Microchip Feeder for Underweight Senior Cat

Your vet sent you here for a good reason — if your Sphynx is underweight and another cat is stealing their food, a microchip feeder isn't a luxury, it's a medical necessity. These feeders are one of the genuinely transformative solutions for multi-cat households: the lid only opens for the cat whose microchip is registered to it, so food theft becomes physically impossible. Before I point you straight to the right one, can I ask — how many cats are in the house, is your Sphynx already microchipped, and is the other cat eating wet food, dry, or both?

400g on a Sphynx is really serious — they're lean cats at the best of times, and at 11 years old she doesn't have reserves to lose. Keith sounds like a classic food thief: confident, food-motivated, and completely indifferent to Doris's dietary needs. The good news is this is exactly the problem microchip feeders were designed for. Is Keith also microchipped, or just Doris?

No, it's actually ideal — you can register just Doris's chip to her feeder, and Keith's chip simply won't open it. His being chipped doesn't interfere at all; the feeder only responds to chips you've programmed in. Here's my clear recommendation: the SureFlap SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeder. It reads your cat's existing microchip — no collar or tag needed — and the sealed bowl with a closing lid means Keith can't paw it open or hover and rush in when the lid rises. It's quiet enough not to startle a senior cat, the bowl is shallow which suits cats with flatter facial structures, and it runs on batteries so placement isn't limited by plug sockets. For Doris's situation specifically, the sealed lid also keeps wet food fresher between meals, which matters if she's a slow or intermittent eater. It's the feeder I'd recommend without hesitation for a vet-directed feeding separation case like this.

Setup is genuinely straightforward — you hold Doris near the feeder while pressing the programme button, it reads her chip in a few seconds, and that's it. For an anxious senior cat, the approach I'd suggest is leaving the lid open for a day or two so she gets used to eating from the bowl in that spot without any mechanics. Then switch it to the normal mode. The lid opens slowly and quietly, which helps — it's not a sudden snap. Sphynxes can be wary of new things but they're also food-motivated, and once Doris clocks that this bowl always has her food and Keith can't reach it, most cats settle quickly. Your vet will likely want to weigh her again in a few weeks, so it's worth keeping a note of when you introduce the feeder so you have a clear before-and-after reference point.

Good — the SureFlap SureFeed is the right call for Doris. One small tip: place it somewhere Keith can't loom over her while she eats, even if he can't access the food. Senior cats eat better when they don't feel watched. I hope she puts that weight back on quickly — 11 is still a great age for a Sphynx with good care.