An animal feeding system, comprising: a housing; a container (110, 310) dimensioned to hold pet food (150, 152) in pellet form, the container having an upper end and a lower end, with the lower end having an opening through which the pet food travels; a receptacle (120, 320) for receiving the pet food as it gravitationally falls through the opening in the container; a conveyor system for moving the dry pet food from the receptacle (120, 320) and to a feeding bowl (140, 340, 640, 740), the conveyor system residing within the housing and having a conveyor belt, raised ribs spaced apart along the conveyor belt forming compartments for holding designated volumes of the pet food (150, 152), and a drive motor for causing cycling of the conveyor belt, and wherein the conveyor belt is angled upward at least 15 degrees relative to horizontal forming a first lower end and a second upper end; the first lower end of the conveyor belt positioned within the receptacle (120, 320), wherein the first lower end is configured to pick up designated volumes of the pet food during the cycling of the conveyor belt, wherein the second upper end of the conveyor belt is configured to gravitationally drop the pet food from the compartments through a housing chute and into a feeding bowl (140, 340, 640, 740) during the cycling of the conveyor belt, wherein the picking up the designated volumes includes the raised ribs rotating through a portion of the receptacle (120, 320); a user control unit (170, 170', 170", 470, 570, 670A, 670B, 670C, 770) having a user interface by which a user may program the animal feeding system to dispense food according to a schedule; and a micro-processor in electrical communication with the motor configured to deliver start and stop signals to the motor in response to the schedule selected by the user. a housing; a container (110, 310) dimensioned to hold pet food (150, 152) in pellet form, the container having an upper end and a lower end, with the lower end having an opening through which the pet food travels; a receptacle (120, 320) for receiving the pet food as it gravitationally falls through the opening in the container; a conveyor system for moving the dry pet food from the receptacle (120, 320) and to a feeding bowl (140, 340, 640, 740), the conveyor system residing within the housing and having a conveyor belt, raised ribs spaced apart along the conveyor belt forming compartments for holding designated volumes of the pet food (150, 152), and a drive motor for causing cycling of the conveyor belt, and wherein the conveyor belt is angled upward at least 15 degrees relative to horizontal forming a first lower end and a second upper end; the first lower end of the conveyor belt positioned within the receptacle (120, 320), wherein the first lower end is configured to pick up designated volumes of the pet food during the cycling of the conveyor belt, wherein the second upper end of the conveyor belt is configured to gravitationally drop the pet food from the compartments through a housing chute and into a feeding bowl (140, 340, 640, 740) during the cycling of the conveyor belt, wherein the picking up the designated volumes includes the raised ribs rotating through a portion of the receptacle (120, 320); a user control unit (170, 170', 170", 470, 570, 670A, 670B, 670C, 770) having a user interface by which a user may program the animal feeding system to dispense food according to a schedule; and a micro-processor in electrical communication with the motor configured to deliver start and stop signals to the motor in response to the schedule selected by the user.