4 ms·

I always had the impression that feeding your car (or any pet in general) was important social interaction for the animal. Automated feeding is at least cool fo

I always had the impression that feeding your car (or any pet in general) was important social interaction for the animal. Automated feeding is at least cool for when you are not around much or for a few days only I guess.

inglor_cz 5y ago
Maybe the cat is 3D printed too... Just joking, but actually, 3D printing works with living cells, though not yet up to the level of printing an entire animal :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_bioprinting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_bioprinting
the_third_wave 5y ago
Feeding the cat is an important social interaction as well as a sure-fire way to get the critter to show up when you want it to (assuming the cat is even allowed to go outside of course, this is not a given). In that respect a cat feeder is a net negative... That said, this is a well-executed project which integrates a number of skills - theoretical, mechanical, logical - to produce something useful.
lexicality 5y ago
From what I understand for dogs it's very important for you to feed them, but for cats it's more important that food is made available to it regularly and consistently than from you specifically. If a cat is hungry and knows you provide food, it will keep trying to figure out ways to make you give it the food which can lead to very strange and negative behaviours. However if a cat learns that food will show up in a mysterious box at precise times, it will just wait until that time which will make it happier as it understands what it has to do to eat (wait) and you happier because it won't be scratching at you and yowling
- BugsJustFindMe 5y ago
  My experience is that cats often start yowling at the machine about 20 minutes before they run. It's probably more of a case by case thing.
- kevincox 5y ago
  Yup. I had a very "food motivated" cat and our lives was made much more pleasant by setting a "food alarm". That way she wouldn't bother me until the alarm goes off. My current cats are free-fed but they get quite annoying if their bowl runs low. (they know how to get your attention)
JoeAltmaier 5y ago
I don't think my outdoor cat give a flying flip whether I'm around when it's eating the mouse it caught.
at_a_remove 5y ago
Hand-feeding is important for kittens and feral cats, but once they are grown and domesticated it is less so. They do like you to be involved, but there's quite a bit of annoying behavior once the cat learns that you feed them the first thing in the morning. I guess if I wake you up early ...
- wlesieutre 5y ago
  I've pushed my cats' breakfast time back a few hours after I wake up so they can't directly associate "human is awake now" with "it's time for food!" They've since stopped waking me up before my alarm goes off, and I can even sleep in a bit on weekends. This was easier to do when my office was full remote for COVID, being in New England we're starting to reopen now.
UncleOxidant 5y ago
I've got an automated feeder that drops food at 3AM because I got tired of getting up at 3AM to feed them - they would get pretty insistent. I hand feed them the rest of the day unless I'm going to be out and then I turn on the other feed times on the feeder.

inglor_cz 5y ago

Maybe the cat is 3D printed too... Just joking, but actually, 3D printing works with living cells, though not yet up to the level of printing an entire animal :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_bioprinting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_bioprinting

the_third_wave 5y ago

Feeding the cat is an important social interaction as well as a sure-fire way to get the critter to show up when you want it to (assuming the cat is even allowed to go outside of course, this is not a given). In that respect a cat feeder is a net negative... That said, this is a well-executed project which integrates a number of skills - theoretical, mechanical, logical - to produce something useful.

lexicality 5y ago

From what I understand for dogs it's very important for you to feed them, but for cats it's more important that food is made available to it regularly and consistently than from you specifically. If a cat is hungry and knows you provide food, it will keep trying to figure out ways to make you give it the food which can lead to very strange and negative behaviours. However if a cat learns that food will show up in a mysterious box at precise times, it will just wait until that time which will make it happier as it understands what it has to do to eat (wait) and you happier because it won't be scratching at you and yowling

BugsJustFindMe 5y ago
My experience is that cats often start yowling at the machine about 20 minutes before they run. It's probably more of a case by case thing.
kevincox 5y ago
Yup. I had a very "food motivated" cat and our lives was made much more pleasant by setting a "food alarm". That way she wouldn't bother me until the alarm goes off. My current cats are free-fed but they get quite annoying if their bowl runs low. (they know how to get your attention)

JoeAltmaier 5y ago

I don't think my outdoor cat give a flying flip whether I'm around when it's eating the mouse it caught.

at_a_remove 5y ago

Hand-feeding is important for kittens and feral cats, but once they are grown and domesticated it is less so. They do like you to be involved, but there's quite a bit of annoying behavior once the cat learns that you feed them the first thing in the morning. I guess if I wake you up early ...

wlesieutre 5y ago
I've pushed my cats' breakfast time back a few hours after I wake up so they can't directly associate "human is awake now" with "it's time for food!" They've since stopped waking me up before my alarm goes off, and I can even sleep in a bit on weekends. This was easier to do when my office was full remote for COVID, being in New England we're starting to reopen now.

UncleOxidant 5y ago

I've got an automated feeder that drops food at 3AM because I got tired of getting up at 3AM to feed them - they would get pretty insistent. I hand feed them the rest of the day unless I'm going to be out and then I turn on the other feed times on the feeder.