Closer Pets MiBowl Automatic Selective Microchip Feeder, Cats & Small Dogs

This pet feeder is great. The tag it comes with to open the feeder is quite large so I highly recommend using the pets microchip as a way to open it instead. With either option, it is easy to set up and works very well. The cat I bought it for loves it. She can have her wet food in peace thanks to the fully enclosed back and sides. She has no trouble eating out of it. It did take a little bit of work to get her used to it but she is also quite nervous. Her brother tries so hard to open it but often just resorts to licking the lid so i'd say the design works perfectly. Its honestly worth every penny.

Bought this feeder over 2 years ago to keep my cat from eating my dog’s food and it has worked like a charm! My dog weighs 30 pounds and has no problem eating at will anytime she’s hungry. The setup is REALLY simple, and put something favorable to your pet in the bowl and instantly my dog picked up on it when she came up to the bowl. The first set of 4 alkaline batteries I inserted lasted about 2 years. The bowl will stay open while your pet eats, and my dog will usually eat a few bites, walk away a few steps, and then come back. She has always eaten like that, and the bowl will open and close every time as she walks back and forth. But if your pet stays near it while eating, it won’t close until your pet walks away. The only problem I had at first was about after a year or so, the plastic tag would break where the hole was for the wire to go through to attach to her collar. This because my dog is VERY active, and she will vigorously scratch her neck a lot. But I found replacements on Amazon (I believe the brand is Manruta) and they work perfectly with the feeder and a 2-pack costs only $10. My dog’s has been chipped, but her chip didn’t work, most likely because it is outdated. The instructions say older chips with certain ID numbers won’t work. That was not a problem with my dog because she wears her collar all the time.

I have several cats and 1 is on Rx food for IBD. I didn't want to keep him locked in my bedroom 24/7 so I got this for him. It works perfectly and was very easy to get his microchip paired. I followed the training instructions that came with the feeder and my cat was using the feeder as intended in less than a week. He just sits in front of the feeder and after about 2 seconds, it opens up and he goes right in. My other cats have watched him do this enough times that they try to open it the same way and don't understand why it won't work for them lol I only have 2 small criticisms. First, I wish the feeder came with some kind of platform or feet to raise it off the floor. My cat is a big boy and it's a long distance from his head to the floor where this bowl sits. It's bad for his neck and can trigger his IBD to eat in that position. I placed the feeder on top of a box to raise it to the correct height for him. Second, it would be nice if there was a larger version available. My boy can just barely fit his head inside this feeder and it would really be better if he had some more space around him. It's a little pricey but I think it is worth it. It works exactly as advertised and has made feeding time easier.

I have two cats. One older, and one is a kitten. The kitten would drive the older cat off from his food and he was losing weight. I bought this in an attempt to keep the little one from stealing all the older cats food. When I got it in the mail, it was easy to set up. My cat didn't have a microchip inside him already, so I used the collar microchip that came with it. Just make sure you follow the instructions specifically on how to hang it around their neck. It does matter. I've been using this for a month now and it works great! My cat is able to fit his big head inside of it, too. I just had to take the plastic shields that came with it on either side off. It's quick enough to close after my cat is done where the kitten usually doesn't have enough time to get into the bowl. My only worry was that there's no shut off in case the kitten has his head already in there when it closes. But it's fast enough for that's not a problem for me. It's really easy to take the bowl out and clean it too. It leaves very little mess on the device itself. I haven't even had to clean it yet. However, it looks like it would be easy to take the cover off and clean it too. If you have a situation similar to mine, I highly recommend this device.

Update 3/17/25 - bought a second one! Saving up for a third! First one still works great! Door will still open for a while even after the battery light starts blinking btw! Really happy with this. If you’re looking for a locking food bowl that opens for a microchip, there are really only two options. This is the ‘cheaper’ one but it works great and the other cats can’t sneak around the back to steal food while the feeder is open. My cats chip is a little further back on her body, so she has to step in a little further to get it to open, but she figured it out right away. The bowl is quiet and a perfect size for what we needed. I could see this bowl being too small for a 15-20 pound cat with a chip between the shoulder blades, but the tag that comes with it should work well in that case. My girl is ~7 pounds and this works great for her. She likes to graze and starts eating socks and other naughty things when she can’t get a human to give her food. Someone commented that they felt the product was ‘cheaply made’ and the buttons were flimsy. I honestly don’t agree, I think for the price and what the product needs to do, it is quite well made. Something much sturdier would obviously increase the price of the product significantly. My dog could pick this thing up and throw it around/break it open if she wanted to, but that’s why we need to keep it up on a counter.

The Mibowl is a fantastic concept for multi-cat households, allowing for targeted feeding via an RFID sensor. However, the design has some long-term durability issues that potential buyers should be aware of. - Pros: Excellent function for managing specialized diets and preventing food theft between cats (when the sensor reads) - Cons: RFID sensor: The RFID sensor is located on the top or sides, which seems to work well for many cats. However, for three of my four cats, this placement is awkward. They either eat too low or approach at an angle that prevents a consistent read, forcing them to wear a collar-based tag for reliable performance. - Cons: Plastic buttons: After approximately one year, the thin plastic covering the operational buttons on the top of the device began to fatigue and crack. This may have been accelerated by heavy use (4 uses/openings per day). One of my four units now has a button that no longer function to close the lid. - Cons: Gear grinding: A second device developed concerning mechanical issues: a loud gear grinding sound occurs both when the lid closes and again about a second after the lid has fully closed. This suggests a potential issue with the closing mechanism's motor or gears. Summary: Of the four Mibowl units I purchased, only two remain fully functional after 18 to 24 months of use. While the bowls are essential for my feeding needs, the high rate of mechanical and material failure is a concern. Buyers should be prepared for a likely replacement within two years, especially if they have high daily use.

Reading other reviews of this product I'm kind of confused - it works perfectly. Obviously it needs to be used with the bowl it comes with? I'm not sure why anyone would try otherwise. Also, I guess do check what kind of microchip you have in your cat, but I will say my cat is six years old and was microchipped in the US when she was a kitten, and her chip works fine with this reader. I'm not sure it's accurate to say if your cat wasn't chipped recently it's not going to work. Anyway, on to my review - I bought this feeder 10 months ago for my older cat who is a grazer, because my younger cat will scarf down anything he can get his paws on. Set it up to her chip by just holding her gently in front of it til it read her chip and bam, it was going. I did not have to make her eat from her normal bowl in front of it first, or have to make her eat with it open and automatic functions turned off.. I just set it to read her chip, gently held her in place while she was standing in front of it with her head in it until it opened, and then she immediately started eating out of it. She walked away when she was done, it closed, and about twenty minutes later I watched her walk right up to it, wait for it to open, and begin eating again. No problems at all. Some cats might be a little scared of the noise, maybe, but my cat is usually quite skittish and she learned instantly and with no issue. My other cat has tried relentlessly to break into it with no success. I don't see how two cats could fit in it side by side. I don't even have the two side flaps that make the head slot narrower installed, and he still can't fit next to her. She's only nine pounds so unless they were kittens.. How? All in all, while the price is definitely outrageous, it works perfectly and as advertised. Unfortunately older cat now needs a special diet and has taken to snacking on the younger cats food. So, looks like I might have to buy a second one now, lol

This thing works how it’s supposed to! And no issues so far- 7 months in! However, I do have one of these and 3 of the SureFeed Microchip feeder as well. I will say i prefer the surefeed overall. This one’s main benefit is how enclosed it is! It would be very hard for a cat to steal from another cat at this feeder if you have a really intense thief. However, the other brand seems to open and close a bit faster, and the battery has been going strong for almost a year and this one has required one change. though that could be because the cat with this feeder eats the most and most often). This is also a great option and does exactly what it says- and it really depends on your cats needs which feeder is better.

Fonctionne très bie, facile à mettre en oeuvre et à programmer pour le chat concerné. A recommander

Se ajusta a la descripción. Mi gata se adapto enseguida a usarlo y he evitado los problemas de comida con mi otro gato que se comia lo que no era suyo. Muy recomendable

**EDIT** Now April 2025 time, and current updates on how the microchip feeder is doing. The microchip reader I can confirm works without the collar and recognises Jinx's chip. No issues with it, been using it everyday without fail. Only thing I took off the plastic "defence" guards as jinx didn't like it so much, so they are permanently removed. Moonie still can't access it so I'm pleased overall with the product. ------ I originally brought this to help my first cat (Jinx) who is a natural grazer help get her food as normal, without my other chonky cat (Moonie) trying to steal it. (He was adopted in the streets originally and takes any opportunity to get food including human food if he can find it. He still healthy and monitored by the vet before internet cat warriors mention about his weight in the photos.) So I have been trying to find a way to keep him out of Jinx's food but hard when you live in a one bedroom flat and have so little wiggle room to prevent him without him getting smart about it. I did find another similar product on Amazon but smaller and minimalistic design but costed over £100+. So I thought I would try it and see if it works out and test run it as nearly £80 wouldn't be as bad as over £100+. If the product would work with my cats. So far it's worth it's money. However I wasn't suspecting Jinx to take to the food bowl so quickly and learned quickly how to use it (She also 8 years old). I tested as recommended on the book to put treats in the bowl and she went in with confidence. So I tried registering her microchip (without the tag first) it did flash to registering her microchip. (Also did it with the tag and working okay with the tag better so far still early stages of testing it out.) As you can also see in the photos Moonie the culprit of stealing food isn't able to access it!! Woo hoo 🎉 The product itself is an okay size, it's not too bulky and the instructions were simple enough to follow. I did find it more troubling to find C batteries in shops for the product but got some in the end!🤣 Still trying to test out if the scan by just her microchip along without the tag as it mentions in the book. The product itself is a sturdy quality the noise is very minimal, little robotic sounds for the opening and closing so it's a bonus, didn't freak out jinx much , more confusion than anything 😂 The tray is easy to take out the food bowl and clean as it's plastic. I'm cautious of the side clear parts to take apart as it's still a bit stiff at the moment and I dinnae want to break the plastic. (I should also mention Jinx is used to wearing a collar/ harness which helped a lot for wearing the tag on the collar. But to folk who might have indoor cats that's not used to wear a collar often or at all to try and practice run or get used to a collar with a tag shape before trying the product out, just incase they hate the collar altogether)

I bought the MiBowl looking for a less expensive alternative to the SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeder (which was out of stock at the time of purchase). Some key points: 1. We are a 3 cat household, 2 grazers and 1 greedy eater. The grazers have shared their food their whole life and they're not food motivated enough to finish a meal in its entirety even when hungry. The greedy eater will eat everything that isn't locked up. 2. Programming the MiBowl was very easy, it took about 30 seconds in the training mode to get it to recognize the microchips in both my grazing cats when they came to eat. I wasn't sure that it had worked because the feedback blinking isn't really distinct from the other functions. 3. It has let the programmed cats access their food 100% of the times that they've approached the feeder - it seems to open sooner for the girl cat than the boy, but I think that is due to the placement of the microchip in their bodies. Both cats only took 1 day to understand how to get it to open for them - it hasn't closed on them unexpectedly either. 4. The greedy eater hasn't been able to break into it at all - he has pushed it around the room and tried his best to steal some food, but the feeder has remained upright without spilling. My one complaint is that the stainless steel inserts for the plastic feeder bowl (which come with an ice pack) are quite pricy for a single stamped piece of metal ($39.99 CAD). If Closer Pets could come out with a 3 pack of the metal inserts with no ice pack, that would be a lot more convenient for cleaning especially if you intend to put wet food into the MiBowl.

Det blev en retur. Maskinen var lite läskigt tyckte min katt. Hon ville absolut inte stoppa in huvudet vilket jag kan förstå. Sen fick vi inte den att fungera heller, så allt bekymmer vi hade med att mata katten var trots att den inte ens funkade och stod öppen