We have three cats, each with different feeding needs and habits. We used to just leave food out for them all the time, which made feeding a breeze. However, over the past several months the situation changed for a variety of reasons. These changes turned our lives into a living ... One of our cats is young and active, but much too fat. We need to feed her a weight-loss food and limit her intake. Another of our cats is old, has a poor appetite and is much too thin. We need to mix in some high-calorie treats with her regular food to supplement her calorie intake and encourage her to eat more. Our third cat naturally maintains a good weight without regulating his intake, but he wants to graze throughout the day. If we force him to conform to a set feeding schedule, he is very unhappy and incessantly meows his displeasure. We tried to manually accommodate our cats' three different types of foods and eating habits, but were failing spectacularly. We were beyond our wits end trying to keep the cats out of each other's bowls and restricting feeding for one while encouraging another to eat any time she seemed to want food. Dealing with this was extremely stressful and time-consuming. We were so stressed out by it we were ready to send them to "the pound" (well, not really, I guess). Then we learned about these individualized Bluetooth self-feeding bowls. Researching this type of product, we found that there are very few manufacturers of these bowls, and their designs differ from each other. After watching sales videos from the manufacturers and reading many customer reviews, it appeared to us that the MiBowl had the better design. In addition, it was less expensive after considering features included in the MiBowl price versus other manufacturers charging extra for those features resulting in a higher net cost. These bowls have made our lives SO much easier. Unpacking the bowls upon their arrival, the process of setting them up and having to teach the cats how to use them seemed daunting. However, setup was actually very simple, and although it took some patience and time, the cats did learned how to use the bowls without an excessive amount of drama and stress. The teaching/learning process does require owner patience. How much patience depends on the cat. Our chubby, food-obsessed cat caught on very rapidly (go figure). It took the other two cats a couple of days of repeated demonstrations until they consistently remembered how the bowls work. We felt that one of the biggest impediments to their learning—and the only complaint we have about the MiBowl—is that there is a few second delay between the time a cat approaches the feeder and when the food door opens--it's not instantaneous. Given their minuscule attention span, a cat might lose its train of thought during the delay and turn away before the door opens, thus not making the connection between waiting and accessing food. Despite this, we heartily recommend MiBowl.
