Homemade Automatic Cat Feeder

When you are home, you can fill up your cat's food dish whenever she needs it. When you are away from home, or when you are busy, your cat might not get the food she needs. Automatic cat feeders are often cumbersome to put together, and expensive to buy. You can make your own automatic cat feeder to provide your cat with the food she needs, whenever she needs it.

  1. Gather Materials

    • Gather together the materials you will need to make the feeder. You will need an empty and cleaned-out 2-liter soda or drink bottle. You will also need a regular rectangular cat dish. You will need a small piece of plastic or cardboard tube that is about 3 inches long and the same circumference of the opening to the empty 2-liter bottle. Lastly, you will need a flat piece of plastic about 2 inches longer than the cat dish you are using. To put everything together, duct or electrical tape will work best. You will also need heavy twine or wire to hang the feeder from the wall.

    Assemble the Feeder

    • Set the cat dish on a flat surface. Use the flat piece of plastic to angle the base of the cat dish. Prop it into one corner of the cat dish, and lean it up against the opposite edge of the cat dish. It should create a dish that is angled and has a sloping floor. Tape where the plastic meets the upper edge of the cat dish.

      Carefully cut the flat part of the 2-liter bottle two-thirds of the way around, and fold it back to make a crease. Use a small piece of tape to keep it shut when it is in use.

      Take off the lid of the 2-liter bottle and discard it. Attach the plastic or cardboard tube to the mouth of the 2-liter bottle securely with tape.

    Set up and Use the Feeder

    • Place your cat's food dish against a wall that you can tape or use a staple gun on. Set the assembled feeder against the same wall so that it hangs above the plastic dish. The tube coming from the mouth of the bottle should hang about an inch above the slope of the dish.

      Use string or wire to hold the bottle in place. Tape the string to the bottle, then tape it to the wall, or use a staple gun to hold it in place. Make sure the bottle is secure, and that the taped flap on the flat portion of the bottle is facing away from the wall.

      Open the flat portion of the bottle and pour your cat food into it. It should fill the dish at the bottom, then should be trapped in the tube. Continue to fill the bottle all the way to the top, then shut and tape the flat piece of the bottle. As your cat eats food from the dish, she will allow more pieces of food to fall down the tube to the waiting dish.