Portable microchip feeders for moving house

Moving house with cats is stressful enough without worrying whether your feeder needs to be hardwired into the wall — and the good news is that microchip feeders are genuinely built for portability. Microchip feeders are one of the most useful innovations for multi-cat households: they ensure each cat only gets their own food, which matters hugely when cats have different diets, medical needs, or one is simply a food thief. Before I point you toward the right one, can I ask — how many cats do you have, are they all microchipped, and is there a particular reason you need separate feeding, like a prescription diet or one cat hogging everything?

That's a really common and genuinely important problem — renal food is expensive and, more critically, it's not meant to be eaten by a healthy cat in large quantities either. You need something that reliably locks the other cat out. Can I ask: does your renal cat eat wet food, dry, or both? And do you know whether she's registered on her microchip number or on a collar tag? That'll help me confirm the right model.

Perfect — standard ISO microchips are exactly what these feeders read, so you're all set there. My clear recommendation is the SureFlap SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeder. It runs entirely on four AA batteries — no plug, no installation, no drilling — so it's completely portable and will work identically in your new home from day one. You simply programme it by holding your renal cat's head near the bowl once, it learns her chip, and from then on the lid only opens for her. Your other cat triggering it causes the lid to stay firmly closed. It handles wet food well, the bowl is shallow enough for cats with flat faces or sensitive whiskers, and the whole unit is easy to clean. For a cat on a renal diet, this is genuinely the right tool — not just a convenience.

It works on any flat surface — floor, mat, shelf, wherever suits you. The feeder has a non-slip base so it stays put. As for your healthy cat, most cats do stop trying within a few days once they learn the lid genuinely won't open for them. A small number of persistent cats keep attempting it for a week or two, but the mechanism is sturdy and won't be bullied open. If you're really concerned, SurePetcare also make a splitter cable so you can connect two feeders and programme them in a 'linked' mode — but honestly, for most households with one determined thief, the standard single feeder solves it completely.

You're very welcome — good luck with the move. Setting the feeder up in your current home now rather than waiting until moving day is worth doing, so both cats are already used to it before the stress of the move adds another new thing to adjust to. Your renal cat will thank you for it.