I really love this feeder, I use it for 1 midnight meal for my daughter's cat, Muffins. I've been babysitting Muffins for a month. She's very over weight and the small snack in the night has helped her stay on track with portioning and losing weight. As for the batteries, I actually prefer them to a corded feeder because there is no cord for the pet to chew, and I don't have to be concerned if there is an electrical outage, the feeder with still provide a meal right on time. That's something to think about if you are using it for a weekend or longer. A corded feeder might reset if the electric is interrupted and your pet will go hungry until you get home....