Have a brainy, food-driven feline living in your home? Then you'd do well to look into a toy-style feeder. Why? For starters, food-driven cats tend to also be gobblers, which can lead to all sorts of digestive issues – and maybe some ruined carpeting. Second, if your fuzzy little friend is also exceptionally smart, there's a good chance he gets bored pretty quickly. All that said, you can see why a slow feeder bowl that doubles as a maze toy would help to keep your cat both mentally stimulated and appropriately full. Today, we're going to be discussing one such contraption, the Catit Senses 2.0 Food Tree. We will look into what it is, how it can benefit your cat, and what users are saying about it.
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What is the Catit Senses 2.0 Food Tree?
The Catit Senses 2.0 Food Tree is an interactive slow feeder toy. Or perhaps it's a puzzle-style cat food bowl. Depends on how you look at it, really. Whether you label it as a toy or a bowl, though, it is a very cool little gizmo that is meant to satiate your cat's hunger for both food and play. This unique item is made up of a stable stand with a bowl-shaped food catcher and a large “tree.” The tree section is the most important part, as it contains several holes where your kitty can coax out pieces of kibble, trying to puzzle and hunt his way to dinnertime.
One thing that makes this toy a real standout is your ability to change difficulty levels, which means no matter how clever your kitty, you can always switch things up to outsmart him. Another neat thing to note is that this toy is made to be expandable. Catit has created a ton of very cool and innovative products, and this food tree is meant to be mixed and matched with other 2.0 products – for example, the Wellness Center, Scratcher, and Grass Planter.
Made up entirely of BPA-free materials, this toy is both useful and safe. In addition to the good quality materials, recent upgrades from earlier iterations have improved the toy's stability, while the tray at the bottom lessens whisker stress by sheer virtue of its size and shallow depth.
What Does the Catit Senses 2.0 Food Tree Do?
In essence, the Catit Senses 2.0 Food Tree is simply a cat food bowl. In practice, though, it is more than just a place for kitty kibble to rest. As we mentioned in the beginning, this bowl is perfect for rapid-fire eaters, as it only dispenses small portions at any given session. Assuming your cat is fairly persistent, he will get his appropriate level of food over a much longer period of time. The result of this? Less stomach upset, fewer bouts of vomiting (due to gorging), and an overall happier household.
If your kitty isn't a quick eater, but likes a challenge, this feeder toy might work for him as well. The maze-like tree, with its high walls and narrow opening, requires plenty of thought and concentration. Even if your fuzzy little buddy gets the hang of one setting, there are two others that will help to keep him guessing. If your cat is a hunter, he might also enjoy the puzzle quality of this feeder, as it requires him to work for his food. Additionally, because he has to reach into the holes – which can be quite slippery – the odd movement of the kibble can stimulate his hunting instincts.
Features
- High-walled holes designed to challenge cats of any size
- Spill-preventing, whisker-safe bowl
- Stable base
- Cheat-proof opening
- Three difficulty modes
- Customization options (with other Catit 2.0 products)
- Easy assembly
- Easy to disassemble and clean
What are People Saying About the Catit Senses 2.0 Food Tree?
The Cons
One of the downsides of this sort of product is that rapid eaters who are otherwise less active will not really want to bother with this toy at all. Some users report that their lethargic felines will completely ignore the feeder, opting instead to follow their people around and complain. Similarly, some people have said that their cats will only go so far in swatting down their kibble, then demand that their humans do the rest of the work.
On the opposite end, folks with very active or particularly sharp cats have stated that this puzzle is a little too easy. In this case, the kitties in question either figure out all three levels in a short amount of time, or discover that the hole sizes are a little too large to present a real challenge for them.
Finally, some users have said that the learning curve for this can be a little steep, with some extreme cases never learning how to use this contraption at all.
The Pros
One of the things that users love most about the Catit Senses 2.0 Food Tree is its ability to help out quick eating and overweight cats. Many users have stated that once their kitties got the hang of this toy, they were not only slowing down and reducing their intake, but they were also more physically active.
Some users have stated that in addition to reducing gobbling, this toy helped curb other undesirable behaviors. For example, multi-cat households with food-guarding issues have benefited from this as the guard cat sees the tree as more of a toy, while the cat that misses out on dinnertime gets regular, unguarded access.
Lastly, many users state that the Catit Senses 2.0 Food Tree has simply made life easier. For one thing, it holds plenty of food that is dispensed quite slowly, thus reducing time spent on feeding. Next, it is simple to take apart, clean, and put back together. And finally, it keeps their felines entertained and well fed, even when their people are away from home.
Conclusion
Whether your kitty is a genius, a speedy eater, or a mishmash of the two, then a puzzle-type feeder is a great option. The Catit Senses 2.0 Food Tree is just one option; however, it's one of the better options available.
Have you tried this Catit product? Has it helped your kitty? Let us know in the comments!