Le Bistro Food Dispenser

4 years on - still going strong!

I see the newest version of 'Le Bistro' (love the name!) has a wider bowl, so even better for multi-pet households - but ours is still as brilliant as it was 4 years ago, so I've no plans to replace it yet. Perfect for small regular feeds (cats' natural preference) or peace of mind when working late or away overnight. The batteries rarely need replacing and last for several weeks (or even months, depending on usage) after the warning light begins to flash. Excellent product and value for money!

Brilliant and reliable

I bought my 1st one of these feeders a few weeks ago. This feeder is so good I have now bought another one for my Rottweiler, granted hes on the smaller size pellets. I have binned my other feeders for this one, its absolutely brilliant and the design is great. The bowl is quite big, ideal for my dog. Now my Cats and Dog are all being fed on time daily

Brilliant

Brilliant feeder, ignore bad reviews as the product design has improved, the bowl cannot come loos the picture needs to be updated. Excellent value for money and very easy to setup

Doesn't work

Bought two for my cats. Both dispensers dispense food randomly. Sometimes double portions.

Very happy - highly recommended

Limited space so will have to be brief! The first feeder I've tried, been using for 4 months, I have 2 cats. PROS Reliable Does not jam V easy to assemble/programme Sturdy Great value The flap means that crafty cats can only tease out a few extra biccies at a time, if any, before getting bored! CONS (to some): Measurements not precise Only 3 feeds a day programmable Dish can be dislodged if not slotted in right (there's a nack) Brilliant for peace of mind overnight and/or small regular feeds.

After glueing the bowl in place it does it's job fine

We have 2 of these feeders for our 4 cats and always found the bowls detached from the feeder and one cat pawing around the system until food came out. The bowls are not very well attached and one of our cats war very good in getting them out. After a few weeks of frustration and no portion control at all, because your little 4-pawed thief will find out very quickly how to reach into the mechanism and let the food drop we just applied double sided adhesive tape to the back side of the bowls so they are now glued to the feeder. Now there is no room for the paw to reach through to the machanism and get more food. Doctored like this the amount of food is reliable and the time of feeding also is.

Good idea, but not reliable

I have two very clever cats and they have an owner who likes to go away for short overnight trips. One of the cats would - given the chance - eat a week's supply food in one day. After researching the internet on different feeders, I thought I would try this one, because it seemed ideal. It is very easy to set up and program and the battery lasts a long time. However - after one feed my very clever food oriented cat managed to break into it through the food outlet and the other cat soon coppied this behavour. Also, like one of the other customers mentioned, the food sizes are not reliable. It may just be the odd one that doesnt work, and if the food sizes were reliable it would be great for cats that can't get into it.

Unreliable serving sizes & easily defeated

We had really high hopes for this feeder with our new rescue cat - and hoped it would allow us to go away for a night without worrying about a safe food supply. We had no trouble with set up and programming, and initially we thought it was great. But we monitored food output very closely as we were home the first few days it was in operation. Very quickly we realised that the food output was erratic, and despite checking it closely, we couldn't work out why. As it turns out, the rotating food dispenser it quite soft (probably to prevent jamming), and doesn't always fill to the same level. Sometimes it was just a few pieces of food, sometimes it was the correct weight. And by day three we caught our cat with her paw up the spout, happily pulling out food. So there was no way we could leave her with it, or rely on it to provide a safe and regular food source. Fortunately Zooplus were absolutely super about it, best customer service ever, and a brilliant return policy. Now I just have a stack of D batteries lying around and no possible use for them.

OK but not great

I got this when our older version which we'd had for 6 months quit working and I do not like it near as much, but with 11 cats, we needed one. I have replaced the food tray with a ceramic one as I don't like my cats eating or drinking out of plastic and so now it is acceptable. The lid for some reason is hard to get on and lock, but that might just be my fiddly hands. It definitely will do the job for now, but not long term. I am pretty handy, but these aren't built to last and it is nearly impossible to repair if it stops working. The main reason I am giving this 4 stars is because it uses batteries and not mains as I do not have a socket where I keep the cat food and would not want to plug one in anyway as it would look untidy and be harder to pick up and sweep around everyday.

Excellent

I have 2 of the older model of this feeder and it is excellent. I had tried a different model but 1 of my cats could get the food out it whenever she wanted, she cant get the food out of this one. I've had mine for about 5 years and they really are excellent. The amount & time can be set to suit, up to 3 times a day, would definitley recommend it. I dont know about the new one but the older one has a input for a power adaptor,i bought a universal one for mine & only have batteries in as a back up in case of power cuts.

Good but not for clever food orientated cats!

Bought this to feed our cat at regular times as we work shifts. Unfortunately he can get his paw up through the entry door and pull food down so isn't very effective for giving specific amounts of food. As he's prone to weight gain I don't want him to get more than he should so will be returning this and looking at a different type of automatic feeder. However, if your pet isn't quite so persistent I can see this being great as you don't have to refill very often.

Great!

We use this for our 11 cats and while it hasn't helped the larger ones lose weight really, it's become invaluable to us. The only draw back I'd say is the plastic part that holds the food could be much more rigid, but it hasn't broken or anything.

Also suitable for rabbits

I've been looking for a way to feed my rabbits if I am away over the weekend so that I don't always have to find a rabbit sitter. And now I have discovered Le Bistro and it works brilliantly. It delivers the food on time and is quiet so my rabbits like it. (I tried a different brand and it was far too loud.) Rabbits don't appreciate it if things are too loud. This one works really well and they understand that they can't get the food out. They have to wait. Am feeding them Cuni which they like. The only drawback is that the total amount you can fill into the feeder is perhaps too little for two big rabbits so I only give them a half portion in the mornings. They always have hay so there's plenty to eat. The feeding section is the right height for my rabbits but could be a bit high for dwarf rabbits. I have put the feeder in a sheltered area so it does not get wet. It does need room because it is quite large. Let's see how long it lasts. I have a good impression and it's easy to programme.