Bucket Pet Feeding System

You love your pet so much but don't you get tired of filling and refilling the food dish, over and over again? You have to do it though; your pet needs fresh food every day. You might have gone and priced some of those automatic feeding systems, but ran back home, frightened away by the price tag. Can you afford two buckets? If so, you can quickly make an automatic feeder that can hold five gallons of food at a time. Although simplistic, and not all that attractive, a bucket system means you won't have to refill the cat or dog food bowl every day.

When you purchase two, 5-gallon buckets, or similar types, you can turn them into a feeding system for your pet. The buckets must be a type that allows one bucket to fit inside the other, snugly. Also, at least one bucket should have a lid, but this is optional.

Stand one bucket in front of you and mark an area, towards the lower side of the bucket, where you can cut a hole to dispense the food. Just draw a rectangle, about the size of an envelope, with a marker or chalk. Position the opening so that it's a couple of inches above the very bottom of the bucket. A sharp knife will do it but, if you heat the knife, it will go along even faster.

On the second bucket, turn it upside-down, and cut a hole in the bottom. If the bucket already has a circle on the bottom, use it as a guide to cut the hole. Otherwise, cut a hole about the size of a baseball, right in the middle of the bottom of the bucket.

Slide the bucket with the bottom hole into the bucket with the envelope-size hole. Fill up the top bucket with food and put the lid on it. The food falls through the hole in the bucket and dispenses through the side of the bottom bucket. If you have no lid for the top bucket you can certainly cut a circle of cardboard and cover the bucket with it.

When you make an automated feeding system for your cat or dog, using buckets, you create it in just a few minutes, but it will last for the life of your pet. It might not be the most beautiful feeder but it works great.