Feeding identical-looking cats separately

Identical colouring is genuinely one of the trickiest multi-cat feeding problems — you simply cannot tell by looking who cleaned whose bowl. Microchip feeders are one of the most genuinely useful multi-cat innovations out there, because each feeder learns a cat's chip and opens only for them, so you get a clear record of who's eating what. Before I point you to the right one: how many cats do you have, are they both microchipped, and is there a specific reason you need to track intake — weight management, a medical condition, or just peace of mind that each cat is actually eating?

That's a very common problem with look-alike cats — by the time you've walked over to check, whoever it was has scarpered. And a greedy cat raiding her sister's bowl is exactly the kind of thing that creeps up on you until one cat is overweight and the other is quietly undereating. Which one is the glutton — do you know her microchip is registered, or did you just have them chipped at the vet without activating the number?

Perfect — registered chips make setup straightforward. My clear recommendation for your situation is the SureFlap SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeder. You'd buy two, one for each cat, and each feeder is programmed to open only for that cat's chip. When Mochi slinks over to Suki's bowl, the lid simply stays shut. It holds a decent portion, keeps food fresh under the sealed lid, and the setup takes about two minutes per feeder. It works with existing microchips, no collar required, which is ideal since distinguishing them by collar alone sounds like it hasn't been reliable either.

You need two separate feeders — one assigned to Mochi, one to Suki. Each feeder opens for the chip it's been taught and stays closed for everyone else. So Mochi's feeder opens for Mochi only, Suki's feeder opens for Suki only. It's the cleanest solution because both cats get their own dedicated station, and neither can access the other's food regardless of how persistent Mochi gets. There's also a Connect version with an app if you want feeding logs and portion alerts, but for your situation the standard SureFeed does the job without the extra cost.

The bowl lifts straight out and is dishwasher safe, so cleaning is easy. The lid closes gently and quietly — it's a slow, controlled movement rather than a snap, so most cats habituate to it within a day or two. Mochi may spend a few sessions sitting hopefully in front of Suki's feeder waiting for it to open, but she'll work it out. Suki, if she's a slightly cautious cat, might need a day of leaving the lid open to get comfortable before you activate the locking — there's a training mode built in for exactly that.