Microchip feeders for 5 cats with portion control

Microchip feeders are one of the most genuinely useful innovations for multi-cat households — they make sure each cat only accesses their own food, which is critical when some cats have medical needs or weight issues and others don't. With five cats and two needing controlled portions, you're in exactly the situation they were designed for. Before I point you in the right direction: are all five cats microchipped, and what's the reason the two need portion control — weight management, a prescription diet, or something else?

Classic cat behaviour — the ones who shouldn't be eating extra are always the most determined thieves. The good news is this is a very solvable problem. The product I'd point you straight to is the SureFlap SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeder. It reads your cat's existing microchip and the lid stays closed until the registered cat approaches, then closes again when they walk away, so the restricted cats simply cannot get into the other bowls. For your two cats on the calorie-restricted diet, you'd get two of these and programme each one to a single cat. Can I ask — are the three healthy cats free-fed throughout the day, or do they eat at set mealtimes?

That's actually a really straightforward setup to solve. You get two SureFeed feeders — one registered to each of the two cats on the restricted diet — and you put their measured portions in those at mealtimes. The lids keep everyone else out. Your three free-fed cats can carry on eating from open bowls as normal, because those bowls are only a problem if the restricted cats can reach them, and that's where a bit of physical separation at mealtimes helps. Putting the open bowls in a room the larger cats can't access for 20 minutes after you serve their portions is usually enough. The SureFeed is reliable, the build quality is solid, and it works with standard microchips — no collar tags needed. Two of them will sort this completely.

The standard SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeder is standalone — no app, no hub required. You just hold the feeder near your cat when you first set it up and it learns the chip, and that's essentially it. There is a connected version called the SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeder Connect, which does link to the Sure Petcare app and gives you feeding logs and alerts, but honestly for your situation the standard version does everything you need and costs less. Unless you want to monitor exactly how much each cat is eating from the app, the basic model is the one I'd go with.

Perfect — two standard SureFeed feeders, one per restricted cat, and you're sorted. The setup takes about two minutes per feeder. Good luck with the weight loss mission — it's genuinely easier once the food access is controlled.