PetSafe SlimCat Interactive Cat Feeder

All 4 of my kitties have easily learned how to get kibble out of the two balls. There are a lot of variations in making the adjustable hole sizes work, you just have to find the one that's "just right". I can hear my cats hitting it at 4am and that means an extra 2 hours of sleep (most of the time). We have ours inside low-sided plastic storage tubs (no lid), which means the kibble and the ball stays inside the tub. We have had them 4+ years and they still work perfectly. Highly recommend for chubby cats that get hangry between mealtimes.

I had a fat cat, notice the pretense. I purchased this as my second product of this type, the first being in the shape of an egg, which my fat cat hacked like a mad scientist with the intent of staying fat. This one though, it hacked him. He is forced to actually roll it about the house if he has any hope of releasing a particle of kibble. He does show me his distaste with being forced to work for his food (bold for someone not contributing financially to the household), but he doesn't scowl long because that's sweet seconds wasted that he could be rolling his way to the most succulent of kibble.

First off the directions are inside the ball. I could have used the direction to tell me how to open the ball! Dont twist the middle- you have to turn the tab on the top to open and fill the ball. No problem after that except that my cats could care less about this ball. One nudged it to get a few treats and then lost interest. Its a good concept, but finicky cats cant be bothered.

I love SlimCats as a dry food feeder toy. Easy to fill, and easy to set to large or small (large is nice for bigger treats, small is great for kibble). It's lightweight so easy for kitty to move around. It's also easy to hand wash thanks to the larger opening at the bottom. On top of this, I have also used it for other species for their dry food or for live food like crickets. Does a great job for those species, too. I will add, I have never given this to parrots or any other animal with a strong mouth or other good ability to destroy items. It's strong enough to handle being batted around, but I doubt it would hold up to a good chewing.

I bought 2 of these feeders so I dont feel like my issue is a fluke but rather a design flaw. The latch on both feeders that locks the sizing of the holes in place will not actually hold it in place. I can easily turn it and make the holes bigger simply by putting my finger in the hole. I have 2 males and they, with little effort, achieved the same with their paws thus creating a huge mess on my dining room floor. They lasted 10 minutes and are being returned.

I chose Temptation Treats to place in the ball. I may be doing something wrong but either no treat comes out or all the treats come out. I can't seem to get the hole opened to the correct place to have this work as described. My 1 yr old kitty chases it as he would any moving ball. My 4 yr old cat have no interest.

I like that it's an option to adjust the hole sizes, however, the little lock that controls that isn't very good. After one adjustment, it stopped locking properly. I'm still using it because my cat has yet to figure out that if he bats it around enough, the hole size changes. If you're using this for weight loss purposes, just be aware that the locking mechanism may be faulty and kitty might be able to chow down.

I have been trying to find a puzzle toy that interests my kitten and this was my third try. Third time's the charm it seems! He took a little while to get the idea but he was interested from the start and now loves rolling it around to feed himself. Sometimes he does it just for fun which means food goes all over the floor, but it's still absolutely worth it for the enrichment and entertainment he's getting out of it. If you're on the fence, get it!

I bought this for my slightly overweight cat to try and get her to exercise a bit more. Well... It sorta works? Lol. My cat has decided that instead of hitting it around the house, it's more productive to nudge it with her face and eat as she goes!!! Besides my cat being lazy, this works great! It slows down her eating and even just nudging is still exercise!!!

This is a great tool to have if you have a highly food motivated cat with lots of energy to burn or who likes to get him/herself into trouble. It definitely keeps the little monster busy for a little while. I like that it's adjustable, however, we are already at the most difficult setting and he already has it mastered after only a couple of weeks! It hasn't really slowed him down, so I don't know about portion control but for a cat who isn't rediculously smart and determined to eat everything in sight maybe.... I will say it has become harder to adjust the difficulty over time. Crumbs have gotten between the two pieces of plastic, making it not as smooth when adjusting the holes. Not enough This is a great tool to have if you have a highly food motivated cat with lots of energy to burn or who likes to get him/herself into trouble. It definitely keeps the little monster busy for a little while. I like that it's adjustable, however, we are already at the most difficult setting and he already has it mastered after only a couple of weeks! It hasn't really slowed him down, so I don't know about portion control but for a cat who isn't rediculously smart and determined to eat everything in sight maybe.... I will say it has become harder to adjust the difficulty over time. Crumbs have gotten between the two pieces of plastic, making it not as smooth when adjusting the holes. Not enough to be a real issue, but somewhat annoying. … more