Patent ID: 8185345

Claim:
A consumption monitoring device for monitoring the amount of consumables consumed by an animal, said consumption monitoring device comprising: a receptacle support adapted to receive a receptacle, the receptacle being adapted to contain the consumables such that the consumables are accessible by the animal when the receptacle is received by said receptacle support, the collective weight of the receptacle and any consumables contained therein is applied against said receptacle support when the receptacle is received by said receptacle support; a weight measuring device adapted to measure the weight applied against said receptacle support, said weight measuring device generates a weight measurement indicative of the measured weight; a processor, in electrical communication with said weight measuring device, configured to receive and monitor the weight measurement, to define a first weight measurement and a second weight measurement in response to detecting a change in the weight measurement, the first weight measurement being the weight measurement just prior to the change, the second weight measurement being the weight measurement after the change, to calculate a current consumption value in response to the first weight measurement being greater than the second weight measurement, the current consumption value being based on the magnitude of the difference between the first weight measurement and the second weight measurement, and to calculate a total consumption value, the total consumption value being based on the sum of the current consumption values calculated within a monitoring period; and a display in electrical communication with said processor, said display being adapted to display the total consumption value.