PETLIBRO Automatic Cat Feeder with Camera, 1080P HD Video
PETLIBRO Automatic Cat Feeder with Camera, 1080P HD Video with Night Vision, 5G WiFi Pet Feeder with 2-Way Audio, Low Food & Blockage Sensor, Motion & Sound Alerts for Pets
From the brand
| Weight: | 2.13 kg |
| Size: | 5L Feeder with HD Camera |
| Dimensions: | 19.6 x 19.6 x 35.8 cm; 2.13 Kilograms |
| Model: | PLAF203 |
| Colour: | White |
| Pack Quantity: | 1 |
| Batteries Required: | No |
| Batteries Included: | No |
| Dimensions: | 19.6 x 19.6 x 35.8 cm; 2.13 Kilograms |
| Quantity: | 1 |
| Size: | 5L Feeder with HD Camera |
I love not having to worry about being home to feed my cat. Pretty sure my cat loves the consistent schedule of feeding times that I struggled to keep 🙂 Camera is handy for seeing if you cat has been eating, but won’t show you much else of use.
I purchased this product for my new puppy and absolutely LOVE IT!. This product allows me to feed her when we’re not home and also I can watch her to make sure that she is OK. Highly recommend.
This Petlibro automatic feeder is one of the best purchases I’ve ever made! As someone who is always running around in the mornings, I always worry I will forget something on my schedule. This feeder takes at least one of those worries away, feeding my cat. Now I can schedule my cat’s feeding from my phone and even check on him during the day with the already-installed cat cam! This feeder can be entirely controlled from my phone which is great. It’s easy to set up for use and easy to disassemble to clean! It even has a backup battery option for unexpected power outages (Batteries are not included with the feeder)! Now I have peace of mind when it comes to my furry fella!
Easy setup and quick to pair in the app! You can adjust the feeding schedule and amounts. The camera is excellent quality and it is so nice to have a view of the bowl to see how much food is in it. It’s also entertaining watching your cat eat I have it plugged in so I haven’t tried the battery option yet. It looks very modern in the home and it doesn’t take a whole lot of room. It holds a great amount of food, tightly sealed, so less refills. It’s also great that you can feed your pet when you aren’t home.
I’ll start with the positives for this feeder:
– very reliable. I get a notification during the schedule feedings when they are successful or there is an error or if the food is getting low.
– Great camera quality. I was actually skeptical when buying this because I was concerned about other reviews regarding the camera/video quality but I love it.
– Detecion sethings. I have it set to detect sound and motion and my phone received notifications when this happens which is great for when I’m out of town.
– Battery backup. There is a place to install batteries in case of power outages.
Negatives about this product:
– No instruction manual comes with it so I recommend looking it up online when you first get it.
– the wifi constantly disconnects so I have to reset the settings and reconnect it to my wifi about every 2 weeks. (Which is my biggest complaint and why I have it 4/5 stars) this is very inconvenient and there should be an update to fix it.
– the cost of the decadent pouches. They only sell them in 4 packs but there should be a cheaper way to buy them in bulk especially since it’s recommended to change them every 14 days.
Overall I like this product and would recommend it to others because it works but just be prepared to reconnect it to your wifi every couple of weeks and make sure it’s connected before you leave for vacation.
I use the camera occasionally when we’re away on a short trip, and it’s fine. The feeder also keeps a log of each serving, and whether or not it completed successfully. The device has lost internet connectivity maybe a few of times over the past year (not its fault, probably my router) and it has always kept working to schedule as needed even if offline. There’s a battery backup that keeps the feeder cycle working even if the power goes out.
The top locks on securely. The bowl is easy to remove and clean. The app is a little slow but works fine and settings can be adjusted even when away from home. Couldn’t be happier with this feeder.
Very simple to install and setup the app.
Intuitive app where I can set the times and portions my cat needs. With the camera and alerts, I know when my cat is being fed and I can see via the app when she is eating. It also dispenses the right amount of kibble every time. This product has far exceeded my expectations and relieves stress on both me and my cat knowing she will be fed at set times.
As far as the camera and recording, I bought a 256GB SD card to store and record video/sound instead of subscribing to the cloud service offered. Petlibro gives you a 7 day subscription trial to their cloud service but it’s expensive and their cloud service is priced at $115 dollars per year.
All you need to do is buy an SD card and you’re all set. I like that it has a stainless bowl which is easy to clean. Connected to my Wifi with no issues and updated firmware upon installing. The desiccant pouch that comes with it nests in the top cover to prevent moisture and keeps food fresh. One week of use and no issues to speak of.
Highly recommend this feeder!
As far as the camera and recording, I bought a 256GB SD card to store and record video/sound instead of subscribing to the cloud service offered. Petlibro gives you a 7 day subscription trail to their cloud service but it’s expensive and their standard service is priced at $59.00/yr or $5.99/mo. If you buy a SD card you’re all set to go! I like that it has a stainless insert for the bowl which is easy to clean. Connected to my Wifi with no issues and updated firmware upon installing. The desiccant pouch that comes with it nests in the top cover to prevent moisture and keeps food fresh. Being only one day of use, no issues to speak of and we love it! Highly recommend this feeder!
Our cat loves food, to the point of too much. She had to be put on a diet and needed to have her daily portion spread throughout the day, to prevent her eating it all in one go.
This led to her loudly “reminding” me that her food bowl was empty.
With this feeder, I can now schedule her portions automatically throughout the day. When programming the feeding schedule in the app, make sure to scroll down to select the time for every day. I missed scrolling down initially, so I had to manually set it for the day. I emailed asking for clarification of the schedule programming and the company replied quickly and set me straight.
I am very pleased with this feeder. The came works great, to ensure that the food dispensed when we aren’t home/that she has eaten. It has a motion sensor as well.
I had been previously using Skymee’s older cat feeder, and after a bit over 2 years I was having problems with food dust triggering the jam sensors. When I went to clean it i found it’s extremely hard to get into the central hopper mechanism. It also included a motor powered door that complicated things overall.
This feeder was a breath of fresh air by comparison. During assembly I could tell a lot more care went into this design. From a camera that ACTUALLY POINTS TO THE BOWL to raised jam sensors to a removable feeder base for easy cleaning, I can tell that this product is going to last me much longer. Plus you can set it to record video when motion is detected to watch your little fur friend chomp away while you are traveling. To record video you will either need to add a microsd card to the battery compartment, or pay for their video cloud subscription.
This feeder is still pretty new to me, but so far I only have 2 small gripes:
1. The feeding bowl itself has tight corners in the bottom, which my cat is struggling to reach and eat out of. The unique shape of the bowl also means I can’t buy a curved bowl online and just swap it in. Petlibro was probably concerned about kibble flying out of the dish but I suspect a good compromise could be reached between holding in the food and allowing pets to get at all the food. If they ever make a replacement dish with improved design, it would be simple to swap in.
2. The app pushes the video cloud service REALLY HARD. I think this is just the usual “companies love monthly subscriptions” business, but it is kinda annoying. I can live with that and thankfully they were kind enough to allow me to use a microsd card instead.
Other than those few things, this feeder is fantastic! Highly recommend it.
I have owned a much cheaper feeder with almost the exact same features (minus the SD card slot) for a while now and I paid about half as much for it as I did for the PetLibro. Just get the cheaper one and you may actually get something that you can use and rely on. Do Not trust your pets food supply and well-being to this product or their customer support. I have also read in other reviews that it may be a mistake to update the firmware (which I did). Not sure if this had an effect on mine since I did the update right out of the box.
Maybe I just had bad luck with the product, but I gave them every chance to help with the problem and I was not impressed.
Updated 1/24/24: The Customer Service representative, April, reached out to me after hearing of the details of the situation. She has been helpful and interested in the situation. I have received a replacement device from the manufacturer and it seems to be working much better. I guess I just had bad / unfortunate luck with the first feeder that I received.
Chose this feeder after doing some background reading on several other pet feeders.
Was a little concerned that it may not do all that I wanted it to do, as the write up was a little vague in places as to what functions it actually came with out the box. However I need not have been concerned. It does all that I need it to do.
It took a few tries to get it to connect to the router but once the connection was made all was fine. I found the user interface quite intuitive and hence easy to use.
I thought I would be using the scheduled feeding function, but as it turned out I relied on the Motion and Sound sensors to alert me to the presence of a cat in the vicinity. The real time camera stream (both daytime and night time [infra-red]) showing which cat was nearby so I could decide whether to use the Manual Feed to dispense food. This feature was particularly useful as both cats will eat whatever is available regardless of whether it is their feeding time or not!
I was also able to call them using the Talk function which enabled me to call their names, which to be honest I thought would freak them out, but it did not.
There was probably a bit of a downside from the cat’s perspective in that I was not always monitoring my phone, so there were a few longer gaps between feeds than would occur if I was at home. I could have employed the schduled feeding function to elminate this and used the log and message/alarm functions to identify which cat had eaten, but I chose not to do this.
In addition there is the function to share the feeder (device) with others, which I have done so they can feed the cats if I am not able to do so.
It worked for me, my partner and the cat situation in our house, so therefore recommend this version of the Petlibro Pet Feeder with Petlibro LITE App for smart phone.
I tried to include as much info as I could in the video since there isn’t many reviews on Amazon about this feeder. I’ll explain it here as well, the best I can. This feeder NEEDS a MicroSD card for the camera to record. I got mine from Walmart for $30CAD. You can plug this into the wall for power or there is the option for 3 large size D batteries, for my situation I thought plugged into the wall is better.
I included a few pictures of what their pet libro app looks like. There is TWO pet libro apps, so make sure you download the right one for this model. It’s decently easy to set up, the manual helps, there is youtube videos online, and the app works great and pretty straight forward. If you are not good with technology then I recommend getting someone who is to help you just in case. You can schedule your pets feedings so you don’t have to manually do it. But if you check your camera from school or work and see their food is low, you can click Manual Feed and it will dispense a certain amount of portions that you pick. When I was first learning I did 4 portions, 2 per cat well it turns out 1 portion is plenty per kitty in the morning and I feed them wet food for dinner. (But to each their own!) Just don’t hit like 10 portions and have the food flying out of the bowl haha. I haven’t had any issues at all with any part of the feeder or app, it’s all been working amazing and very easy this past week.
Both my kitties can eat from the one bowl together as shown in the video, but they also just take turns. No issues there. Pet Libro has this same feeder with 2 bowls so if you have 2+ cats I would recommend getting that version of this feeder. If you have 1 or 2 cats this version is great, and it’s cheaper! Even if you have 3 cats you could make this work, just depends on your kitties personalities and how well they can share or if they are patient.
As said in my video, you can set up the app to notify you for motion detection. It’s really quite awesome. Pet Libro did a fantastic job. I also bought one of their water fountains and it just looks amazing and works great. I’m so happy with this purchase, it’s an investment but definitely worth it. I highly recommend this automatic pet feeder and so far Pet Libro as a brand has been really really great. Great quality.
Okay, so it’s a bit of a gadget, but this Cat feeder have really fave a lot of time and make the easier to keep our cat fed on a regular schedule. We use it all the time, not just when we are away. One word of warning they talk about a sachet which goes into the top of the machine which is extremely overpriced for what it is I didn’t bother with it.
I loaded this with food and for 3 weeks it has been feeding my cat , while I was away I was sure she was being feed, I got notifications every time she eat. The feeding is scheduled but you can add more manual if required.
+ Build quality is good. Quality parts. However, the auger inside, which feeds the cat food through the bowl is surprisingly small and made of a rubber-like material. I am concerned that could wear out too quickly
* Set up is easy (once I figured out why I couldn’t even use the app due to account creation lack of info, see above). Just follow the directions, ALL of them, as the app walks you through. I had no problem connecting two of these feeders to my Wifi, which has both 2 gHz and 5.
* The Android app is pretty good, until it freezes or crashes, which is too often. This tends to happen when you change any of the settings.
* I originally had the “IR Night Vision” turned on but noticed that one of my cats seemed to jump away scared from the feeder once that night vision camera activates. I assume this use an IR light which, according to my research, cats cannot see, but apparently can feel due to extra heat receptors on their skin, compared to humans. I turned it off and there were no more problems.
* By default, Two-Way Talk Mode is turned ON. I found this to be a problem, as when I was monitoring my cats while they were near the feeders they were startled and jumped back the second there was an incidental sound on my end. For that reason, I highly recommend switching to One-Way Communication. This can be done by tapping the Settings icon in the main device screen (looks like a hex nut in the upper righthand corner), then tap the Basic Function Settings item, then tap Talk Mode, then tap One-Way Communication. You will still be able to talk to your cat by holding the Talk button in the main device screen, so that sound on your end is heard by your cat only when you want them to hear you. Kind of like using a CB mic.
* The notification feature is good and customizable. My cats and I are still in the “acquaintance” stage of these feeders, so i want to know which cat is at which feeder (and shoo the cat who is on the wrong feeder).
* Note that this feeder uses grams to express the amount of cat food dispensed. That makes sense, as all kibble is different. Most bags of cat food express recommended feeding amounts in cups. So, you will need to find out via internet search how much 1 cup of your particular cat food weighs in grams. 1 serving on these machines is 10 grams. You can determine how many of these 10 gram “servings” should be done in 1 feeding.
* Phone Battery-draining app settings: The instructions walk you through a procedure to keep the app always running in the background, as well as other settings which drain your battery. I get why they want to do that, but I ignored all of that, since my phone battery is 2 years old and is having difficulties with a full charge as it is already.
It takes a bit of setting up, and when there are problems it takes up to 24 hours to get a reply to set-up queries, however they are good at responding. The software is not perfect, but it definitely makes life easier for every day use, and when traveling for perhaps a week or two our cat can be left alone and we know it is getting fresh dry food. You can monitor the dish via camera to add/change feeding times. The alarm function to notify you when the cat is eating doesn’t seem to work, but it records the events so you can see them. It also tells you when you are out of food, but literally I don’t have to touch it for weeks at a time. It’s a game changing device.
The feeders great at food delivery, alerts, timing & camera etc.
Only issue the feeders speech/voice output made my wife & I sound like Daleks.
Appreciate it would have a basic sound board or we possibly had the settings on exterminate…sadly the screeching 1980’s electro voice frightened 1 of our cats from coming anywhere near the boule to feed no matter how hungry she was.
Also we found the lid at times difficult to fit back on.
We brought this for a couple reasons:
A) my cat would jump onto my partners painful area in the morning to try and wake him up for breakfast
B) my cat would try opening my eyes while I’m sleeping to wake me up for breakfast which was likely going to end in him blinding me
This feeder has got him into a good routine of knowing his food will be coming at the same time every day so that we’re safe on days where we oversleep. It has a really good camera and mic too so we can check up on him and talk to him whenever we’re out of the house. It’s a really worthwhile buy
It is a fantastic feeder, it has changed my life and provided peace of mind. Takes about 30 second to set up, the app works perfectly and offers various levels of both audio and video alert, and has never let me down. Highly recommended, worth every penny.
At first, setting up the network and installing software update would fail over and over. What is odd is once I walked away from the unit, about 10 feet, it connected to Wi-Fi instantly, and software also updated instantly. Somehow the cell phone in-hand interferes with the unit connecting to the Wi-Fi signal. I wish I had known this from the start.
I was concerned that my router is in the basement on the other side of the house. I was able to connect to 2.4 Ghz Wi-Fi and the signal has never dropped so far. I have 5 Ghz as well but the router is too far away and there’s too many walls for a stable connection. Besides 5 Ghz is over kill, video streaming works fine on 2.4 Ghz and signal travels farther and works better through walls.
I have an AC timer connected to my router and ONT to cut power to both at 4:30am every morning for 30 minutes. This simulates a power outage and the Petlibro reconnects every single time no issues.
I tested the backup battery by disconnecting the power adaptor and the unit continued to dispense as per schedule with the 3 D-cell batteries! However, it disconnects from Wi-Fi when running on batteries. This was probably by design to conserve battery. Disappointed as I like to see the food in the bowl and option to manually feed for peace of mind! I found an easy and cheap workaround that maintains Wi-Fi connection on battery power. I connected a cheap $20 4000mah portable USB battery, that is used to charge cell phones, into the USB port and then I plugged a USB phone charger into that battery. The battery is charged and powers the unit at the same time. Not all USB battery packs have this pass-through feature, and I was surprised that this small cheap power pack did. I chose to use a higher quality charger instead of the included charger as I noticed that the included power pack got a little hot when charging this USB battery. I then disconnected the charger from the wall outlet to simulate a power outage and the unit disconnected from the Wi-Fi for only 15 seconds but then reconnected. It’s fully functional running on the USB power pack, stayed connected to Wi-Fi and enough power to run for 6 hours! An even larger USB battery will last at least 12-24 hours longer. Keep in mind this is only helpful if your Router & ONT are also on battery-backup/UPS so they are powered during a power outage. I have the smallest APC UPS for the router and ONT that cost $69. Also, the D-batteries are not even used until this USB battery pack is depleted! So technically my current setup will continue feeding per schedule for about 24 hours using both batteries. The unit apparently doesn’t draw a lot of power, so I wonder why Petlibro doesn’t allow Wi-Fi on the D-batteries or include a rechargeable battery instead of 3 D-batteries. D batteries are not cheap, they will lose power over time and are sold in packs of four, so I have a single battery left over. My USB battery is always 100% charged and ready to go so I prefer this setup.
So far, the portion size is consistent and zero blockages. Then again, I am using very small kibble and set to 1 portion for 6 feedings. I need to dispense the smallest portion and feed more often as my cat throws up if he eats too fast or too much. This unit is great as my cat hasn’t thrown up at all since, I bought this unit! I wish I could select an even smaller portion. Portion size is bigger when using small kibble.
An added benefit of the motion activated camera is that it’s also activated when my cat is drinking from the water fountain 12 feet in front of the feeder. I never see my cat drinking water and now I have proof. lol
I have not confirmed yet that the low-food alert works but I will update the review if there are any issues.
Some users have complained that you can’t delete a scheduled feeding. Swipe left and it gives you an option to delete a scheduled feeding.
So far, I agree with everything that is being said in the positive reviews and luckily not experiencing the issues in the negative reviews.
IF YOU WANT TO GO AWAY FOR A DAY OR 2 AND FEEL COMFORTABLE THAT YOUR CATS ARE GOING TO BE OK, THIS FEEEDER AND ITS CAMERA IS FOR YOU.
WELL MADE AND EASY TO OPERATE IT’S AN EASY 5 STARS FROM ME
The product itself seems quite good, the wifi connected well and seemed consistent, the food is very secure, and the camera is a good quality.
My problem is with the design itself which has several flaws in my situation:
1. The bowl piece doesn’t actually clip into the base, it just slides in, and it is annoying to move the two together, but also makes the base less stable, and make noise if you have a cat that will paw at it.
2. The IR sensor, when changing from ON to OFF actually makes a clicking sound, and for some reason it turns on and off even while no one is using the application. While in a pitch black room the sensor kept going on and off, which was very annoying, but also startling for my cat. The temporary solution to this was to just leave it on all of the time. EDIT: (this seems to be the case with other feeders as well, so I have adjusted my rating to 3 stars)
3. The device itself is very light, and because the bowl piece doesn’t fit in the way it should, makes it very easy to knock over if you have a pet that would do that kind of thing. Maybe if it was full to the brim with kibble all the time this may not happen, but that’s not realistic. My 9 pound cat knocked it over within a minute while it was half full.
If you don’t have a pet that will try to knock it over, and the IR sensor doesn’t bug you, I think it’s a good device, but I’m going to have to return mine.