The feeder is no longer exactly under the top lid. You see 2x half a feeder. The cat cannot reach it. It has a close-fitting lid to help keep things fresh. It’s also fully pet-proof, but you could also fasten it to a wooden board for extra stability, in case your four-legged friends bump into it in their haste to arrive at their favourite food dish! Five large food compartments each hold 330g (3/4 lb) of food (or the equivalent volume of dried food) – enough for two cats or a small dog While we've pointed out some of the possible flaws here, it's definitely worth noting that the overall reaction to the Cat Mate C500 is overwhelmingly positive. Should you buy the Cat Mate C500? The Cat Mate C500 is easy pretty easy to set up, but some owners get confused at first. So you may experience a slight learning curve when programing it the first time. I think some of this stems from there being 5 storage compartments, but you’re only able to schedule 4 feedings per day.

Designed to be tamper resistant to pets, the C500 may be easily fastened to a wooden board for extra stability, if required. Home > Animals & Supplies > Pet Feeders > Cat Mate Pet Feeders > Cat Mate C500 Pet Feeder Manual Cat Mate C500 Pet FeederDefinitely recommend this as a feeder for wet food. Cat Mate do an equally good dry food automated dispenser for non-wet food. Depending on use, quality alkaline batteries should last about 12 months. A low battery indicator will alert you when it’s time to change batteries. Rechargeable and 1.5 v lithium batteries can be used but the low battery indicator will only work correctly with standard alkaline batteries. It's a bit pointless having the always open segment, which makes it a 4 stage feeder instead of 5, but being able to do 4 different days worth of feeds at 1 specific time of the day is almost unmatched in this sort of product category. After scheduling the feedings the feeder will keep repeating the same schedule, the same time every day. You don’t need to touch it again except for adding food or if you want to change the schedule.

The Cat Mate 500 is a carousel of delights for your cat. It utilizes a sectioned-off food dish, with space for five individual portions, which sits on a rotating mechanism underneath. When activated, the mechanism turns, revealing the next portion through the wedge-shaped hole on top. The observant among you will notice that this only actually leaves room for four covered portions, so the first feed of five has to be an immediate one. You can feel comfortable knowing your cat will be feed when you’re working late or need a weekend getaway. It can also help supplement pet sitters by reducing the number of times they need to come.I love this product. I'd be lost without it. However I've just changed the batteries and now it won't turn on. Any ideas? Thanks in advance. Other than the digital timer the Cat Mate C500 doesn’t really have any high tech features, but it doesn’t really need them. So there’s less to go wrong with it. Cleaning/Maintenance/Care This automatic cat dispenser uses a digital timer with a LCD display to program feedings. Although there are 5 serving compartments, a maximum of 4 feedings can be scheduled each day. The first meal compartment is uncovered and available immediately. All 4 programmed feeds are displayed on the LCD display so you can easily see the day’s feeding schedule.

Missed Feedings– If for some reason your pet doesn’t eat a meal before it advances to the next feeding, your cat will miss that feeding. This automatic feeder is primarily designed for indoor use. You may be able to use it outdoors in a covered shaded area but it won’t be able to keep the food fresh for as long, plus it may attract other animals, critters and bugs.Worthy of consideration if you need an automatic pet feeder that can be used with wet food. It really is the best option. If you don’t need 5 servings per day Cat Mate also makes a similar 3 Meal Pet Feeder and 2 Bowl Pet Feeder. I tried to set my new c500 before going away last week and gave up. Had to borrow a friend’s old and simple one. The majority of users love the timer, praising it for it simplicity, but some (conversely) found it slightly too complicated. No consensus there, then, but it does appear to work reliably. The mechanics, perhaps not so much, again depending on who you ask. A few users have found their C500s went a little rogue, rotating the platters incessantly or misaligning the food trays; some of these tales sound like user error more than any great fault with the hardware, but they should offer something to think about if you're planning to use this to feed your cats while you're away for a little while.

The price of this automatic cat feeder seems like a good value compared to other models with similar features. It costs more than a basic gravity feeder but less than feeders including more advanced smart WIFI and camera features. Also, those other feeder types can’t use wet cat food so it has them beat. If you’re able to use this feeder to reduce the number of times a cat sitter comes it will probably pay for itself after one weekend.Easy-to-use digital timer allows you to programme up to four individual mealtimes with one bowl available immediately. The Cat Mate C500 can be used with dry and wet pet food. There are 5 meal compartments that can each store up to 11.5 ounces of dry or wet food. This is enough for for most small dogs or 2 cats. Food is easily added to the storage compartments by removing the dispenser lid. You’ll want to be careful to not overfill the compartments as it may jam the rotating bowl.