Cats aren't nearly as fussy as their reputations would have you believe but you do need fit for purpose cat feeders and/or bowls.  Your cat may be prepared to eat from the tin or packet, but it makes an awful mess of your floor!

Bowls should preferably be dishwasher safe so that they can be cleaned properly and should definitely be unbreakable. Feeders should be easy to clean too, with removable bowls which can be put in the dishwasher.  If you have cats which don't get on and need to be fed in different parts of the house, then bowls are really the best option.

Automatic cat feeders are a blessing if you go out to work or want to leave your cat for a night.  I would never recommend leaving a cat without any human care for more than one night as if a feeder fails to work, they could go hungry and besides, they do like company.

There are several different types of cat feeders on the market all varying in price.  The first type has a reservoir which refills the bowl as the cat eats.  You can only use dry food in this type of feeder.  This is fine for one cat and can work for more than one, but not if one of them is particularly greedy or aggressive, as the other(s) may not get a look in.  This type of feeder makes it difficult to see which cat is eating how much, so if one isn't eating because it's ill, you may not realise for some time.  Equally, some cats won't eat food which has been sitting around for more than a couple of hours, so you may end up wasting a lot of cat food.

Automatic cat feeders are the second type.  These have a battery operated timer which you can set for whatever time you want your cat's food to be available to it.  Some are circular with several compartments which are individually timed as the batter rotates the lid; others have a lid which springs open when the time is right and others still have two lids which can have their lids set to open at different time.  These feeders can contain dry or tinned food, as you wish.

If you only have one cat, you can get a combination feeder with two reservoirs, one for food and one for water but don't fill either one too full as you will need to refill them with fresh food and water on a daily basis.

It is important to clean cat food and water bowls daily.  After all, you wouldn't want your dinner served up on the plate you used for breakfast, would you?