The story of Gatefeeder
About Gatefeeder, its inventor and the two precious pets that inspired this product.
Plato is credited as having said, “Necessity is the Mother of Invention”.
In 1999 I had a ‘day’ job with long and irregular working hours, and two cherished cats, Mikey and Sparky that no matter what time I got home from work, had eaten their dinner and were happy to see me. Life was good. Cats were happy, so I was happy. Then came the news, that Mikey had life threatening health issues, and I got strict Veterinarian instructions to only feed him a special medicated diet for the rest of his life. His special diet could not be shared with his brother Sparky. I could no longer leave food out, if I was going to be working late, and most nights I had to work late. After a few months of twice daily supervised meals, and with the help of friends and family for the night time feeding, I thought that there had to be a better way! I searched everywhere only to discover that I was already using the only solution available: supervised or separated feedings. So one day, while I was waiting yet again for a delayed flight back home, I sketched out some ideas, and by the time I landed, I had a working drawing. I now knew what our babies at home needed; now I just needed to figure out how to make the thing work. Plato was right!
Then came the news, that Mikey had life threatening health issues, and I got strict Veterinarian instructions to only feed him a special medicated diet for the rest of his life.
A friend’s cats with an early Gatefeeder prototype.
Like many inventors, this started as a weekend project for me, but each time I thought I had created the perfect solution, my cats showed me how smart they were, and sent me back to the proverbial drawing board. The journey to the finished product took a great deal of time, research, countless weekends, and eventually became my full time job. I am proud to say it is now available through this website.
Gatefeeder has two patents and is the product of numerous prototypes tested by multiple sets of pets -- including dogs, and a curious baby -- and years of sweating the small details. It is easy to use, safe, reliable, attractive and effective at delivering the right food to the right cat.
Mikey.
Mikey, who was my inspiration throughout this project, sadly has not lived to see the launch of this product having lost his heroic fight with cancer. I now have a new and growing family of cats, with the same need for controlled feeding though I am happy to say only because the neighbors cat likes to throw his weight around and eat everyone else’s food! Whatever your reason is for needing controlled and separated feeding, I know Gatefeeder can help you and your cats, as it has for me and my family of little loved ones.
Sincerely,
Philip Eu, Founder of Gatefeeder