PETLIBRO Automatic Cat Feeder with Camera, 1080P HD Video & Night Vision

I was hesitant to buy this based some of the negative reviews but so far, I'm very happy with this feeder! I've done a few tests to rule out the issues that some people have reported and I'm happy to report that I haven't experience any issues in my case. At first, setting up the network and installing software update would fail over and over. What is odd is once I walked away from the unit, about 10 feet, it connected to Wi-Fi instantly, and software also updated instantly. Somehow the cell phone in-hand interferes with the unit connecting to the Wi-Fi signal. I wish I had known this from the start. I was concerned that my router is in the basement on the other side of the house. I was able to connect to 2.4 Ghz Wi-Fi and the signal has never dropped so far. I have 5 Ghz as well but the router is too far away and there's too many walls for a stable connection. Besides 5 Ghz is over kill, video streaming works fine on 2.4 Ghz and signal travels farther and works better through walls. I have an AC timer connected to my router and ONT to cut power to both at 4:30am every morning for 30 minutes. This simulates a power outage and the Petlibro reconnects every single time no issues. I tested the backup battery by disconnecting the power adaptor and the unit continued to dispense as per schedule with the 3 D-cell batteries! However, it disconnects from Wi-Fi when running on batteries. This was probably by design to conserve battery. Disappointed as I like to see the food in the bowl and option to manually feed for peace of mind! I found an easy and cheap workaround that maintains Wi-Fi connection on battery power. I connected a cheap $20 4000mah portable USB battery, that is used to charge cell phones, into the USB port and then I plugged a USB phone charger into that battery. The battery is charged and powers the unit at the same time. Not all USB battery packs have this pass-through feature, and I was surprised that this small cheap power pack did. I chose to use a higher quality charger instead of the included charger as I noticed that the included power pack got a little hot when charging this USB battery. I then disconnected the charger from the wall outlet to simulate a power outage and the unit disconnected from the Wi-Fi for only 15 seconds but then reconnected. It's fully functional running on the USB power pack, stayed connected to Wi-Fi and enough power to run for 6 hours! An even larger USB battery will last at least 12-24 hours longer. Keep in mind this is only helpful if your Router & ONT are also on battery-backup/UPS so they are powered during a power outage. I have the smallest APC UPS for the router and ONT that cost $69. Also, the D-batteries are not even used until this USB battery pack is depleted! So technically my current setup will continue feeding per schedule for about 24 hours using both batteries. The unit apparently doesn't draw a lot of power, so I wonder why Petlibro doesn't allow Wi-Fi on the D-batteries or include a rechargeable battery instead of 3 D-batteries. D batteries are not cheap, they will lose power over time and are sold in packs of four, so I have a single battery left over. My USB battery is always 100% charged and ready to go so I prefer this setup. So far, the portion size is consistent and zero blockages. Then again, I am using very small kibble and set to 1 portion for 6 feedings. I need to dispense the smallest portion and feed more often as my cat throws up if he eats too fast or too much. This unit is great as my cat hasn't thrown up at all since, I bought this unit! I wish I could select an even smaller portion. Portion size is bigger when using small kibble. An added benefit of the motion activated camera is that it's also activated when my cat is drinking from the water fountain 12 feet in front of the feeder. I never see my cat drinking water and now I have proof. lol I have not confirmed yet that the low-food alert works but I will update the review if there are any issues. Some users have complained that you can't delete a scheduled feeding. Swipe left and it gives you an option to delete a scheduled feeding. So far, I agree with everything that is being said in the positive reviews and luckily not experiencing the issues in the negative reviews.

This is all plastic parts , so be sure to clean every day or every other day… after 48 hours, according to vital sips.com plastic generates considerable bacteria, if you wait beyond that 48 hours. I boil my water to make sure all bacteria is sterilized. FYI (Vital sips sell all metal water fountains). Note that the last little shoot where it drops into the bowl cannot be removed for cleaning so I wipe it with alcohol to remove bacteria —best I can do on that part. I also put any residual dry food in the oven to make sure it’s sterile when it goes back inside the system because it tends to spill out when you’re cleaning it. Reassembly after cleaning is a bit tricky— the compartment base and the food tank all need to lineup at the side notches shown for the food tank. You might have to fiddle some with the base so that it rotates clockwise into place. I always check the dispense afterwards to make sure I got it together right. “In the box” says it comes with a charger, which mine did not, though I had an old iPhone plug & adaptor on hand. I don’t wish to return it for a replacement because it’s likely to come the same way. Since I have one on hand already I have not deducted for that. Programming it was a little frustrating because the first item you put in is the time of day. If you toggle through any of that, then it was not obvious it came back for reprogramming it. I finally resolved that issue by unplugging it for a while for it to reset everything. (No battery in) The plus/minus key pressed together is supposed to reset everything, but it did not seem to do the time of day. Later I realized it’s possibly a blank input, so it’s easy to inadvertently toggle through that. To get to the change am to pm, you have to change the first number :ie 5 AM to 5 PM by toggling all the way around those first numbers. So it’s easy to make a mistake on the a.m. or p.m. setting. Except for that it’s relatively easy to program and the feeding numbers 1-6 can be reset using the simultaneous plus minus keys together. You can select one of the feeding settings to correct later, but you end up toggling through a lot of extra numbers. The instructions are fairly good, though it did not tell you how to change the a.m. p.m. and the time of day instruction was not very clearly stated. Also, it did not tell you where the unlock button is, it is not the one that lights up. It’s all the way over on the left side. I got this so that my cats would not cry for food at three in the morning! (Multicat household). It does WONDERS for that! Free feeding cats at night results in fat cats which shortens their life according to my Vet. And other health issues from overweight cats. So restrictive feeding is necessary to keep them at the right weight. But they get hungry at night when I want to sleep! Can’t say how long this will last I just got it, the hope is a year minimum because it’s rather expensive to replace very often. The company did throw in overnight shipping included in the price. This was the best feeder according to the reviews, which is more expensive than the lowest priced items. I did not want Wi-Fi connection because that often is the first thing to break on these type of devices. Simpler is better! I chose the black one because it was five dollars cheaper, and the time is very legible because of the contrast! Love that. This is just a fancy alarm clock with a shoot, and storage container; it’s surprisingly rather expensive for what it is… most electronics seem to be overpriced imo.

PLEASE NOTE: If you already have an ONLINE Petlibro account (which Petlibro says is for purchasing product only) then you WILL have to create a new account using the app. Doesn't make sense, but trust me, I learned the hard way. Beyond that oddity (which drops a star in this rating, as they did not mention that in any of their start up instructions) the product so far seems to be working well: + Build quality is good. Quality parts. However, the auger inside, which feeds the cat food through the bowl is surprisingly small and made of a rubber-like material. I am concerned that could wear out too quickly * Set up is easy (once I figured out why I couldn't even use the app due to account creation lack of info, see above). Just follow the directions, ALL of them, as the app walks you through. I had no problem connecting two of these feeders to my Wifi, which has both 2 gHz and 5. * The Android app is pretty good, until it freezes or crashes, which is too often. This tends to happen when you change any of the settings. * I originally had the "IR Night Vision" turned on but noticed that one of my cats seemed to jump away scared from the feeder once that night vision camera activates. I assume this use an IR light which, according to my research, cats cannot see, but apparently can feel due to extra heat receptors on their skin, compared to humans. I turned it off and there were no more problems. * By default, Two-Way Talk Mode is turned ON. I found this to be a problem, as when I was monitoring my cats while they were near the feeders they were startled and jumped back the second there was an incidental sound on my end. For that reason, I highly recommend switching to One-Way Communication. This can be done by tapping the Settings icon in the main device screen (looks like a hex nut in the upper righthand corner), then tap the Basic Function Settings item, then tap Talk Mode, then tap One-Way Communication. You will still be able to talk to your cat by holding the Talk button in the main device screen, so that sound on your end is heard by your cat only when you want them to hear you. Kind of like using a CB mic. * The notification feature is good and customizable. My cats and I are still in the "acquaintance" stage of these feeders, so i want to know which cat is at which feeder (and shoo the cat who is on the wrong feeder). * Note that this feeder uses grams to express the amount of cat food dispensed. That makes sense, as all kibble is different. Most bags of cat food express recommended feeding amounts in cups. So, you will need to find out via internet search how much 1 cup of your particular cat food weighs in grams. 1 serving on these machines is 10 grams. You can determine how many of these 10 gram "servings" should be done in 1 feeding. * Phone Battery-draining app settings: The instructions walk you through a procedure to keep the app always running in the background, as well as other settings which drain your battery. I get why they want to do that, but I ignored all of that, since my phone battery is 2 years old and is having difficulties with a full charge as it is already.

I have owned 3 Petlibro auto feeders. My first was not a smart one. I actually modified a 5 gallon bucket with a hole cut out to anti raccoon proof. It has 4 D batteries as back up the plug is usb connect that I hated for outside. NY weather can get cold other than not protecting battery compartments hit wet was able to save it . I later wrapped press and seal plastic wrap . That was 2020 for my feral friends I only fed 2 x a day when I believed the raccoons were gone. Hit and miss they were never able to open or drag it as I zip tied the bucket to the zip ties. My second ( not really sure if I replaced first unit and donated the one that had trauma. I bought a smart one for inside. They do sell a separate reg plug you can buy. I had trouble setting up the feeder customer service told me my WiFi was 5g I needed 2.5 and coukd adjust my router I’m not that techy. I did however have Verizon coming who accommodated me. I bought a camera one at same time but since so much stress with the 2.5 vs 5 or I had 2.5 and needed 5. Problem was resolved my end. The camera one I returned new with out opening and out a blink camera on feeder. It does get clogged it notifies you if no one is home you can’t fix except skipping or lower ant of food that is what gets blocked. I like the dish snaps on bottom with a lift and tilt. The raccoons could not grab dish . It will dispense whether dish is attached or not . I then bought a second short reg one for a dif cat in my neighbors yard she liked my set up. Used a spackle bucket. The larger the bucket at Lowe’s was $5. My inside cats I’m disappointed I can’t just buy a 2 feeder bowl and connect to my existing unit. I have read it won’t work on it. I will go in app and inquire. Amazon best place to buy because of return policy although Petlibro had final say they waited til the received item in where house for unit I returned it was not cheap and I needed it for bills. That took a few calls I eventually received it. I’m thinking of trying wet feeder. But not sure. I have one that’s not refrigerated my cats like there cat food soft and warm so it might be fine I can put it in my own. Ice pack. It’s just for a long night and the kitten needs to eat every 4 hours. Can’t say my big guy won’t eat his food. But not separating them little guy will eat whatever i guess older cat will get the kitten calories. Neither if my cats are heavy eaters grazing works with dry and big guy never ate wet but he since kitty devours. I like the brand at the time only ine with a smart app. There are much cheeer other company ones on eBay. Don’t over look eBay. Many people buy pallets from Amazon with various items so you get a good price. I prefer a item I have experience with. The outside one is in blue bucket I like to Mae a mout around bowl for aunt prevention. Inside reg set up.

DO NOT BUY THIS DEVICE!!!! At first, I was really happy with this product. It worked great, connected to my phone quickly, and the camera was useful and accessible. After just 3 months, however, it disconnected from WiFi and would not reconnect. I have tried everything—resetting, restarting, connecting by WiFi and hotspot. I even deleted the app and redownloaded. Nothing. To make everything worse, customer service is completely unreachable. What a waste of $130. Never ever purchasing again. You’re better off with any other auto feeder.

The Good: Hardware is easy to set up, the unit works reliably, and the design is esthetically appealing. The Bad: The app is a mess. Each time you attempt to access video on the SD card (which is sold separately, meaning you have to buy it, you own it, and you should be able to access the contents of your own device) the app prompts you to pay for a subscription. When you decline, and again try to access the SD card, you get ANOTHER prompt to pay to join. And this is on top of constant random notifications from the device prompting you to...you guessed it...pay for a subscription. To say the constant upselling is obnoxious would be a massive understatement. Three stars for functionality, but if I were to buy a new unit, it would be from a brand that doesn't engage in relentless upselling.

I rarely leave bad reviews, but I had to do this one. When this product is working, it is great. It feeds as needed, the recording works wine, all good things you would expect from a feeder. When things go wrong, expect to be let out to dry. I reached out because my feeder was dispensing so much food that it would clog the feeder. I reached out to support on July 28th and they were initially very responsive asking for various pictures, proof of purchase, etc. Once it was clear Tier 1 Support couldn’t help me, I was escalated to Tier 2 here I am one month later, without any response to my support request. In this time, they have had an app outage which made the app unusable and owners reported that their feeders weren’t dispensing. Very concerning when you don’t know if your pet is being fed, and you have no way to check the camera due to the app becoming useless. Since I started this whole support process, my unit has started to lose power despite being plugged in, and no longer writes to the internal SD card. All of the above, along with the spotty camera service makes this a hard pass for me. Shop elsewhere.

Okay so I have three cats that all need their own specific portions: 2 female kitties that could binge until they pop and a grazer male that has learned how to make the best of a feeding schedule. My kitties are conditioned to eat in separate areas of the house at 6 am and 6pm more or less. However, a new job for my partner and I has left us not being able to get home for their 6pm feedings on time. I had considered automatic feeders for awhile but as I have said, with 3 cats.. 3 feeders is expensive and I didn’t want to invest in anything ridiculously overpriced or something that wouldn’t work consistently. I did not need an app or any of that nonsense really. I already have cameras in my house so I didn’t need the extra gizmos and gadgets. I was specifically looking for: affordable, consistent portion control, something that can stand up to two very determined kitties and simplicity. PROS: You have the option to set up to 6 meals per day. Portion size works as follows: 1 portion is about 1/8 cup — this was consistent for the 10 times I tried it and will update if that changes. It deposits the food fairly timely.. It is rather quiet, not a whole lot of whirring and noise, my cats were completely unbothered but mine think anything that gives them food is well worth any risk. It’s easy to set up. If you were born before the year 1980 then maybe not so much but I’m a millennial and this was not an issue at all. If you could work a Nokia, you can work this. It’s easy to take apart. There’s two eject buttons on either side of the main tank that allows you to pull it apart for cleaning. It can use batteries or wire adapter. I like this feature cause I’m not willing to buy a ten pack of D batteries every few months no thank you. I do like the idea that if the power goes out however, it won’t reset everything since it had battery reserve. It is KITTY PROOF - my little bean has been messing with this thing since getting it a few hours ago. Let me preface this with she is a small girl, 9lbs. Tiny but mighty and never lacking in the determination department. She is VERY familiar with puzzle bowls and to her this was no exception.. however, much to her dismay she has been unable to pry it apart. Thank GOODNESS You can probably use other bowls for this if you slightly elevate the tank. Literally put a dictionary under it and slide a maze bowl underneath. TA da. CONS: There’s no extra gadgets like camera or WiFi app etc. so if that’s your thing this isn’t for you. Likewise, the voice recorder sucks. Don’t even bother. You may as well use a can tied to a string to get your message across. The user interface aka “the buttons” — this was annoying because it’s like setting an old digital alarm clock in that you have to cycle through ALL SIX FEEDING TIMES whether you’re using them or not to get to your clock/time whatever. This was mainly an issue for me while setting the time cause I accidentally set it to AM instead of PM, oops, silly me, that’ll be a quick fix— OH NVM I have to cycle allllll the way back through to switch that, if you click too fast then you gotta cycle again. How fun. This was the only reason I docked a star but past that, it’s fine. You can manually give 1 portion, I don’t think there’s a way to make it more than that, also it will still give their designated feeding portion even if you give a manual one so keep that in mind. I will continue experimenting with this and update if I find anything new or fun to talk about, enjoy the video of my kitty being very disappointed.

The machine is great, but night vision doesn’t work

Inmejorable. Puedes programar las comidas con distintas porciones en un dia. También puedes elegir cuando se escuche la grabación para llamar al gato y cuando no. No ocupa espacio y e fácil de programar leyendo el instructivo

I’ve been using this feeder for 2 years and 9 months, and it has become such a reliable part of my routine that I honestly barely think about it anymore. It is always there, working exactly as it should. But if I didn’t have it, it would make a huge difference in my day-to-day life. 1. Reliable and helpful for portion control: it has never let me down. I use it to give my cat two portions of dry food at different times during the day, and it has been really helpful while she is on a diet. 2. Important note about the minimum portion size: with the kibble I use, the smallest portion it dispenses is around 22 g. That works well for us, but it may not be ideal for someone who needs very small or extremely precise portions. 3. Beautiful and well made: it looks really nice in my home and feels very well built. After almost three years of daily use, the quality has held up very well. 4. Easy to clean: cleaning is simple and straightforward. I wash the food bowl every week and clean the food container about every six months. 5. Great camera and useful app features: I use the camera almost every day just because I like checking in on my cat, and the image quality is very good. I do not pay for a subscription, and I still get everything I personally need from the feeder. The app also has useful notification and customization options, including the option to turn notifications off. 6. Helpful customer support: I only needed support once for a minor issue, and they were very responsive. They guided me through the troubleshooting, and it was resolved quickly. 7. Backup power gives peace of mind: I keep it plugged in and also use batteries as backup. Knowing that it will continue dispensing food during a power outage gives me a lot of peace of mind. Overall, I would absolutely recommend it. It is dependable, practical, easy to maintain, and makes life much easier.

Nice and easy to use feeder, with camera that you can see through an app. Really nice to have feeder which has allowed us to easily portion control our cat which needed to eat slightly less. Camera feature is great for when you out of the house and need some reassurance your cat is still getting and eating it's food! Being able to easily change the portions and schedule is great from the app, rather than having to fiddle around with any buttons on the device. Does seem to occasionally go offline for a while, not sure if this is from software updates, but happens every few weeks

اسوأ شي خذيته الاكل ماينزل في الوقت وخرابيط مسوينه مانويل المفروض دايما وايفاي لان بدونه تتعذب وانت تضبطه سيء جدا جدا