PETKIT Fresh Element Mini Feeder Review
Nothing makes my cats happier than a full bowl of food. I’ve had many a paw tap on the head at 5 am because the bowl is empty, so I’ve always tried to fill it up before I go to bed. Those early morning wake-ups are just one of the reasons why I was so happy to test out the PETKIT Fresh Element Mini Smart Pet Feeder.

The PETKIT Fresh Element Mini Smart Pet Feeder with Wi-Fi is a pet feeder that stores your cat or dog food and lets you drop that food into the bowl via an app on your phone. You can feed your pets up to 10 meals a day, have scheduled feedings, and the interior compartment has desiccant packs to keep food fresh.

Appearance and features of the PETKIT Fresh Element Mini Smart Pet Feeder

PETKIT MINI FEEDER pieces

The PETKIT Fresh Element Mini Smart Pet Feeder is a white plastic food bowl with an interior compartment to store your pet’s food. It will hold cat or dog food.
  • Connects to 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi so you can feed your pet via the app
  • You can choose portion size for your pet
  • Schedule your feedings or tap the app to manually feed
  • Food storage container is a self-adapting system with back-plate, food mixing blade, and impeller to smoothly eject food
  • Includes desiccant pack to keep food fresh
  • Holds 6 litres of kibble
  • Easy to wipe clean
  • Plugs into any outlet, and also has a battery port in case of power outages
  • Amazon Alexa can be used for voice control

Setting up the PETKIT Fresh Element Mini Smart Pet Feeder

PETKIT Fresh Element Mini Feeder copy

Setting up the PETKIT Fresh Element Mini Feeder is very simple. You unpack the feeder from the box, and the two pieces snap together. When you open the lid, you’ll see the internal compartment that holds your pet’s food. There is a food mixing blade and an impeller that ensures the food doesn’t get stuck while dispensing.
Included in the box is a desiccant pack, and you place that pack underneath the lid of the feeder. For maximum kibble freshness, you should replace the desiccant pack once per month. To ensure your food stays fresh, there is also a food-grade soft silicone sealing ring in the food outlet door and the lid.
Just fill the interior compartment with kibble, and you’ll be ready to feed your pet. The PETKIT Mini Feeder holds 6 litres of kibble at one time.

Feeding your pet with the PETKIT Fresh Element Mini Feeder

food bowl PETKIT Mini Feeder

There are a few ways to feed your pet via the PETKIT Fresh Element Mini Feeder. You can schedule your feedings, or tap the feeder to manually feed.

Scheduled feedings with PETKIT Mini Feeder

PETKIT feeding schedule PETKIT Mini Feeder add a feeding Reminders PETKIT

I set up a schedule for feeding according to the recommendations in the app. For a cat the size of my cat Simba, the app recommended three feedings per day. Breakfast was 1/4 cup, lunch was 1/5 cup, and dinner was 1/5 cup.

When I realized how little was getting poured out into the bowl, I added a few snacks to his day. I also adjusted the amount of food dispensed every time, as 1/5 of a cup is not enough. I upped his breakfast and lunch to 1/2 a cup. You’ll probably need to tweak your food output the way I did, because it’s hard to estimate what your pet will eat during the day. In Simba’s case, he didn’t always eat all the food ejected, but like most cats, he likes to have a full bowl in case he walks by and is hungry.

You can feed more than one cat or dog with the PETKIT. You just have to add them to the app, and it will help you control how much food is dispensed.

Manual feedings

Manual feedings are easy with the PETKIT Fresh Element Mini Feeder. You just tap to add a feeding, and the food is ejected into the bowl. I found the dispensing time from when I tapped to feed and when the food was ejected was under 10 seconds, and I could feed my cat from anywhere.
When you manually feed your pet, the app logs it as a snack. Because my cat basically sat beside the bowl, watching it very carefully, I gave him a lot of small snacks. He loved it.

Amazon Alexa voice control

I don’t have Alexa at home, but you can use your Alexa for voice control with your PETKIT Fresh Element Mini Feeder. Just say some variation of “Alexa, give my cat a snack with PETKIT,” and he or she will receive a feeding.

Other PETKIT App features

PETKIT Mini Feeder feed cat

There are a few features in the PETKIT App you can use to help take care of your pet. If you use your PETKIT mini feeder for your dog, you can also log your walks. You can see an overview of the healthy eating plan you’ve set up for your pet, and you can also post photos, chat with other PETKIT users, and post short videos.
You’ll have to add friends who have PETKIT feeders in order to chat with them, but it’s fun to capture photos and save them to the app anyway.

Should you choose PETKIT Fresh Element Mini Feeder?

Plug in PETKIT feeder

If you have a cat or small dog, the PETKIT Fresh Element Mini Feeder is a great way to feed your pet. I love the scheduled feedings, and because I can just pull out my phone and give my cat a snack, I don’t get those 5 am wake ups when his bowl is empty.
It’s nice to see that my cat is eating the appropriate amount of food every day, and it really gives you an idea of their overall health. If, for example, your cat isn’t feeling good and is off his food, you’ll know right away because the PETKIT will remain full.
I don’t know how a large piece of dog kibble would work in the PETKIT Fresh Element Mini Feeder, so I’m not sure I would use it for my dogs. I have a Great Pyrenees and a Border Collie, and they both eat kibble that’s quite a bit bigger than the standard cat size kibble. They also eat a lot more kibble than 1/2 cup at a time.

I think the PETKIT Fresh Element Mini Feeder is a great way to feed cats or small dogs, and it really does take the work out of feeding your pet. You can find the PETKIT Fresh Element Mini Feeder at Best Buy right now.

Shelly Wutke
Editor TV & Home Theatre
I'm a Vancouver freelancer and tech enthusiast. When I'm not writing you'll find me on my farm with my alpacas, chickens, and honeybees. Visit my website Survivemag

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