Microchip feeder for cats aged 1 and 11

A one-year-old and an eleven-year-old under the same roof — that's one of the trickiest feeding situations there is. Kitten-to-adult food is calorie-dense and protein-heavy, exactly what your young one needs, but it's genuinely not good for a senior cat whose kidneys and joints need a very different nutritional profile. Microchip feeders are one of the most genuinely useful innovations for exactly this kind of household — each cat can only open their own bowl, so there's no sneaking or swapping. To point you in the right direction: are both cats microchipped, and is it mainly the diet difference driving this, or is the older cat also slower to eat and getting muscled out at mealtimes?

That's a really important reason to get this sorted — kidney support diets only work if the cat who needs them is actually eating them consistently. Pip finishing Mochi's bowl even occasionally undermines the whole point. Given that both are chipped and the core problem is access control rather than anything more complex, I'd go straight for the SureFlap SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeder. It reads each cat's existing microchip and the lid only opens for the cat it's programmed to. You'd get one for Mochi so her kidney food is locked to her alone, and Pip eats from a regular bowl. It's the cleanest, most reliable solution for exactly this setup.

That's a really fair concern, and the honest answer is: most cats take to it within a few days, but cautious cats sometimes need a week or two. The trick is to leave the lid open in training mode at first so Mochi learns it's her bowl without any lid movement startling her. Once she's eating confidently from it, you gradually enable the lid. SureFlap's own instructions walk you through this, and it genuinely works well for sensitive cats — the lid motion is slow and quiet, not a sudden snap. Mochi being a slower eater is actually an advantage here; she'll approach it calmly rather than charging in.

Correct — the lid only opens when it detects Mochi's specific microchip frequency. Pip can sit right next to it and it won't budge. The bowl also has a reasonably deep rim so he can't easily tongue food out even if he tries. Just make sure you feed them in the same room but with enough distance that Mochi doesn't feel pressured — some seniors eat much better when they don't have a younger cat hovering nearby.

It runs on four AA batteries which are included, so you're good to go straight out of the box. The bowl itself is dishwasher safe, which is a nice practical bonus. The one optional extra worth considering is the SureFeed Mat — it's just a small silicone mat that sits under the feeder and catches any spills or crumbs, which matters more with prescription wet food that can get messy. Not essential, but if Mochi's kidney food is wet, it earns its keep. Otherwise, just the feeder is all you need.