Portioned meals at fixed times are easy to promise and hard to keep when work runs late. A five-compartment rotating tray solves the timing rather than the quantity: you fill each compartment yourself, set the times, and the tray turns to expose one at a time. Because you do the portioning, there is no hopper to jam and no guesswork about what has been dispensed, which is what makes it workable for a cat on a diet or a dog on a measured feeding plan.

A radar sensor holds the lid open while the animal is eating and closes it afterwards, so a slow eater is not shut out halfway through a meal and a fast one cannot come back for a second helping. The digital timer handles the schedule, and the tray takes wet or dry food equally, which is the practical advantage of compartments over a gravity feeder. It runs from mains power, so place it near a socket and out of the way of a determined paw.

• Five-compartment rotating tray
• Digital timer for each meal slot
• Radar sensor holds the lid open while your pet eats
• Takes wet or dry food
• Plug options for the UK, EU, US and AU

One claim we will not repeat. The manufacturer says this keeps raw or wet food fresh for up to three days. It has no cooling of any kind, and we would not leave wet or raw food at room temperature for anything like that long. Treat it as a timer for one wet meal within a few hours, or use it with dry food.

Who it's for: Owners of cats and small dogs on measured meals who are out for the working day and want the timing handled without leaving food out.