I was really hoping I could use this effectively for my cats. However, it really is designed best for dogs. It does dispense very efficiently and the timer is really easy to set. I tried using it for my normally free-feeding cats but they weren't liking it. I gave it to my brother for his dogs and they love it. The one thing I would change to make this more cat-friendly would be to add a motion sensor so that it dispenses or opens a cover to the food when it senses a critter in front of it.