Customer Reviews

Petmate LeBistro Portion Control Automatic Pet Feeder, Black, 10 Pounds

5 star:		(201)
4 star:		(180)
3 star:		(95)
2 star:		(95)
1 star:		(142)

 

 

After looking around for an auto feeder it seemed like they all had some issue, but this had mostly positive reviews so I figured I'd give it a try. I bought two so each of my cats could have one. Unfortunately one of them did not work upon arrival so I sent it back and had a new one sent within a week. A few things to point out based on other reviewers problems.

1. Programming is quite easy if you just follow the instructions, it took me about 2 minutes to have it set up and ready to go.

2. If you attach the container and lid on properly your cat will not be able to get into it.

3. It will only take a day or two for your cat to realize if it sticks its arm up the food chute it can get a piece or two out but it's probably more of a hassle than your cat will want to deal with after a few tries.

4. If you are using normal dry cat food (which is smaller than the 1/2" recommended size on the instructions) the portion control isn't very accurate. I found I had to just set it 1/4 cup smaller than I actually wanted them to have.

Once you figure out a few of the quirks of this product it will work without problems. Both of mine have made my life much easier since the cats know I don't control their food anymore than just sit around until they hear the food being portioned out by the auto feeder.

We purchased this feeder for our small cat. Just received yesterday. It will dispense in 1/4 cup increments up to 2 cups, 3 times per day. It is VERY easy to program, unlike the horror stories in the reviews for the previous LeBistro models. We ran it through several test feedings and it completed this morning's feeding without a problem. The bowl/chute combo covers the hopper entrance very effectively to prevent a clever cat from accessing the food. A paddle wheel inside rotates to dispense the food, but the paddles are sectioned and made of soft flexible material to prevent jamming. So far so good!

The product description on amazon.com does not include the description on the box, which says pet food needs to be at least 1/2" in diameter... so when I tried the machine out, it fed WAY MORE food than required when using the classic, small pellet cat food (~1/4" diameter). The box photos are misleading... the feeder is filled with small cat food pellets! And you can only get down to 1/4 cup per meal... which means most average size cats could only get 2 meals per day, not more frequently like the box advertises.

If I had a dog, this feeder would be great. But I have a cat...

I read all the negative reviews on this feeder and I compared to all the other feeders on the market right now. Hands down, this is the best value for the money, even with its glitches. I used to own a pet sitting company and I have seen every kind of pet feeder there is. I used to wish for someone to create one like this Petmate Le Bistro feeder. Granted, it does need some additional engineering/design work, but until that happens or someone creates a better feeder in this price range, this one gets five stars. Here is the scoop:

The Pros:
1)Will feed 4-5 pounds of food!
2)Will feed three times a day at the exact time you choose.
3)Dispenses the portion you specify.
4)LCD display counts meals so you *know* your furry friend has been fed (even if they act like they haven't)
5)Food is not "hidden" (like some feeders) so you can see it going down
6)Removable bowl for easy cleaning
7)Quiet operation that does not "tip off" other animals in the house if the feeder is meant for a particular furry family member (yes, we have two cats and only one eats from the feeder, the other cat who happens to be a food hog is clueless about it, even after three months of daily early morning feedings to our "special needs cat"). Note: we have a big house with cats that tend to avoid each other unless food is involved, so #7 may not apply in smaller homes/apartments or with pets that are always together in the house.
8) Excellent Customer Service from Petmate.

The Cons:
1) Portion control is not precise (but I created a solution for that, see below and see picture)
2) Battery power can get low enough for the unit to cease dispensing food, yet low battery indicator does not come on and LCD still displays. This happens if you use low voltage D cells (some generic brands are 1.3V each). The unit needs 4.5 volts of power (1.5V per D cell) to operate correctly. Use name brand batteries and it will be fine. To the feeder's credit, the "meal" icon will blink if the unit does not dispense a meal, indicating the unit is clogged or simply under-powered.
3) If the unit were knocked over, it would most certainly spill food everywhere as the lid is not well attached. This unit might not be a good match for rambunctious pets, but fine for all other fur babies.
4) If you take the batteries out, you will have to reprogram some settings. It isn't a big deal, the programming is fairly quick and simple.

The Portion Control Fix! Based on a tip from another Amazon reviewer, I tried all sorts of funnels and plastic cutouts to try to limit the flow of food into the paddle wheel. The funnels/plastic plate/partial covers didn't work, even with the uniform shape and small size of Hill's Prescription diet cat kibble. The food would either get clogged and not drop down to the paddle wheel or it would just continue to fill the paddle wheel as if there was no restriction at all. What I ultimately came up with is what I call "saran wrap pillows" that are secured to the paddle wheel itself. Check out the pic I uploaded to see a detail of the "pillows" I created. You could use another material to "fill" the paddle wheel, maybe cut foam pads or other material. I needed to limit the portion to about 1/8 a cup of food at a time for our kitty. It took about an hour of experimenting (including the various "funnels") to get the right size portions, but I did it and my "pillow" solution has been working great for three months! Here is what you do. Get your saran wrap and a 20 inch piece of string. Start with three pieces of saran wrap that are the same size. Fold each piece into a long strip (to the same width of the paddle wheel compartment) and then gently roll to create your "pillow". If you need to cut your portion from 1/4 to 1/8 like I did, then you will create pillows that will fill about 1/2 of each section of the paddle wheel (each section of the paddle wheel holds approx 1/4 cup). To Adjust the size of the pillows, either trim away some of the strip or wrap another strip of saran wrap to existing pillows. Don't put them into the paddle wheel just yet. Slide one end of your string between the center "fingers" of one of the paddle wheels (this should hold the string in place, but if your string is too thin, you may need to double it or knot it so it stays). Use the manual feed function to rotate the wheel until your string is pulled all the way around the wheel and you are holding both ends again. Now place your first pillow into the paddle wheel and use the manual feed function to rotate the wheel one third. Allow the string to travel with the wheel and wrap around your first pillow. Keep loading your other two pillows in the same manner and then tie the string in a quick knot (that you can undo). Now test! I used a measuring cup to verify the amounts dispensing from all three wheel compartments. Adjust your pillows until you are dispensing the right amount and then tie your string with a strong knot (but don't cinch down or you will flatten your pillows and mess up the portions). It sounds complicated, but isn't so difficult. Once you get a look inside at the paddle wheel, it will make much more sense. Again, check out the picture I uploaded to the product description for a detailed look at my "Le-Bistro paddle wheel pillow". :-) Good luck!

(Updated 4/09, 2/10, & 1/11)
I was very happy with my earlier LeBistro feeder (although it took a while to interpret the instructions). That one lasted 18 months. I bought this newer model thinking they would have improved the programming interface. They did; it's easier! However, I purchased this newer unit on January 5th and it just died, on March 17. That's two months and one week that it worked.
The troubleshooting instructions identified the 'blinking Meal' problem as a jammed hopper. So I turned it off, carefully cleaned it all out, put new batteries in, and retested it. Nothing. When the feeding time came, the 'Dinner' light started blinking again, and no food came out.
The only way to regain control at that point is to turn the unit off and back on.
I do not have the original box, so I have no chance of exchanging or returning it. I won't buy another product from Petmate.
--> Update April 2009:
One more observation. I read extensive reviews on this product both here and on other web sites. One reviewer took his feeder apart. He discovered that the 'rubber band' that loops around the motor to turn the food turnstile had come off. I opened up my feeder, and half of the rubber band had come off of the mechanism on mine as well. Unfortunately, just slipping the band back into place did not fix my feeder.
I have exhausted all possibilities and am beyond my return date, so into the trash this one goes.
---> Update February 2010:
Final follow-up...I bought a Super-Feed feeder and am very happy with it. It is a bit tedious to set up (the instructions are VERY clear, and the web site even has a video of each step, to help you). This feeder is pretty bullet-proof. Not nearly as attractive as the LeBistro, but it will probably last me YEARS rather than months.
---> Update January 2011:
In case anyone is interested, the Super-Feed feeder is still working great a year later.

One of my two cats was recently diagnosed with a slew of food allergies. He was also referred to as obese during that vet visit. The result: He now requires expensive cat food at measured intervals and quantities during the day. The problem with that is that my wife and I work long hours and can't always be there when he needs to be fed, and if we leave out two servings, he demolishes them both instantly, which either leaves him hungry later on or requires that we feed him more than he needs which is hard on his weight and our pocketbook. This feeder has solved all of our problems. Even better, it appears Petmate took the negative reviews of their previous electronic feeder and fixed every common bug. This device is light, portable, VERY easy and intuitive to use, is not easily sabotaged by overly intelligent felines, delivers well measured (not perfect, but close enough) portions when it is needed. The bowl is removable for cleaning and it has an AC port. The only drawback is that the cord is a separately purchased item, but at least it's an option. I would recommend this to anyone, and for the price, it's pretty hard to beat.

I purchased this newer model of Petmate's LeBistro feeder last week for feeding my cat. Its performance has not been satisfactory. Feed portions are inaccurate and inconsistent, especially when using the small cat food pellets. One-quarter cup may be anywhere between almost nothing to as much as a half cup. There is also a design shortcoming that allows a few of the small food pellets to sometimes lodge between the upper lip of the bowl and the main feeder housing, making it impossible to remove the bowl without the use of a tool to remove the stuck pellets. This feeder is not suitable for cats; so I decided to use it for feeding my dog rather than tossing it. As a dog food dispenser, it is better. The larger food pellets can not lodge above the bowl lip, and measuring out the larger pellets is more consistent and accurate. However, there is a new problem with the larger dog food pellets: they some times bridge together completely blocking the hopper bowl outlet, resulting in zero discharge in the the feeding bowl. On the plus side, the electronic control is well thought out, reliable and very easy to understand and program. As far as how long this product will last, I don't know, but a look at the internals (plastic gears and tiny rubber-band belt drive) doesn't give me a warm feeling. Overall, I can not recommend this feeder, and have replaced it with another brand called Super-Feeder that I do like, and has been working fine. It is more expensive (about double the price), but well worth it. I will write a review on it also.

I had tried the first version of this product a few years ago and returned it after may cat was able to pull food out of it and it really did dispense too much at a time. I was curious when I found the redesigned unit at my local pet store, and thought I'd try it. Unreal - other than holding more food and being a little different in style, it's got the same problems. AND because it's so top-heavy, my cat tipped it over the first day, which, of course, makes it non-operational. Good-gawd. So back to the store it went.

I purchased this feeder a few months ago for my two cats. We had become slaves to their eating schedule, being woken up at 4 or 5am daily to feed them when they were hungry. We have an overweight cat, so open feeding is not an option. This machine did the trick: automatic feedings, taking us out of the loop. Finally, we could get some sleep.

After about 2 weeks, however, the cats figured out how to stick their paws up the chute & get out as much food as they want. The only limit is to how many times in a row they will tap the wheel before they get bored & move along. They like to do this just as I am trying to fall asleep, and the sound of the pellets hitting the plastic over and over again is enough to drive me crazy.

The packaging claimed that the feeder was "pet-proof" and could not be manipulated by the animals. I called Petmate to complain, but the lady I spoke to assured me that it was not that they made a faulty product, but that I have very smart cats. I assure you, ma'am, I do not have very smart cats (one got lost in a closet with the door wide open). She said other people with very smart cats had also complained, but that there was nothing she could do.

My husband is going to try to put a "door" over the chute so that they cannot access the wheel. Hopefully that will work. I really don't want to spend another $80 on a different feeder. I like everything else about this feeder-- the one major flaw, however, is the feature most important to us: portion control.

My wife and I wanted to leave our dogs in our fenced yard for 3 days.
The feeder failed on the first day.
I most-carefully read and followed directions (dry food only)
I found it easy to program.
I tested it before leaving - it dispensed food automatically just fine.
We left to visit family.
Upon return, we discovered the feeder quit working the evening of the first day we were gone.
It served 'breakfast' fine
It served 'lunch' fine
It failed to serve any food for the next 7 meals.
I am an engineer - so I opened it up and found a rubber belt had jumped off a pulley. Very disappointing.