An automatic cat feeder just may change your life. No more screeching at 4 am. Plus, it can give some peace of mind while you're away from your fur baby. As seen with the rise of automatic litter boxes and pet tracking, technology has made it so we can closely monitor our pets without having to do a lot of the manual labor normally involved.

Gravity-fed automatic dry-food dispensers were invented nearly a century ago, but today most automatic cat feeders utilize Wi-Fi and are connected to an app on your phone that allows you to make a schedule or feed on demand from afar, all while monitoring your pet’s eating habits. Newer models have taken this tech further, like the Petkit YumShare Dual-Hopper 2 Automatic Feeder With Camera ($170) which has a built-in, AI-enabled camera to analyze the remaining food in the bowl and will stop dispensing to prevent overfeeding. Automatic wet-food dispensers—our top pick in this category is the Petlibro Polar Smart Wet Feeder ($170)—are relatively new, often using ice packs or mini-refrigeration cooling systems to ensure the food stays as fresh as possible.

Automatic feeders are also helpful for pet parents who want to monitor their pets’ health, have specialized schedules, or want to foster healthier eating habits. ) Nearly all of the automatic cat feeders on this list are marketed toward cats, but some can be used with smaller dogs, and I’ve noted these below.

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