PetSafe SlimCat Interactive Toy and Food Dispenser (Orange)

My cat loves to eat. He will eat until he throws up if given the chance. He scarfs his meals and then runs over to eat my other cat's food. It has been annoying having to wait around for cat #2 to finish eating, or having to lock them in separate rooms for meals. That's where the food ball came in. My cat took to it in seconds. He knew his food was in there rattling around and it clicked for him immediately. This video is actually his first time using it, and he successfully ate the whole meal this way. With cat #2 safely eating his dinner from his bowl and cat #1 preoccupied with his new food ball, they finished at the same time and no food was stolen! This has been the PERFECT fix for an annoying multiple-cat situation!

SlimCat feeder ball. Recommended by my vet for my adult cat's continued behavior problems. I could not find one in stores ANYWHERE so i had to order it online. seems to be a new product.

HOW TO USE:
Take off the top of the ball, pour in the desired amount of dry food (i think it holds 3/4 cup or maybe a cup) The food comes out of 3 holes when the pet pushes the ball around. The hole size is adjustable so you can easily change it depending on food size and how easily you want it to fall out of the ball.

I started my cat with bigger holes so more food would come out as he got used to it (as recommended by the instructions) then i made the holes smaller so it would take longer for him to eat. I took away his food dish so he wouldn't get confused. It only took a couple days for him to stop going to his food dish area. he got the idea of the ball right away.

MY OPINION:
I have a bad-behavior kitty who cries constantly for food and misbehaves when i dont feed him. The feeder ball turned out to be the answer to my prayers. I fill the ball and it takes him a couple hours to eat it all. He will push it around for a while and then leave it. When he's hungry again, he'll go back to it and eat the rest. It seems entertaining for him and I hope it gives him some stimulation while i'm at work all day. He is MUCH better behaved, he seems happier, I'm not overfeeding him anymore, and I'M much happier. Thank you thank you feeder ball!

DRAWBACKS:
these are minor things.
-Once in a while the ball gets stuck and my cat misses some of his breakfast until i get home. no big deal.
-he'll miss a food pellet once in a while and leave it on the rug for me to step on.
-i'm reluctant to use carpet powder when vacuuming because he eats the food off the floor now.
-i tend to spill some pellets when filling the ball but this would be solved if i used a funnel.

OVERALL:
This solves so many problems for people with bad-behavior kitties like me. It's really a wonderful product and i would (and do) recommend it to my friends and family.

While I don't have cats, I have two shetland sheepdogs, one 22 lbs, the other 30 lbs. My 30 lbs girl was getting far too good at removing kibbles from her Premier Waggle and her large Tricky Treat Ball. Neither of these toys were adjustable in how much comes out, unless you want to get larger kibble and I didn't want to change kibbles.

I stumbled across this item and ordered one because I like the idea that it's adjustable. There are two types of holes the food can come out of: a set of 3 smaller round holes, and another set of 3 larger holes. You adjust which holes you want by unlocking a little mechanism and twisting half of the ball so that it's where ever you want it. I have it set on the larger holes but the large holes are too big for my kibble, so I've twisted it to where only part of the larger holes are revealed. I'm also considering covering one of the 3 holes with tape on the inside so kibble can only come out of 2 holes.

The dogs love these, they roll them around with their noses. My younger boy sheltie was intrigued by it even when it was empty, he can *just* fit it in his mouth and he "noms" on it. He might be able to crack the plastic by doing this, so I take it away when it's empty.

You fill the toy by unscrewing an end cap of the ball. It's a good sized hole so it's easy to fill. My boy sheltie is able to grasp the little knob on this cap and unscrew it so all the kibble dumps out (it doesn't have to be turned far, less than a half turn). Clever boy! I covered the cap with electrician's tape so he can't unscrew it. However, he can also grip both halves of the ball and twist them so that the large holes are fully exposed, even though it's supposed to be "locked". I'll try tape again there to keep him from twisting it. I don't knock a star off for this because this toy wasn't made for dogs, it's made for cats who are quite a bit smaller than my dogs. I just wanted to see if I could make this work for my pups, and with a little fiddling, it will.

My girl sheltie only rolls this ball around to get food out, she doesn't try to open it like the boy does.

I'm ordering another so my pups don't have to share a ball.