this post was submitted on 15 Aug 2026
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Its not hard to just put some food in a bowl. Not every damn thing needs automation.
It's actually pretty handy, and can be useful for portion control too.
There is no reason it should require a cloud connection.
Useful for those of us born without hands and brains.
There are situations in which this device helps a lot:
i don't have one yet, but we're planning to get one so we can go on overnight or even maybe 2-3 day trips without having to rely on someone coming around to feed the pets
The cheaper non smart ones work all by themselves, no cloud needed. They don't have an app to control it unfortunately though.
nice, that's probably what we'll go with, thanks 🙏
God forbid the user have to push a button on the device itself.
overnight is fine but for 2,3 days still have someone drop by to check if things are fine at least once. i read horror stories of cats being cats and landing badly from a sleeping spot and breaking a leg, or cats in a freak accident turning on the hair dryer which proceeded to blow warm air into the apartment for the whole night. and of course insanse stuff like that will happen when nobody is there to check in.
And if the power goes out?
I think that he means just put 2-3 days of food out.
If the cat eats wet food, that'd have spoiling problems, but I suppose that it'd probably be okay with dry kibble.
Some cats are psycho about food. Mine definitely, and screams at me for hours a day even though he knows when feeding time is and he still has food from breakfast. People recommend an automatic feeder because the cat stops associating the person with feeding time and bothers the feeder instead. I haven't tried it yet, but it makes sense to me and would probably work on the fat cunt
If you work long shifts or overnights, maybe your cats need food more often, so what do you do. Free feed, but many experts advise against that. Well, there are various options.
It doesn't need it, no, but it makes life a little easier. And in this world of constant demands on our attention and time, making our lives a little easier is a vast blessing.
When I think of accessibility, I find it plausible that it's not just convenient but essential or necessary for some people.