Affordable microchip feeders for three cats

Microchip feeders are one of those inventions that genuinely solve a real problem — they make sure each cat only accesses their own food, which is a game-changer when you have cats with different dietary needs, different portion sizes, or one who'd happily hoover up everyone else's dinner. Before I point you in the right direction: how many cats are you feeding separately, are they all microchipped, and what's driving the need — is one on a special diet, or is it more a case of one being a greedy guts?

Classic Biscuit situation — I hear this a lot! Strictly speaking, you'd ideally have one feeder per cat so each has their own access point. But here's a practical way to think about it: Biscuit is the problem, so if you put Biscuit's food in a normal bowl and give the other two their own microchip feeders, that already solves most of it. Biscuit can't get into the other two feeders, and the other two can eat in peace. That means you're buying two feeders instead of three, which saves you real money. Does that kind of approach appeal, or would you rather keep it symmetrical with one each?

For your situation I'd go with the SureFlap SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeder — it's the most reliable mid-range option on the market. It reads your cats' existing microchips so no extra tags needed, the lid closes when the wrong animal approaches, and it's genuinely robust. On Amazon UK they regularly come in around £60-65 each, so you're looking at roughly £125-130 for two, which is very reasonable for what you're getting. I'd avoid the cheaper no-name microchip feeders — the chip-reading is inconsistent and they tend to fail within a year. SureFeed has been the trusted name here for well over a decade and you won't be replacing them any time soon.

Not at all — it's one of the easiest setups going. You put food in, press the button to enter 'training mode', let your cat eat from it once, and it stores their chip automatically. That's genuinely it. No app, no Wi-Fi, no pairing process. Most people have it working within five minutes. The only thing to watch is giving each cat a few sessions with the lid open first so they're not startled by it closing — SureFeed calls this 'intruder training' mode and the feeder walks you through it step by step in the instructions.

Great choice — your two lighter cats will thank you for it, and honestly Biscuit will probably be less stressed too once the competition for food is off the table. If you find Biscuit starts losing weight once the others' food is locked away, it's worth double-checking you're giving him the right portion in his regular bowl — sometimes the greedy ones have just been under-served relative to what they actually need. Good luck with the trio!