This is a specific conversation about Microchip feeders — feeding the right cat — ask about yours and get one honest answer for your exact situation.
inparticular.ai
A weight-management cat living with a cat who needs high-calorie food — that's one of the trickiest feeding situations there is, because the consequences of getting it wrong go both ways. Too many calories and your chunky cat gains more weight; too few and your slim cat starts losing condition. Microchip feeders are genuinely one of the most useful things ever made for multi-cat households in exactly this situation. Quick questions to point you in the right direction: how many cats are we talking about, are both microchipped (or do either have collar tags instead), and are we dealing with dry food, wet food, or a mix of both?
Just the two cats, yes both microchipped. The overweight one is on dry kibble — the vet put her on a specific light diet. The other one is actually quite underweight and needs a high-calorie wet food. So completely different food types as well.
inparticular.ai
That's a really important detail — different food types as well as different calorie needs means you genuinely cannot share a feeder or a bowl at any point. Dry kibble and wet food also behave differently in feeders, so it's worth thinking about each cat separately. Are both cats already used to eating from covered or enclosed bowls, or are they fairly relaxed about where they eat? And does the underweight cat tend to finish her own food quickly and then go investigating the other bowl?
The underweight one definitely tries to eat the kibble as well if she gets the chance. The heavier one is less of a thief but she'd probably eat the wet food too given the opportunity. They're both fine with enclosed spaces generally.
inparticular.ai
Perfect — that settles it. My clear recommendation is the SureFlap SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeder. You'd need one for each cat, and that's the right way to set it up anyway: each feeder is programmed to open only for the cat whose microchip it recognises, and it closes the moment that cat walks away. The lid seals completely, so the wet food stays fresh and the dry food stays contained. It works reliably with standard 15-digit ISO microchips, which is what both your cats will have if they were chipped in the UK. The bowl inside is removable and dishwasher-safe, which matters a lot when you're using wet food daily. It runs on 4 AA batteries and the battery life is genuinely good — most people get several months between changes.
That sounds exactly right. Do I need anything extra, like the hub, or is the basic feeder enough?
inparticular.ai
For your situation the basic SureFeed feeder is completely sufficient — you don't need the Connect hub unless you want app-based monitoring, feeding logs, or remote alerts on your phone. The hub is useful if your vet wants data on how much the underweight cat is actually eating each day, which honestly isn't a bad idea given she's underweight and on a specific diet. But it's not essential to get the feeders working correctly from day one. I'd suggest starting with two standard SureFeed feeders, getting both cats settled with them, and then deciding whether the monitoring data would help you and your vet track her progress. The Connect version is available as an upgrade if you change your mind.
That's really helpful, thank you. I'll go with two standard ones to start.
inparticular.ai
That's the sensible approach. One small tip: when you first introduce them, leave the feeders open and unlocked for a few days so both cats get comfortable eating from them without any surprise lid movements. Once they're relaxed, you lock them to each cat's chip and the transition is usually very smooth. Good luck — this setup should take a lot of stress out of mealtimes for you and genuinely protect both cats' health long-term.
