Pet feeders

An animal feeder having a housing comprising an aperture for a food bowl and having a door for covering the aperture, the feeder comprising a door mechanism to control movement of the door over the aperture, wherein the feeder comprises:

• an antenna for reading an RFID tag of an animal;
• a processor for detecting authorisation of the animal based on the read RFID tag;
• a communications interface configured to allow the feeder to provide status information to a user or remote location;
• wherein the door mechanism is configured to control the door to at least partially uncover the aperture in response to a said authorisation detection.

An animal feeder configured to operate in a selective mode, the animal feeder having a housing comprising an aperture for a food bowl and having a door for covering the aperture, the feeder comprising a door mechanism to control movement of the door over the aperture, wherein the feeder comprises:

• at least one proximity sensor arranged to detect an animal on an approach towards the aperture;
• authorisation circuitry comprising:
• an antenna for reading an RFID tag of an animal;
• and
• a processor for detecting authorisation of the animal based on the read RFID tag,
• wherein the feeder is configured to activate the authorisation circuitry in response to sensing an output the at least one proximity sensor, and the door mechanism is configured to move the door to at least partially uncover the aperture in response to a said authorisation detection.