WESTLINK6L Automatic Pet Feeder Food Dispenser for Cat Dog with Voice Recorder and Timer Programmable

Works great when the cat needs to spend a weekend alone.

Meow! I bought the WESTLINK 6L Automatic Pet Feeder last Autumn because by the time I arrived home from work it was dark and when I fed my two feral cats possum were trying to get it on the action! Those possum do not show themselves when it is light outside and I figured I could program this so the cats could eat while it was still light outside. It did the trick. Cats were fed and I was no longer feeding wildlife which was a cost savings.You can program up to 6 meals a day at the time you deem fit, choose the amount of food and record a message. The recording quality wasn’t the best though I doubt it really matters to my cats, it gets their attention and that is good by me. It holds 6 pounds of food and the batteries last forever (I have only changed them once in 9 months). It dispenses kibbles reliably in the amount I programmed.An additional benefit was the knowledge that when I was out of town this past winter and our area had two weeks of snow that shut the city down the feeder was doing its job even when the sitter could not make it to my home. Ironically the cold drove vermin into the garage where they had no clue who was awaiting their arrival... I did not have to worry after all considering how fat those feral cats were when I returned home!Initially I worried that raccoons, being the masked bandits they are, would try to break into the food chamber. Until this spring this was not a problem for a couple reasons. I dispense smalls meals throughout the day and I place it where cats can jump up to though other critters cannot easily climb onto plus I have it partially protected in an old kitchen cabinet.Well my precautions kept the possum at bay although this spring a skinny raccoon sniffed his way into my garage and tore it up! It was completely taken apart, the components spread all around and the food chamber cleaned out. None of the parts were broken or cracked so I put it back together, hit the manual feed button and the prerecorded message announced time to eat as it dispensed food!I temporarily barricaded it with some boards while I figured out what to do. Sure enough that raccoon returned though was limited in his theft by my barricade. To solve my problem I bought a five gallon bucket and lid, cut an opening to allow the bowl to stick out, padded the inside with old carpet grabber strips and placed a couple big cement blocks on the top. It works perfectly! See my pics!As barn cat owners know a hungry cat cannot hunt nearly as well as a fed cat and this contraption has sustained my sweet little working cats through dark, snow and raccoons.

This may turn out to be a 5 star product. If it works for months on end, I may upgrade it. But for now, it's a 4.Review:My Westlink 6L Automatic Pet Feeder has the name “PetU” on the front. It doesn’t say Westlink anywhere that I can find. We did an initial set up and test today. I will update if it does not work as it should, but so far, so good. We also purchased a feeder from Arf Pets. The look of it is snazzier and I almost wish I’d gotten two of those. I ordered Westlink/PetU to be the outside feeder because of the reviewer who was using it for her barn cats and said it had held up to some wildlife scrutiny. My husband though the Arf Pets would be more difficult to mess with if the raccoons showed up, so the Westlink/PetU is now the inside feeder. The Westlink/PetU feeder seems to holds more food than the Arf Pets feeder, so for a medium size dog or multiple cats who will eat together, this is the one you need for a long vacation.The cord that came with it is a great length! I have it plugged in at the middle of my good size island and there is cord left over after connecting the feeder. So yay for that.The voice recorder seems to have improved, as the quality isn’t as bad as some reviewers indicate. That said, I wish there was a way to turn it off and on because I don’t want to hear it when I am home and using it for midnight and 3 am snack time. It repeats the message after the food has dropped, even when you use the manual button. Seems weird that it plays at all when you dispense manually.Programming – it’s a good thing other reviewers posted a “how to” as it comes with zero instructions. I agree with one reviewer on the fact that it is a pain if you want to reduce your feeding size as you have to go through all 39 selections to get back to the beginning. Surprisingly, we realized our cats get a slightly less than a tablespoon at a time, so I made the full loop of 39 presses of the button while holding the meal button.I also agree with the reviewer who complained the screen is hard to read. Not the easiest to read, but it is doable. I didn’t need a flashlight but I can see how one would help. The method of programming is awkward to me, and I’d say relatively painful. M. Stempler’s note 4 was very helpful:“Most of the buttons work by holding one and tapping another (for example, hold the Breakfast button and tap the Meal Size button to change the size of breakfast).”We dusted off an old Qpets feeder so the cats don’t have to share when we are gone. It has a better recorder, despite its age. We had used it a few times, but with multiple cats, it just didn’t do the job, so it sat for many years. The Qpets is working like a champ in the test rounds tonight. It is as big as the Westlink/PetU, has 4 feedings in large compartments. But once it’s empty, it’s empty. Westlink/PetUshould solve those issues, so the two together will get us through a day trip. I have to figure out a splitter to two different bowls for a trip that last longer!Here is hoping Westlink/PetU will last for a while, we can figure out a way to split to separate bowls, and that the youngest cat doesn’t figure out how to circumvent the system….he’s already trying.