Microchip feeders for hairball diet cats

Recurring hairballs that need a dedicated formula are a really common reason people end up here — and it's a genuinely tricky one to manage, because hairball diets only work if the right cat is actually eating them consistently. Microchip feeders are one of the most useful innovations for exactly this kind of situation. They ensure each cat can only access their own bowl, which matters enormously when one cat needs a specific formula and the other doesn't. Before I point you to the right product: how many cats do you have, are they both microchipped or wearing collar tags, and is it purely the hairball formula you need to keep separate, or are there other feeding differences too?

That's a classic setup — one slow, one fast, and the slow one never gets to finish their own food. Biscuit being a speed-eater makes the microchip feeder even more essential here, because it's not just about keeping the diets separate, it's about making sure Mango actually gets enough of the hairball formula to make a difference. A cat who only eats half their hairball diet because Biscuit keeps stealing it won't see much improvement. Are you thinking about two individual feeders — one for each cat — or were you wondering if one feeder would be enough?

Most microchip feeders work on the same principle — they read your cat's chip and only open for that specific cat — but they're not all built equally. For your situation, I'd go with the SureFlap SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeder. It's the most reliable one on the market for exactly this use case: it reads the microchip, opens only for the registered cat, and closes again when they walk away. The lid design is also quite good at deterring a determined opportunist like Biscuit, because there's no gap to paw at. You'd buy two, register Mango's chip to one and Biscuit's to the other, put Mango's hairball food in Mango's feeder — done. It's also worth noting that the setup process is straightforward: you just hold the feeder near the cat once to register them, no app needed.

Good questions. The SureFeed works with both wet and dry food, which is useful if you ever want to switch Mango's hairball formula between formats. The bowl is a standard size — fine for a normal meal portion, though if you're feeding large amounts at once it can feel a bit shallow. For wet food especially, the lid does help keep things fresher between visits, which is a nice bonus. One thing to be aware of: the feeder doesn't control portion size itself — it just controls access. So if Mango is a grazer and you leave food out, Biscuit simply won't be able to get to it. If you need portion control on top of access control, you'd need to look at something like the SureFeed with the Connect hub or a timed feeder, but for your situation — just keeping the two diets separate — the standard SureFeed is exactly what you need.

You're all set then — two SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeders, one per cat, and Mango's hairball formula should actually start doing its job properly once Biscuit stops intercepting it. Give it a few weeks of consistent feeding and you should see the hairball frequency come down. Good luck with them both.