DIY Pet Feeders

Sometimes you need to go away from home and can’t get a relative or neighbor to feed your pet.  Well, this is where DIY pet feeders come in.  A littler tinkering, some soldering, some code and presto, a pet feeder. See the four different versions below.

 

VCR Cat Feeder

Open up an old unused VCR and use it’s timer to turn on the motor and deliver pet food. Solder on some motor extension wires, add an auger and your almost good to go. This one is listed as difficult, so not for beginners. Also be aware the VCR contains 110 V AC and you need to know what not to touch.  Seems like a cheap but hard to do alternative if you have an unused VCR lying around.

 

 Build a Vacation Pet Feeder

This one uses materials you may already have around like cardboard, glue and an Arduino.  This pet feeder uses the push up action of a glue stick instead of an auger. Seems fairly easy to make, but on the other hand it also looks like your cat could rip it to shreds.

 

Twitter Controlled Pet Feeder

 

Using this automatic pet feeder an Arduino and the Arduino Ethernet shield, Instructable creator amandaghasseiuh is able to feed her pet based on Twitter messages.  Solder on some headers to a proto board, attach it to your Arduino then connect it to the feeder and you are almost good to go.. Tweet when you want to feed your pet.

Automatic Cat Feeder With Web Interface

Using an Arduino Uno , an auger and a wooden box, Instructables user sweetverve is able to store several pounds of cat food in the box and dispense it when needed.  This version contains a webcam for watching the cat and a web interface where you can set the time of the food dispensing.

The feeder is housed in a wooden box and is completely cat-proof (our curious kitty can only access the bowl with food, and no moving or electrical parts).

This one seems pretty indestructible.  Now if they only added a way to clean the litter box automatically.