Petivity, owned by Purina, has launched a smart cat feeder that uses artificial intelligence and facial recognition to track individual cats' eating habits. The device is particularly valuable for multi-cat households where cats may require different diets, as it can monitor which animal is eating what and alert owners if a cat is consuming food intended for another pet. This capability offers practical health benefits, as behavioural changes in feeding patterns can indicate underlying health issues.

The feeder can monitor up to five cats and tracks portion sizes, eating frequency and feeding patterns through its integrated camera. Petivity trained its AI system using 21,000 real-world feeding sessions, 1,400 hours of video footage and over 15,000 photographs of cats, with testing showing that 99.5 per cent of cats accepted the feeder. The device costs $150, requires no subscription to access its AI tracking features, and offers additional smart functions such as remote kibble dispensing, video call capabilities and low-kibble alerts, though it handles only dry food rather than wet food.