I don’t have a cat, but I do have a dog, and my dog can be a picky eater. After months of trial and error, the only way we could get him to consistently eat breakfast and dinner was with wet food. There is no scenario in which I or someone watching my dog can outsource the task of feeding him, but that’s not the case for cat owners. I know that cats sometimes stay home alone for extended periods of time, where an automatic food dispenser becomes essential. I can only imagine, then, that cat owners who, like me, feed their pet wet food, now have a challenge: Someone has to be there to feed the cat.
That’s what intrigues me about Petkit’s Yumshare Daily Feast, an automated cat feeder that specifically works with wet food. I covered the Yumshare briefly when Petkit first announced it last week , but I got some hands-on time with the product today on the CES show floor. And while the device I saw isn’t going to market just yet, I was intrigued.
The concept itself is pretty simple, but a bit more complex in execution. As you might expect, the feeder distributes portions of food for your cat to eat when you’re not available—only here, that food is wet, not dry. To achieve this, Petkit outfitted the Yumshare with a chamber that can hold up to seven pouches of wet food at once. These pouches are designed for the Yumshare alone: Right now, the only company making pouches is Food Chain, which uses Petkit’s proprietary design to fit the Yumshare, but it’s possible more companies more jump on board in the future.
Credit: Lifehacker
When the Yumshare first opens one of these pouches, it sets a timer: After 48 hours, the pouch is discarded. In the meantime, the machine can automatically dole out portions set by the user, into a cup, which is stored in a separate chamber in the device. Once the portion is distributed, the pouch is sealed until the next portion is needed. The machine also uses UVC ultraviolet light to sanitize the package, with the goal of eliminating bacteria.
The automation extends to the portion of wet food itself, as well. Whether your cat eats all of the food, some of the food, or none of the food, the Yumshare can discard what’s left when it detects it’s time to do so. That might be the AI camera identifying that the food has dried up, or an internal clock recognizing that too much time has passed for the food to be safe to eat. Either way, the food drops into a waste compartment, which can hold up to 15 cups at once. The stand remains empty until it’s time to hand out another portion of food.
How large or small each portion is, as well as how often portions are distributed, is up to you. Petkit showed me a mockup of the Yumshare’s app, which lets you customize this feeding schedule. The app will also tell you how many portions have been distributed, and how many are left in the chamber. You can also take a look at a live video feed of your cat, via the 4K camera embedded in the device, or view a clip history of your cat’s feeding habits.
My only question is the lack of refrigeration: Petkit says that there is no need for it, since the pouches are all sealed until use, closed in between portions, and the chamber uses ultraviolet light to sterilize for bacteria. But I’d want to confirm there are no health risks to keeping an opened pouch unrefrigerated for up to two full days, even with that UVC light. Assuming that’s true, I’m quite impressed with this prototype. If I were a cat owner that frequently needed to leave my pet alone at breakfast and dinner, this is something I’d have my eye on.
