The Food Tree turns dry food into a foraging puzzle. As a cat slow feeder it does two jobs at once: it stops fast eaters bolting their food, and it gives a clever cat something to solve between naps. Kibble drops through the tiers as your cat paws at it, so a bowl that would be emptied in thirty seconds takes several minutes instead.

Three adjustable settings mean the tree grows with your cat rather than being mastered in a week. Start on the easiest so your cat is rewarded straight away, then increase the difficulty once they are solving it confidently. A cat that fails at a puzzle feeder twice will usually refuse to try again, so early wins matter more than the challenge.

BPA-free plastic on a wide, wobble-resistant base, because a feeder that skids across the kitchen floor gets abandoned fast. The whole thing comes apart for cleaning, which you will want to do more often than you expect once kibble dust and grease build up in the tiers.

Best for bored or food-obsessed cats, and for anyone managing a cat's weight who would rather slow the eating down than cut the portion. It is a natural step up from the simpler options in our interactive cat toys range.

A puzzle feeder for cats is any bowl or structure that puts an obstacle between the cat and its food. Some use sliding lids, some use mazes. This one uses gravity and three tiers of holes.

Do cats need puzzle toys? Not strictly. What they need is something to do, and hunting for food is the activity an indoor cat is most strongly wired for. A puzzle feeder covers both at mealtimes, which is why it tends to stick where a toy does not.

How long should a cat take to eat from a slow feeder? Several minutes rather than thirty seconds. If your cat clears it in under a minute, move the difficulty up a level. If it walks away hungry, move it down.

Do slow feeders help cats lose weight? Only indirectly. It changes the pace of a meal, not the calories in it. Eating more slowly cuts the gulping that leads to regurgitation and gives a cat time to register fullness, but the portion still has to come down if weight loss is the goal.

Why does my cat eat too fast? Usually competition, habit from a shelter or a multi-cat house, or plain boredom with a bowl that asks nothing. Fast eating is behaviour rather than appetite, which is why slowing the delivery works better than reducing the food.

Can you use wet food in a puzzle feeder? Not in this one. It is a gravity tower built for dry kibble, and wet food clogs the tiers rather than dropping through. Mazes and lick mats are the wet food options.