Review · Pets · 1 model
SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeder review: the lid that opens for one cat, and what it does and does not solve
Not an automatic feeder in the usual sense: nothing is scheduled. The SureFeed's lid slides open for the cat whose microchip or collar tag it has learned and shuts behind it, so a diet cat keeps its food and a greedy housemate or the dog keeps out. This review is about what the lock changes, how the sealed bowl works for wet food, what the batteries last, and what you still do yourself.
Verdict
What it is
the feeder reviewed
SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeder
- Capacity
- 400 ml bowl (two pouches); split bowl included
- Access
- Microchip or RFID collar tag, up to 32 pets
- Power
- 4 × C batteries, about 6 months
- Warranty
- 3 years
Check price on Amazon
A battery feeder with a sliding lid and a chip reader in the arch. It opens for a registered microchip or the included RFID collar tag, stores up to 32 pets, and seals a 400 ml bowl, two pouches’ worth, with a split bowl for wet and dry supplied. Four C cells last about six months; 20 by 23 by 32 centimetres; three-year warranty. From Sure Petcare’s page.
Strengths
- Solves the multi-pet problem no timer can
- Sealed lid keeps wet food fresh for hours
- Three-year warranty
Limitations
- One bowl, no schedule: you still fill it
- Needs the cat chipped or wearing the tag
Good for
- a cat on special food in a two-cat or cat-and-dog house
Look elsewhere if
- an owner who wants timed meals while away
The lock
Register a cat by pressing the button and letting it put its head in; the feeder reads the chip and stores it. From then on the lid slides open when that cat’s head enters the arch and slides shut when it leaves. Another cat gets a closed lid. That is the whole mechanism, and it is the only one on the market that makes a prescription diet, a weight diet or a kitten’s food stay with its owner in a house with more than one mouth.
The bowl and the seal
Four hundred millilitres, which is two pouches, with a split bowl in the box for wet on one side and dry on the other. When the lid is closed it seals against the bowl’s rim, so flies stay out and the food stays moist. Sure Petcare does not claim a freshness time, and we would not either; wet food still wants changing within the day, but it is a day rather than an hour.
Batteries
Four C cells, about six months by Sure Petcare’s figure, with no mains option. That is the right design for a feeder whose only moving part is a lid: nothing to plug in, nothing that stops in a power cut.
What it does not do
Schedule. The bowl is filled by you, when you fill it. A cat that needs four small meals a day while you are at work needs a tray or hopper feeder, and in a multi-cat house the usual answer is one of those for the general population and a SureFeed for the cat with the special diet.
Strengths
- Solves the multi-pet problem no timer can
- Sealed lid keeps wet food fresh for hours
- Three-year warranty
Limitations
- One bowl, no schedule: you still fill it
- Needs the cat chipped or wearing the tag
Good for
- a cat on special food in a two-cat or cat-and-dog house
Look elsewhere if
- an owner who wants timed meals while away
Who should buy it
A household with a cat on prescription or weight-control food and another animal that would eat it; a cat-and-dog house; anyone whose kitten’s food keeps disappearing into the adult.
Who should not
A single-cat household, which has no access problem to solve; an owner who wants timed meals while away, who needs a tray or hopper feeder first.
Sources
Facts checked 23 October 2026
- Sure Petcare — SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeder product page — Manufacturer documentation, checked 23 October 2026
- Amazon listing (SureFlap) — Retailer listing, checked 23 October 2026
Does my cat need a microchip?
Either a microchip, which UK cats have been required to have since 2024, or the RFID collar tag that comes in the box. The feeder learns up to 32 identities, so a multi-cat house registers each cat that is allowed to eat from it.
How does it keep food fresh?
The lid seals over the bowl when closed, keeping flies out and the smell in, which is what lets wet food sit for hours rather than drying out. It is not refrigeration: Sure Petcare does not claim a time, and wet food still wants replacing within the day.
Does it schedule meals?
No. You fill the bowl; the feeder controls who eats it. For timed meals you want a tray or hopper feeder; for keeping one pet out of another's food, this is the only design that works.
What about the dog?
The lid opens only for a registered chip or tag, and the body is weighted and shaped so a small or medium dog cannot easily get a nose under it. Sure Petcare recommends it for cats and small dogs; a large determined dog can still knock it about.
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