First, make sure to download the free Catit PIXI app and to set up your Catit PIXI Smart Feeder by following the steps in our Quick Start Guide.

Step 1: Check how much food your cat needs

Check the packaging of your cat’s dry food for a feeding guide. This is a handy tool to determine what amount of kibble is right for your cat, depending on their weight and age. Do you want to put Fluffy on a diet? Make sure to reduce their food intake gradually, taking small steps. Playing more with your feline will help them lose weight more quickly and efficiently.

Step 2: Divide your cat’s daily food intake into portions

Once you’ve calculated how much food your cat needs, pour a day’s worth of kibble into a bowl and place it next to the serving dish of your Catit PIXI Smart Feeder. Now, keep count as you push the nose button on the feeder as many times as needed to ensure the bowl you just filled and the food dish of the Smart Feeder end up containing roughly the same amount of food. Each time you pressed the nose counts as 1 portion. The number of portions your cat can have, will be important in step 4.

Step 3: Decide on how often you want to feed your cat

In the wild, cats eat about 10 small meals a day. Thanks to the Catit PIXI Smart Feeder, you can now mimic this feeding pattern at home. An adult cat’s stomach is roughly the size of a ping pong ball, so serving just 2 large meals a day could cause your feline to throw up. Kittens need much more energy on a per-pound basis than adult cats. However, their stomach is also smaller, which means it is even more important for kittens to get more than just 2 meals per day. Somewhere between 4 and 12 would be perfect for most cats.

Step 4: Determine the size of each meal

In the Catit PIXI app, each meal is made up of a number of portions. This is where your calculations from step 2 come in handy. Say you want to feed your cat 6 meals per day, and you calculated that your cat needs 12 portions per day. This means that, if you want all meals to be the same size, each meal will consist of 2 portions. Note that each meal can have a different size, so there is no need for them to be all the same.

Step 5: Enter a feeding plan in the PIXI app

To set up a feeding plan, simply open the Catit PIXI app and select your Catit PIXI Smart Feeder. Next, tap the food bowl on the right side of the screen, and select “add feeding plan”. This feature will allow you to schedule up to 12 meals per day. Ta-dah, you’re all set!

 Tip: Go here for a step-by-step tutorial on how to schedule your cat’s new feeding plan in the Catit PIXI app.