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Most Popular Products
Petmate Le Bistro Portion Control Automatic Feeder
Handles full range of kibble sizes and shapesSimple to programDispenses food at three selected times a day
Average Customer Rating:
out of
5
(21 Reviews)11 of 21(52%)customers would recommend this product to a friend.
Customer Reviews for Petmate Le Bistro Portion Control Automatic Feeder
Overall Rating:
out of
5
(based on 21 reviews)
Written By: MydogSky
Food stuck in paddles
Date: November 8, 2009
"Medium to small chunks of food jam delivery paddles. Sky, my Aust. Cattle Dog loves it when food is delivered, but the system is not trustworthy to leave alone with my dog."
Review 2 for Petmate Le Bistro Portion Control Automatic Feeder
Overall Rating:
out of
5
(based on 21 reviews)
Written By: rsmith
Doesn't work long
Date: July 2, 2009
"I purchased three of these a few months ago. I had problems immediately with two of them. One came without a piece to hold the backup battery and the other wouldn't feed at all. They replaced both of those and now all three of them do not feed. I have to stick my hand up in the feeder to release the food. What's the point of having an automatic feeder if you have to manually release the food anyway. Do not buy."
Review 3 for Petmate Le Bistro Portion Control Automatic Feeder
Overall Rating:
out of
5
(based on 21 reviews)
Written By: mrdvm
Not for smart food-loving cats
Date: June 3, 2009
"I had purchased this product to feed my cat while on short vacations. Initially I liked the product, but after an initial testing period of 2 days my cat learned how to reach up into the dispenser to get to the food. Therefore, if you cat has smarts and is food oriented this product is NOT for you."
Review 4 for Petmate Le Bistro Portion Control Automatic Feeder
Overall Rating:
out of
5
(based on 21 reviews)
Written By: Yaz66
It's the best thing ever !!!
Date: May 21, 2009
"I was fortunate enough to get two of the newest Le Bistro Automatic feeders (5lb).
The company sure listened to the complaints of commenters from 2006 -2008 and made improvements.
1) The unit now has the option to use an adaptor instead of batteries if you wish.
2)You can program different amounts of meals to be served during the day (I serve my 3 cats 1/4 cup for breakfast and 1/2 cup for dinner).
3)You dont need to reprogram the unit after replacing batteries; per the manual (I have not had to do this yet because my batteries are still going strong).
4)When I first got the units I thought the programming was going to be difficult from what past consumers had said; but it was so simple to program. It took me less than 3 minutes to program one unit (and that was with only looking in the manual on how to clear the amounts served and how to bring up the breakfast, lunch and dinner menu). I dont know why past consumers had such difficulty but I'll give them the benefit of figuring that the company made the programming much more simpler because if they didnt make any improvements, then these people better stay away from anything electronic that needs to be programmed because it couldnt get any easier.
5)I did follow the recommendation of a couple of people who said they had to cut a circle out of a paper plate to have less food dispensed. The maual does clearly state that the amount of food dispensed depends on the size of the food. One of my units has kibble that is approx. 1/2" and does serve 1/4 cup of food exactly (I measured just to see). The other unit has kibble that's approx. 1/4" and the unit served between 1/4 to 3/8 of a cups. So I cut a circle out of a paper plate to fit between the hopper and the wheel that serves the food. I was lucky and on my first attempt, the circle was large enough to serve only 1/4 cup of food. The unit does cough up a few extra kibble (5 - 10 extra pieces) that comes from the wheel but not enough to make any difference.
6)I found the machine to be very quite. The only noise you hear is the food comming out into the bowl.
7)The only thing about the unit I dont like is the cheap plastic used for the hopper. When I close the lid or turn the hopper to lock it into place, I'm sometimes feel that I may crush the plastic.
I would highly recommend this feeder to other people."
Review 5 for Petmate Le Bistro Portion Control Automatic Feeder
Overall Rating:
out of
5
(based on 21 reviews)
Written By: JLWR
Not reliable
Date: May 6, 2009
"Worked okay for 9 months, except cat could get extra food by reaching in and pulling out. Now it only dispenses every 1 out of 4 feedings. We are having to constantly check it, and often manually feed. Don't know what we are going to do come vacation time. For $85, it was definitely not worth the money."
Review 6 for Petmate Le Bistro Portion Control Automatic Feeder
Overall Rating:
out of
5
(based on 21 reviews)
Written By: Catgrrl
Not Cat Proof!
Date: April 19, 2009
"This worked well until my cat figured out how to get as much food as he wanted out of it. He reached up inside the chute and tore the rubber strips off the dispenser. The machine is destroyed, and I can't find any way to have it repaired, so I'm faced with adding a hunk of plastic to a landfill or keeping it in the basement forever."
Review 7 for Petmate Le Bistro Portion Control Automatic Feeder
Overall Rating:
out of
5
(based on 21 reviews)
Written By: Bing707
I LOVE THIS PRODUCT!
Date: April 1, 2009
"I have had this product for almost 1 year and it has worked perfectly. It took me ten min. to set up, and it has made my life soooooo much easier! It not only allows my cat to be on a perfect feeding schedule with not worries to me but it also made my cat disassociate me with his food, so he never wakes me up to feed him!"
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Review 8 for Petmate Le Bistro Portion Control Automatic Feeder
Overall Rating:
out of
5
(based on 21 reviews)
Written By: quatrogatos
Piece of Junk
Date: March 30, 2009
"This worked for about 48 hours and then the entire unit failed. Probably bad internal electronics. I changed batteries, reset them, there was absolutely no display. The thing literally was an expensive piece of junk. I am so glad I was watching to see how it performed before it depended on it or my cats would have starved. Don't waste your money!"
Review 9 for Petmate Le Bistro Portion Control Automatic Feeder
Overall Rating:
out of
5
(based on 21 reviews)
Written By: akmalamute
Good at first...
Date: March 6, 2009
"We enjoyed the 5lbs. feeder for the first 7 months. Our only gripe with it was that you couldn't save the settings when turning it off, then turning it back on and you had to re-set it each time. At that point we would have recommended it. But after 7 months, the feeder stopped dispensing the food in the set amount. Our dog was getting fed but it was only a very small portion. Instead of feeding 2.5 cups, it only dispensed out .5 cups. Big difference."
Review 10 for Petmate Le Bistro Portion Control Automatic Feeder
Overall Rating:
out of
5
(based on 21 reviews)
Written By: whodoneit
Feeder
Date: January 27, 2009
"Had it 4 months now. Use Science Diet. Holds a full bag. I have 2 cats, and set it to feed twice a day. Easy to clean the bowl. Still using original batteries, but if you need to replace batteries it needs to be turned upside down, so you need to take off bowl to prevent food from spilling all over. Should redesign battery location. Wtherwise, a great thing to have."
Review 11 for Petmate Le Bistro Portion Control Automatic Feeder
Overall Rating:
out of
5
(based on 21 reviews)
Written By: dmbfan
Stopped working
Date: January 21, 2009
"I purchased this product because I figured it would be perfect for when I am out of town for the weekend. After working fine for about 2 months, it just plain failed. Unfortunately this happened during a period when I had left for 3 days, and my cat did not get fed because of product malfunction. After reading 2 other similar reviews out of a total of 10, I would not consider this a dependable product, unless you consider a 30% early failure rate acceptable."
Review 12 for Petmate Le Bistro Portion Control Automatic Feeder
Overall Rating:
out of
5
(based on 21 reviews)
Written By: Redman
Best Way to Lose Weight -- Paws Down!
Date: January 3, 2009
"Our cat was affectionately described as "hefty," but after the vet declared him morbidly obese, we struggled with his diet. His hunger made him aggressive towards the other four members of the household and he bullied all three humans into feeding him. But thanks to LeBistro, he's turned into a new cat. Six months later, he's almost half his original weight (we gradually dialed down the amount), and he's nice to us again--even to the other cat! He still begs--very gently, but he doesn't pester. He knows that LeBistro is the only reliable food-giver. We've never had a problem with the unit. It's worked perfectly every time. Thanks to LeBistro, we don't have to choose between a happy unhealthy cat and an unhappy healthy one. We now have a happy AND healthy cat!"
Review 13 for Petmate Le Bistro Portion Control Automatic Feeder
Overall Rating:
out of
5
(based on 21 reviews)
Written By: TwoPlusThree
Worked for a while
Date: December 21, 2008
"This product worked the first time we went out of town. Two months later when we needed it again it wouldnt program. When we started to initiate the program it just shut down. New batteries and all.
Might have been a fluke but 50/50 on getting a new one."
Review 14 for Petmate Le Bistro Portion Control Automatic Feeder
Overall Rating:
out of
5
(based on 21 reviews)
Written By: Draper78
Nothing better
Date: December 19, 2008
"Excellent feeder, dispenses the right amount of cat foor for our two cats through out the day, filling the hopper is very easy, the batteries have lasted over 9 months, no complaints about the motor being loud or breaking. Would buy this again. and would highly recommend it to anyone."
Review 15 for Petmate Le Bistro Portion Control Automatic Feeder
Overall Rating:
out of
5
(based on 21 reviews)
Written By: Vinnie1
Date: November 16, 2008
"This feeder is great. My cat has even lost wgt with it. Would buy again"
Review 16 for Petmate Le Bistro Portion Control Automatic Feeder
Overall Rating:
out of
5
(based on 21 reviews)
Written By: Pithy
Couldn't live without it
Date: November 10, 2008
"I purchased this feeder several years ago for my cat, in an effort to control his food intake. It is the best purchase I have ever made. I know own 2 of these feeders. My only complaint is that it is a challenge to program, even after 3 years I still need the directions, but I would recommend this product to anyone. Never had any problems with him getting used to the feeder. The whirring of the motor before the food drops down is enough to set my cat on a bee line to the feeder and anyone in his way watch out."
Review 17 for Petmate Le Bistro Portion Control Automatic Feeder
Overall Rating:
out of
5
(based on 21 reviews)
Written By: MomsL8
Not bad all in all
Date: August 5, 2008
"I bought this as a way to control my dog's weight. My kids generally tended to overfeed the dog, even though we had a measuring scoop in the dog food holder. Since we have a Sheltie, I didn't need to store large quantities of food.
This product worked extremely well for a week and a half. Now, occasionally, it will let out some extra food that must be caught up in the gears, every time someone walks hardly on the floor. It's not a whole meal's worth, but a little extra.
My dog thinks it's a treat - so be it!
But it has been very helpful in my quest to try and control my dog's weight.
I use Candidae Senior food, so the kibble is small enough to come out, but I think that perhaps some gets caught in between every so often."
Review 18 for Petmate Le Bistro Portion Control Automatic Feeder
Overall Rating:
out of
5
(based on 21 reviews)
Written By: petlvr13
Best automatic feeder!
Date: July 6, 2008
"I bought the automatic feeder for when I have to leave town. It arrived quickly, and worked really well. It never broke or missed a feeding. I had a friend stop by just to make sure and she said it was really neat. It never got caught, or only went halfway. I am extremely happy with the feeder!"
Review 19 for Petmate Le Bistro Portion Control Automatic Feeder
Overall Rating:
out of
5
(based on 21 reviews)
Written By: roseyjazz
Poorly designed product
Date: June 28, 2008
"I would not recommend this product to anyone. It claims that it will dispense up to three cups at time. The best I could get was barely one cup, this with it set to the highest level. I was using dry cat food. The feeder also does not feed easily out of the hopper. As it empties the food sticks around the edge and leaves a hole in the center. To top it all off, after about six months it quit working entirely. Now the motor makes a whirring noise, but no food is dispensed. The horizontal gear with the flappers does not turn. When my husband took it apart to see if he could fix it we saw that the drive was a very tiny diameter rubber band. I have now ordered a different style feeder, I hope it works better. DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT."
Review 20 for Petmate Le Bistro Portion Control Automatic Feeder
Overall Rating:
out of
5
(based on 21 reviews)
Written By: ThreeKidsMom
Feeder for everyone in the house
Date: June 26, 2008
"I originally purchased my first Le Bistro for my dog for when I was out of town. It has worked so well that I am getting one for my two cats to use as well. I don't have to think about feeding times for them and they know when the food is coming. It is also great entertainment for humans to watch the animals try and get the food out of the container in between feeding times. My little girl has managed to get some dog food out of her brothers feeder!!"
