PetSafe Fishbowl Food Dispensing Cat Toy

This works well. My cat likes to eat fast and then throw up. We have tried many different slow feeders and this is one of two we stuck with. We do occasionally have to swap it out with a different one because she will get used to it and then start eating too fast again. It's dishwasher safe, which is super convenient.

I got this for my cat with the hopes that I could put food in it at night and he'd eat it slowly enough that he wouldn't wake me up at 4am asking for food. I also had an eventual goal of being able to free feed him, since this should slow down his eating.Goal number 1 seems to be mostly met--unlike his last food dish, he will walk away from it when there is still food in there. If he's full, it's not worth his effort to get the food out. He'll come back when he gets very hungry. I'm not sure goal number 2 will ever be met, because he'll play with the dish when he gets bored (for example, if I've been playing with him and I stop to go do something), not just when he's hungry.It was not easy for him to figure out how to use the dish, particularly with his relatively small sized kibble. I started him off with larger treats (Greenies), which are easier for him to pick up with his paw. He really has to SCOOP with his paw and pick up each individual piece of food, which means eating takes a lot of effort. I think some cats wouldn't ever be willing to use this.The first day or two, he would refused to eat out of the dish at all, and keep howling for his actual meal. So I'd put a third of his food in his regular dish, a third in this, and a third in the PetSafe Egg-cercizer. He'd eat the food from the dish first, the egg second, and then he'd only work on this one after he got REALLY hungry and I showed no signs of feeding him. The egg cercizer is too easy for him to get food out of--he can just keep pushing it with his face and eventually food will come out. He won't stop while there's still food in it. The Fishbowl really requires that he carefully pick up the food, which makes it a better meal dish than the egg-cercizer.Five days into using the fishbowl, I'm now putting all of his food there. He does protest a bit at first, looking at me as if to say "Where's dinner? Why isn't it just sitting out?" If I walk away, I'll hear him going for it, though.(Also, this toy has shown me that my cat is right pawed, since he'll only use his right paw to get at the food. I didn't notice him grabbing at this consistently more with one front paw than the other before this.)

Pros- He's cute while he's eating. I mean, he's always cute and he's always especially cute while he's eating since he's such a glutton, but still.- It's easy to clean! The opening isn't that big, but it's easy enough to make sure the soap gets everything (unlike my experience with the SlimCat.Neutral- I don't really like the way my cat's back bends while using this toy, but he has three legs. It's a con for me, but I don't think most cats will be affected by this (though they might).Cons- It doesn't slow my cat down by much; the food is gone in ten minutes, which means he's next to me begging for food and scraps for half an hour.

Both of my cats love to dig for their treats… But neither of them were interested in getting their treats out of this item. So, I donated it to a shelter

Great toy for hours

I have an exceptionally smart cat. She's very food-motivated, and we've taught her to do tricks like a dog: things like sit, fall over, that sort of thing. She figures out most food toys pretty quickly. This time she colored outside the lines. The ad says this toy has a weighted base to keep it from overturning. I expected Wicky-Woo to do what other kitties do, and fish the kibble out one piece at a time. But Smart Kitty never figured this one out. Instead, she works at it until she turns it over--so much for the weighted base, it's useless against a more heavily-weighted kitty-and then, of course, most of the food falls out. It's still useful for slowing her down a bit, but not as good as something like the Trixie Fantasy Board, which is our favorite so far.

My cats love this. It's about the only "toy" they never get tired of. I wish I had gotten it a long time ago. They are indoor cats so I really like that they have to use their paws and paw/eye coordination to get the food out. I tried another similar ball first, but I think it was really for a dog. My cats couldn't get the hang of the other ball because it had to be rolled around for the food to fall out and my cats never got interested enough to roll the ball. Or they couldn't understand it. But the minute they could involve their paw, they were all about it. The opening of this ball is big enough to put their paw in but it's a challenge because the ball tips and rolls so they have to be patient and work it. It's a great product.

I also have the PetSafe egg for my cat, which I bought before this one. I got this one just to offer him some variety. Cat loves both, but he is a smart fatty and he figured out that he can tip the fishbowl over and get all his food at once. I don't think more weight or making the ring a tad wider would help. Sticking with the egg, which reliably releases just a couple pieces of kibble at a time once your kitty graduates to the hardest setting (part of just one hole open).

I thought this would be a great item for my 16 lb cat who needs to lose weight but he was not at all interested in this item

My way-too-smart cat had it figured out in minutes. He doesn't even have to work at getting the treats. Ah well, I'll keep looking.

I liked it but my cat was not impressed.

My cat hates it! She will not use it at all. Total waste of money!