Help With Your Smart Feeder for Cats

In addition to having your feeder dispense meals on schedule, you can also dispense an extra meal manually with a few taps in the app.   

To dispense an extra meal: 

1. Go to the Home page and tap Feed. 
2. If you have more than one Feeder, tap which Feeder you want to dispense food from. 
3. Select the amount of food to dispense.  
4. Tap Feed now. 

The food should dispense within 30 seconds. You’ll get a success message when it does. Any meals you dispense manually will appear on the Events tab along with your scheduled meals. 

When you first add your feeder to the Petivity app, it’ll be in Training Mode. During this time, the feeder will take a few photos when a cat eats and then send you a Training Request to tell us which cat it was.  

This is done to teach your feeder how to recognize each cat, so it can then identify them later, and track their eating habits automatically. 

Once each cat has 7 great pics, training is complete, and you can sit back and watch the insights come in.    

To complete a Training Request:   

1. Go to the Home page and select a Training Request from the To Do list.  
2. Review the photos, select which cat is eating, and save your selection. (You can only select cats who have a profile in your app.) 
3. Next, choose the best picture of your cat’s face, and save your selection. 

Your answers will be recorded, and you’ll get an update on your training progress. Depending on how often your cat eats, it should only take a few days to complete Training Mode. 

At any time, you can see your progress by selecting the Training Mode banner on the Home page.  

Every time your cat eats, the smart scale under your feeder’s bowl records how much they ate.  

That info is then added to your Events page in the Petivity app and your cat’s profile.  

To see your cat’s eating events, tap Events on the bottom menu bar of the app.  

From there you can see: 

• how many times they came to the feeder 
• what time they came 
• how much they ate 

From your cat’s profile, you can see a day view, 2-week view, and 1-month views into: 

• how much they ate from the feeder each day 
• how much they had been eating from the feeder on average  
• their typical range of how much they’ve been eating 

We’re always working on adding new features to the Petivity app, so watch for more data on your cat’s eating habits. 

The feeder’s built-in video camera lets you check in with your cat during meals or see how much food is left in the bowl (you can also watch your cat come running for their meals!).  Video is livestreamed in the Petivity app.  

By default, the feeder’s camera is OFF. When the camera is on, you'll see a green indicator light on the feeder. 

To view the livestream: 

1. On the Home page, tap Video down in the bottom-right. 
2. If you have multiple Feeders, select the feeder you want to view. 
3. Turn sound ON or OFF at any time during the livestream. 

Once you close the live view, the camera turns OFF. 

The feeder does not record video. The camera is only used for live viewing and to help identify your cat during feeding events. 

When the feeder detects activity near the bowl, the camera will turn on briefly to see who it is. If it’s your cat, it may stay ON for up to 10 min while they interact with the bowl. 

For more information about how camera data is used, review the Privacy Policy in your app settings. 

If you find the feeder has mislabeled an event, you can edit it in your app. This can happen if two of your cats look a lot alike. Your help can teach the feeder to better recognize them later. 

To edit an event:  

1. Go to the Events tab in your Petivity app. 
2. Choose an event from the list.  
3. Confirm the current cat (or cats) and select Save selection.  

The charts for each cat will be updated on their profile. If your feeder was in Training Mode, you’ll get an update on how the change affects your feeder’s training status. 

When there’s about 1/3 of your cat’s food left, the light on your feeder will turn purple, and we’ll send a notification to your phone. (Remember to only use dry kibble between 5 – 15 millimeters in diameter.)  

To add more food to your feeder: 

1. Remove the lid by squeezing the two buttons on the top. 
2. Pour in more kibble to the Max Food Line.  
3. Lock the lid back in place. 
4. Open the Petivity app and select your feeder. 
5. Then choose Prime the feeder.  

Priming your feeder moves the food around so that it dispenses evenly. A bit of kibble may come out. Feel free to add it back to the feeder or give it to your cat as a snack! 

Once that’s done, mealtime is good to go.  

As long as your feeder is online, you can go into the Feeding Schedule to add a new meal, change the mealtime or portion size, or turn meals ON or OFF.  

When a meal is ON, it will dispense daily. When it’s OFF, it will not dispense until ON again. 

To get to your Feeding Schedule, select View schedule for your feeder on the Home page. If you haven’t added a meal yet, you’ll need to select Schedule a meal. 

To add a new meal: 

1. On the Feeding Schedule page, choose + Add Meal. 
2. Select a mealtime and portion size. 
3. Select Save meal.  

The meal defaults to ON and will dispense like clockwork.  

To edit a scheduled meal: 

1. On the Feeding Schedule page, select the > (right arrow) button on a meal. 
2. Make any changes as needed. 
3. Select Save changes.  

To turn a meal on or off: 

Instead of deleting a meal from your schedule, you can pause it by turning it OFF and then back ON again to resume it later.  

1. On the Feeding Schedule page, tap the > (right arrow) button on a meal. 
2. Toggle the setting for Dispense daily ON or OFF as needed. 
3. Select Save changes.  

To delete a schedule meal: 

1. On the Feeding Schedule page, tap the > (right arrow) button for a meal. 
2. Select Delete meal.  
3. On the confirmation screen, choose Yes, delete meal. 

The meal will be deleted from the feeder’s feeding schedule. If the meal was scheduled for today, that meal will also be canceled. 

It's a good idea to regularly clean your automatic feeder's parts, as it keeps everything hygienic. It also helps clear out kibble that may have become stuck, which can prevent jams. 

To clean your feeder: 

1. Remove the stainless-steel bowl. 
2. Pull out the food container from the top of the feeder. 
3. Remove the propeller from the food container by twisting it counterclockwise and pulling up. 
4. Turn the food container over and remove the kibble cup by twisting counterclockwise. 
5. Disassemble the cup and remove the silicone cover. 
6. Now just load everything in the dishwasher. The container should go on the bottom rack and the other parts can go on top. 

If you see a message on your Home screen for your feeder that says, “Your feeder is offline,” make sure it’s plugged in and your internet is working.  

If it’s plugged in but not connected to Wi-Fi: 

• Your pretty kitty will still receive their scheduled meals as listed on the day schedule. 
• The feeder will still capture their eating habits. 
• You won’t be able to view the livestream.  
• Data and schedule changes won’t update until the feeder connects to Wi-Fi again. 

If your Wi-Fi password has changed, you can update it in the device settings. 

If your Wi-Fi password changed or you moved to a new network, you can update it from the Device Settings in your Petivity app. 

To update your Wi-Fi: 

1. Go to the Home page in your Petivity app. 
2. Find your Device and select it. 
3. Scroll to the Status section and tap Change Wi-Fi. 

The app will walk you through the rest.  

If you don’t see your Wi-Fi network in the app: 

• Make sure the network security type is WEP, WPA, or WPA2, and your router supports 2.4 GHz. 
• Check your connection and try restarting your router. 
• Try moving your device closer to the Wi-Fi source. 

You’ll be asked to connect your feeder to your phone via Bluetooth when you first add your feeder to the app and any time you need to update the Wi-Fi. 

Trouble connecting to Bluetooth? Make sure your phone is connected to Wi-Fi, Bluetooth is ON for your phone, and Petivity has access to use it. 

To connect to Bluetooth: 

1. Press and hold the button on the back of the feeder for a few seconds until the light turns blue, then release. It should start blinking blue. That means your feeder is searching for your phone. 
2. Go through the flow as needed in your app (add device or change Wi-Fi) and keep your phone near the device so it can pair with your phone.  
3. Accept any permission or pairing requests that come up on your phone. 

If you’re troubleshooting an issue, the Petivity Consumer Support team may ask you to reset it and then add it back to your app. This will erase all device settings, user settings, Wi-Fi credentials, and BLE information from your device.  You won’t lose any of the data your device has already collected. It will still appear on pet profiles. 

To reset your feeder: 

1. Plug it in with the provided power cord.  
2. Press and hold the button on the back of the feeder. The light will turn blue. 
3. Continue to hold for about 10 seconds, until the light turns white, then release it. 

The light will blink white, then yellow. When the light blinks blue, the reset is complete. 

To start collecting data with it again, see: Set up your feeder. 

To remove your feeder completely from your cat’s profile, see: How do I remove my feeder? 

If you get a message that your feeder is jammed or the outlet is blocked, it’s usually because there’s too much food in the bowl when it’s trying to dispense or it may be due to your kibble type.  

Remember to only use dry kibble between 5 – 15 millimeters in diameter. Some kibble types are lighter or less dense and may move more slowly from the feeder down the chute. If you notice this happening, gently clear it into the bowl.  

The stainless-steel bowl provided with your feeder was built low and flat to make it more comfortable for your cat to eat without their whiskers touching the sides. If you feed too much too soon, kibble can back up into the chute causing the outlet to get blocked. 

If this happens often, try serving smaller portions more frequently throughout the day. Many cats actually prefer this style of feeding, as it better matches their natural grazing behavior. 

If you continue to have issues, please contact our Consumer Support team or use the chat button on this screen. 

The status lights help you know what’s going on with your feeder. Here's a breakdown of each one. 

• ⚪️ Solid white: Feeder is online and working. 
• 🔵 Blinking blue: Feeder is ready to connect to Bluetooth. Keep your phone near the feeder and be ready to accept any permission or pairing requests. To try again, press and hold the status button on the back of your feeder until it turns blue, then release. 
• 🟡 Blinking yellow: Feeder is offline. Check your Wi-Fi connection. 
• 🟣 Solid purple: Food is low. Refill soon. 
• 🟢 Solid green: Action completed. 
• 🔴 Blinking red: Check for a device jam or make sure the bowl is in place. If the issue continues, please contact our Consumer Support Team. 

When you first plug in your feeder (or reset it), you may see multiple lights as it boots up. 

If the feeder can’t dispense a meal for any reason, we’ll send a notification to your phone and update that meal on the Home screen as Did Not Dispense.   

Select the Details button for the meal to learn why it didn’t dispense and how to fix the issue. Possible reasons include: 

• Feeder is jammed. Try removing the food container from the feeder and cleaning out all the food including any kibble in the dispenser, then refill, and try to prime the feeder. 
• Not enough dry food. The feeder needs enough dry food to fill the whole dispenser at the bottom of the feeder to dispense a meal properly. We recommend filling the food container to the Max Fill Line whenever you see that Low Kibble message on your Home screen. 
 

Priming gets your feeder ready to portion out and dispense food evenly. It moves the food around a bit in the bottom of the feeder to help it settle and avoid jamming.  

Any time you add more food to the feeder, you should prime it (especially if it’s empty).   

To prime your feeder: 

1. From the Home screen, select your Device. 
2. At the bottom of the page, choose Prime the feeder. 
3. Review the information and select Yes, prime the feeder. 
4. When it’s done, you should see a success message and select Done! 

Taring resets the scale under your feeder’s bowl to zero, so it will ignore the weight of the bowl when calculating how much your cat eats.  

Regularly taring your feeder every 3 months helps keep your data clean and more accurately track how your cat eats. 

To tare your feeder: 

1. From the Home screen, select your Device. 
2. At the bottom of the page, choose Tare the feeder. 
3. Follow the directions on the screen. Then push the button on the back of the feeder 3 times quickly in a row. 
4. The light will blink green. When it’s done, it will turn white, and you can select Done!

You can’t add additional users to your account, but you can log into your account on other devices. We don’t recommend sharing your account credentials with others, however, sincethe Petivity app requires a Google or Apple account to log in. Anyone who has your Google or Apple credentials can access other accounts that use those same credentials.

If you’re giving your feeder to someone else, or just want to remove it from your household, you can do this from the Device Settings in your Petivity app. 

Any data your device has already collected will still appear on your pet profiles, but you’ll no longer have control of your device from your app. 

If you plan on giving your feeder to someone else, you may want to reset it first.  See also: I need to reset my feeder 

To remove a feeder from your app: 

1. From the Home screen, select your Device. 
2. At the bottom of the page, choose Remove device. 
3. Review the information and select Remove Feeder. 
4. Confirm your decision by selecting Yes, remove it. 

You’ll get a success message when the process is complete. 

To add the feeder back to your app, see: Set up your feeder