We somewhat recently got an automatic feeder and realized cats (obviously) don't understand the concept of daylight savings time
this post was submitted on 26 Jan 2026
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Having had one for almost our cats' entire lives, I can confirm that they do not.
It also creates something of a pavlovian response; it doesn't matter if there's still food in the dispenser's bowl or he's literally just eaten, the sound of more biscuits dropping is enough to make him absolutely hoof it in the direction of the feeder. Sometimes doesn't even eat anything, just has to run over to it.
Like humans and our phones.
bzzzt
instinctive pickup
"ah fuck"
Yeah we just keep the feeder on one time for the cats since theres no reason they should suffer for our mistakes.
Humans don't understand DST either tbh
seems it should probably make a feeding time transition instead of shifing it overnight.
The problem is that it's a smart feeder, so it adjusted its internal clock with DST. A "dumb" feeder would've stayed at the same "physical" time because it also would have no concept of DST.
right, so for it to keep its clock accurate to the set times but not shock kitty with late dinner, have it feed 10 minutes earlier or later over the course of 6 days to transition.
I think it'd just be better for it to ignore DST honestly
kitty agrees.
I, too, often dissociate around 11:58.
The cat will drink more water (hydrate better) if it's moved away from the food area. Instinct to avoid contamination.
my first thought as well, it's so imprinted in my brain now, just like the whiskers bothering bowls
Hey ! He his holding on the braincell for a whole 5 minutes! Other orange cats need it !
The cat needs something to occupy it before feed time
need to setup a moving laser pointer on another clock 40 minutes before the feed time so he can go stare at that for 4 minutes.
A watched clock never boils!
My cat just attacks the feeder
it would be hilarious is someone made the clock run five minutes late.
My automatic cat feeder was cheap and runs a few seconds earlier everyday. It's now a full hour and half ahead of schedule (I never updated it for daylight savings time, I figured by the time the hours are set back I can tune the clock back to the right time)
Did this with my car this year. 😆
I just got the exact same feeder! Like, genuinely ten minutes ago. Except it's white. Ended up going with this one based on some good reviews and a homeassistant integration.
In my experience, you can get away with going really cheap for dry feeders though. They really aren't that complex. I got like the second cheapest one I found on Amazon and it has been working great for the 6 months since I got it.
I mean, I do think this one was fairly cheap. And home assistant integration was a must for me.
So uh... got a link?
Looks like a PetLibro product. I have 2 of their dispensers and one of their water fountains and they're all great.
i really love that you put a clock there for them. +1
I did wait with him... hey, that's not gif nor mp4 file...
Just like workplace clockwatchers
I sure hope that's not the doomsday clock!
2 minutes to CAT FEEDING TIME