. Best for Wet Food: Cat Mate C500

There are very few automatic cat feeders that dish out wet food while keeping it fresh, and the Cat Mate c500 certainly tops the list. For those cats that need to be fed wet food in the early morning hours or while you’re away for the day, this can come in super handy.

The design and operation are pretty straightforward, much like the above-mentioned Petsafe Eatwell 5. The device offers 5 slots, one available for immediate use while the other four can be programmed for later. The tray rotates timely, depending on when you set it. This can be done pretty easily using the three buttons and the digital screen. The screen is pretty small, though, making it hard to see the numbers.

Speaking about small things, the compartments in the tray aren’t very wide and hold about 11.5 ounces of food, so larger cats may have a hard time eating out of it.

That said, it has two ice packs that fit on either side of the device under the tray, covering all compartments. It does a good job at keeping food cold for a good 5-6 hours, but nothing longer than that. So it’s great for leaving wet food out for the early morning hours or when you’re away for the day.

The design is pretty sturdy and everything is made up of strong, BPA-free plastic. The lid and tray, both, are dishwasher-safe too. Keep in mind that the device operates using batteries, which will need to be replaced after a few months.

Considering the price point, there could have been more features in this device, or maybe a larger LCD screen.

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6. Best for Treats: Petcube Bites 2 Lite

For cats that have separation anxiety or those who wake you up at night for treats, the Petcube Bites 2 Lite is a reliable little device to dispense treats and keep your pet happy and distracted while you’re unavailable.

In fact, it’s a two-fold device that also serves as a high-quality security camera, but let’s talk about the treats first. With 3 guards of different sizes, you can dispense large, medium, and small treats, with the maximum size being 1-inch.

You also get to control how far the treats are dispensed and mind you, it can throw them with impressive force, which is great for dogs. Of course, all of this is done remotely via a super easy-to-use app. The setup is a breeze, and you can dispense treats in real-time or schedule them.

Now to the camera. The quality is pretty impressive, giving you a clear, crisp, and wide-angle view of your pets, even at night. You can turn on sound and motion detection through the app, and the 2-way audio feature allows you to talk to your pet as you toss treats remotely.

However, if you wish to have cloud storage or get smart alerts, such as when your Maine Coon meows or is around another human, you’ll have to avail a subscription plan for it.

The device itself can be easily knocked over due to its shape and design, but it does come with wall mount brackets for you to hang it in a secure spot. Another thing to keep in mind is that if you use smaller treats, the device tends to dispense multiple of them at a time, even if you click or schedule just one.

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