About Smart Paw Picks

Smart Paw Picks reviews automatic feeders, pet cameras, water fountains, and smart pet gear for cat owners who leave for long stretches and need that gear to hold up without supervision. Everything here is bought out of pocket, run through at least four weeks of actual daily use in a Lakewood, Colorado apartment with two cats, and logged for failures before any verdict gets published.

The site started in late 2023 after three feeders failed in one month, three different failure modes. The third failed on a Tuesday. I got home at 9 PM to Hopper parked on my laptop keyboard, cursor blinking mid-sentence in an unfinished client email, bowl empty. The reviews I found at the time were written after a week or two of ownership at most. I started a dated failure log and kept going past that window. That log is what this site grew out of.

Beans, the 4-year-old ragdoll mix, handles water fountain testing. She rejects products on grounds that are not always obvious but have been consistent enough to trust.

No press samples. No gear from branded mailers. Affiliate links are disclosed on every page.

Meet the person behind the reviews on the author page.

Disclosure: some links here are affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy through them. Your price stays the same. Gear gets bought first, tested for weeks, then either earns a spot in the apartment or goes back. Hopper and Beans' approval is the deciding factor, not the commission rate.