Over the past few years, I’ve gradually automated my cat’s care routine, starting with a pet fountain and refurbished litter robot. This year, I discovered the missing piece when I spotted the PawSync Smart Pet Feeder for $80.
Beyond my typical enthusiasm for smart home technology, this purchase addressed a real need. After my cat’s recent health scare, I required better control over his feeding schedule and portions. What I found was more than just another gadget — it became an essential tool that genuinely improved how I care for my pet.
Why I needed a smart feeder
First, some background. Last year, my cat rapidly lost weight after eating dry food for his whole life. We took him to the vet after he couldn’t keep any food down and it was suggested we switch over to soft food because it was easier for him to swallow while he was sick.
While he likes his wet food, he still prefers dry food and constantly asks for it whenever I move it around in the closet to get at other things. We tried transitioning back to dry food with mixed results unless the meals were very small. It turns out that feeding a hungry cat six small meals per day is time-consuming and difficult to keep track of so I started researching automatic feeders.
That’s how I found PawSync.
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PawSync’s scale caught my attention in a big way
As I explored smart pet feeders, I struggled to find one that wouldn’t heap extra servings into a bowl when my cat hadn’t finished eating what was there in the first place. But PawSync’s secret weapon is a built-in scale with three major benefits: precise portion control, food intake tracking and the ability to skip a scheduled meal if enough food remains.
When setting up the PawSync, you’ll need to calibrate the scale based on the food you’re using. You start by finding the Calorie Content on your pet food’s nutritional label, usually on the side or back. After filling the feeder tank, PawSync measures out a few servings to determine the serving size it can provide. While it varies based on the food I’m using, PawSync dispenses as little as 9 grams per portion.
Although PawSync works for cats and small dogs, it supports only 4mm- to 15 mm-sized kibble, which is smaller than an American dime. (The manual has a ruler to help you check.) This means it’s not as suitable for large kibble typically eaten by large dog breeds.
After calibration, you can jump into setting up your pet’s meal plan by inputting characteristics like breed, age and weight — before following a visual guide to check your pet’s body composition for signs that they’re overweight or underweight. It stops short of creating a feeding schedule for you but gives you a helpful progress bar so you know you’ve set up enough meals.
In my cat’s case, I usually give him a serving every three hours unless he hasn’t eaten all of the previous serving yet. (More on that later.) The total listed in the app is above his daily recommendation, but thanks to the food intake tracking, I know he has never eaten the full amount.
Seeing data on my cat’s food intake is a game-changer because PawSync tells me when, how often and how much he eats. While the Eating Data tab has weekly, monthly and yearly graphs, I wish it had daily ones to make it easier to see my cat’s eating patterns without digging through a log of text entries. (It would also be nice to download the raw data.)
Finally, because PawSync can track how much food is in the bowl better than a pet cam, it can skip meals — hence my extra feedings to account for times when he eats 4 grams of food just after a skipped feeding time. It can also dispense fewer portions or spread out multiple portions in a single feeding, but my single-portion meals don’t really work with those features.
While my pet no longer wakes me up as often when he’s hungry, I can give him an extra meal anytime using the app or PawSync’s Feed button. (The buttons are locked most of the time, but you unlock them by holding both buttons for three seconds.)
How my cat uses the PawSync feeder
I initially worried my cat would be afraid of the PawSync but he immediately took a liking to it. (He also seamlessly switched to an automatic litter box and pet fountain so I guess he likes convenience.) Although the PawSync can play a custom Meal Call recording or chime, the sound of the kibble hitting his bowl is usually enough to summon him when he’s hungry. Still, I like that you can mute the meal call at night.
At his very first feeding, he eagerly chowed down on the dry food that had been an occasional treat for almost a year. I started with a few feedings per day and ramped up from there. I even reduced his wet food to a single, small feeding each morning instead of heaping morning and evening servings.
In the time I’ve had the PawSync Smart Pet Feeder, we’ve left the cat alone while on two summer trips, one for four days and another for six. No issues with PawSync arose during either trip and I was happy to have a battery backup — three D-cell batteries — for the longer trip. (I still had a pet sitter stop by daily to give him much-needed social interaction and check on his pet gadgets.)
One of my favorite PawSync app features is the feeder tank indicator, which tells you roughly how long until your next refill. Refilling the Wi-Fi pet feeder is easy, although it took me a few times to realize I can just reset the fill meter instead of recalibrating the whole thing. As far as I know, you only need to recalibrate whenever you switch to a different type of food. The tank and lid seem to lock in place well enough for a cat but I don’t know if the lid can stand up to a large, inquisitive dog.
I like that the PawSync app lets you know when to clean the feeder and change the desiccant. But it would be nice to toggle these on and off or adjust their timing. I live in a desert, so desiccants last longer and dry food stays fresher. (There’s a mysterious calendar icon in the PawSync app that says “Coming soon,” which I suspect is for a pet supply subscription. But I secretly hope it’s an automated meal scheduling assistant.)
Should you buy the PawSync Smart Pet Feeder?
In my experience, an automatic pet feeder isn’t about making it easier for me. Instead, it’s a way to give my cat the food he wants most without worrying if he can keep it down. While it has a side effect of simplifying the work for my pet sitter while I’m out of town or enabling spontaneous overnight trips — that’s more of a bonus.
After using it for three months, I highly recommend the PawSync Smart Pet Feeder for anyone looking for better portion control for their pets. This closely aligns with the many positive customer reviews I found online. As of my review, it’s only been on the market for about a year — only time will tell if PawSync is durable and reliable enough to dominate the smart feeder category.
It’s undoubtedly useful for everyone else, but the $100 price (though it typically sells for $80) suggests that options like PitPet and Papifeed are better for folks on a budget. Still, it’s a bit more affordable than the highly-rated Petlibro Granary — much cheaper than the Whisker Feeder Robot. I think the built-in scale will encourage a new wave of smart pet feeders trying to catch up.
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