Do you often have irregular working hours, have to work late or often fly overseas for short trips? Or do you have a vet-recommended diet plan that involves feeding in the afternoon, but you’re out at work or in school? With an automatic pet feeder - all your worries about feeding your pet are solved!
Why is there a need for a smart automatic pet feeder?
Our pet dogs and cats, just like us, need to eat regular meals. With a pet feeder at home, you can ensure that they are fed well even if you’re not around! If you do shift work, or have to be on-call for your job, we understand the frustration and worry that we are unable to feed our pets because of our working hours. And for those who have family members living with their pets, it’s equally important to have a pet feeder as you are able to control the amount of food fed, as well as automate the process of feeding daily. We know the feeling when parents and grandparents who absolutely adore our pet dogs, decide to give them giant servings of food because they’re worried they would go hungry. While we are definitely happy about the love they have for our pets, we also know it’s not always a good thing for our pets to be over-fed more than their required meal.
Here at Smartpaw, we’ve brought in 3 ranges of Pet Feeders: Basic, Premium, and Ultimate. In this blog post, we will share a little more about each range and their functions; and also help you choose the most suitable model for your use. Before we get into the specific details of the respective ranges, here’s a table comparing the 3 feeders.
Common features across all 3 Pet Feeders:
Type of Food
One common feature of all 3 pet feeders is that they all hold dry food between 0.5cm to 1.5cm. This means that if you ever want to switch from one model of pet feeder to another, you don’t have to worry about the compatibility of your food in the new model!
Food Storage
All 3 pet feeders also come with a lock mechanism for the food tank - ensuring that your pet’s food stays fresh and preventing the cheeky pups and kitties from trying to claw their way for some extra servings! The food tanks are all also completely removable, making it easy for you to clean and wash the storage area!
Power Source
One concern that we’ve heard from pet owners is that there might be a power supply cut, turning off the pet feeder. All 3 models of pet feeders that Smartpaw carries have a power source and secondary back-up supply (3 x Size-D batteries), so you never have to worry that a power disruption might affect the pet feeder.
Key Differences between the 3 Pet Feeders:
CCTV and Feeding Plan
After looking through the above comparison, the most obvious difference is that the Basic Feeder does not have an in-built CCTV, and you’ll have to manually set the meal dispense schedule on the feeder itself.
The Premium and Ultimate Feeders can be controlled remotely through Mobile App - which is also the platform through which you access your CCTV feed to spy on your pet cats and dogs.
Between the Premium and Ultimate Feeders, the latter’s CCTV is of higher quality and has Night Vision function.
Food Storage Capacity
The Basic and Premium Feeders can store approximately 4.5kg of food, while the Ultimate Feeder can store approximately 3.3kg of food. Based on your dog’s recommended food intake, we recommend that you measure the total amount required before determining the total capacity you need for storage.
Food Portion
The final key difference is in the food portions that each feeder can dispense. The Basic and Premium Feeders have the same dispensing limits - 4 meals per day, up to 10 portions x 10g (amounting to maximum 100g) per meal. The Ultimate Feeder has a much higher dispensing limit - 12 meals per day, up to 99 portions x 5 g (maximum 450g) per meal. The higher number of meals and lower weight per portion makes this good for cats who need to eat many small meals daily; while the large maximum portion makes it suitable for larger dogs who eat larger portions.
Understanding the Pet Feeder Specifics:
Now that we’ve gone through the key differences, this section will elaborate a little on each pet feeder’s features.
- LCD Panel to an input feeding schedule and portion size
- Voice Recording which playbacks thrice per mealtime to alert your pet to mealtime
- Up to 4 meals per day; up to 10 portions per meal; 1 portion about 10g of food
- In-built 720p high-definition camera with two-way audio and 130° wide viewing angle
- App-controlled feeding schedule, portion size, and camera live feed
- Up to 4 meals per day; up to 10 portions per meal; 1 portion about 10g of food
- In-build 1020p ultra-high-definition camera with two-way audio, 140° wide viewing angle and night vision
- App-controlled feeding schedule, portion size, camera live monitoring and notification updates
- The smart sensor which monitors the amount of food remaining in the food tank, and provides pet owners with updates if their pet did not eat the food during meal time
- Alexa Voice Control - works with Amazon Alexa to control the pet feeder through voice commands
- Up to 12 meals per day; up to 99 portions per meal; 1 portion about 5g of food
Which smart pet feeder suits your pet’s needs most?
After looking through the 3 models of SmartPaw Automatic Pet Feeders, you must be wondering which pet feeder is suitable for you and your pet. Based on our experience using the pet feeders, talking to our customers and commonly-asked questions, here are some questions to ask yourself when you consider which pet feeder to get!
Do you have a pet camera at home currently?
If the answer is yes, then the choice is simple! Since the Premium and Ultimate Pet Feeders have in-built cameras which you don’t need, go for the Basic Pet Feeder! You can use your pet camera to monitor your pet while you’re out, and the Basic Pet Feeder to complement it to provide regular meals for your pet.
Are you at home at fixed hours (regular timings) or do you have a flexible working/studying schedule (irregular timings, shift work, or on-call assignments)?
If you work or study at fixed hours (e.g. 9 to 5 pm), select the Basic Pet Feeder as you can manually input the meal schedule into the feeder directly. If you are often out at irregular timings, or often have to work late or take on last-minute work, then it’s better to get the Premium or Ultimate Pet Feeder. With the app control of these pet feeders, you can remotely control the meal plan even if you’re unable to go home.
If you often work the night shift, the Ultimate Pet Feeder has a night-vision camera function, so you can monitor what’s going on at night. If you have cats, night time is usually when they’re most active so we recommend getting the Ultimate model if you want to spy on them while you’re out!
How many meals a day and what portion size does your pet require?
If your pet eats large portions (over 100g per meal) or has specific portion requirements, the Ultimate Pet Feeder is the best choice as it can dispense up to 450g of food per meal and has smaller serving sizes. If your pet needs to eat more than 4 meals per day (e.g. we know some cat owners feed their cats 6 meals a day to deal with bloatedness), the Ultimate Pet Feeder can dispense over 12 meals which is more optimal.
Does your pet finish his or her meals in one sitting or does he leave it in his bowl and refuse to eat until you coax him to?
If your pet tends to leave his or her food in his bowl, we recommend the Premium or Ultimate models as you can monitor them directly through the camera, and communicate with them with the two-way audio function. The Ultimate Pet Feeder goes one step further by sending you notifications through the app to update you if your pet has skipped his meal, so you can be prompted to coax your dog to finish his food.
Does your pet dog or cat tend to get overly excited during meal time?
This is one of our recently received questions, which we think is good to share! One of our customers told us that recently adopted puppy is very excitable and eager during meal time, she would often topple her bowl of food. All 3 of our pet feeders are provide stability and weight on the serving plate, such that instances of toppling food will be very rare. If you have an overly excited and hyper pup who loves knocking things over, the Ultimate Pet Feeder has the largest base - lowering the center of gravity and improving stability.
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Smartpaw Pet Feeders are currently retailing at: Basic Pet Feeder $109 (U.P $129), Premium Pet Feeder $148.90 (U.P. $169.90), and Ultimate Pet Feeder $199 (U.P. $229) with 1-year local warranty. Order today and receive within 2 working days!
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