Brett Calloway

About

I'm 36, a freelance product designer based in the Denver suburbs. Client work runs long and irregular: a morning call bleeds into an afternoon handoff, and dinner happens when it happens. Hopper and Beans eat on a schedule regardless of what my calendar is doing.

Testing happens in the apartment. Feeders get staged on the laminate kitchen counter first, where I can watch the initial setup and catch configuration problems before the unit moves to its actual running spot on the linoleum floor next to the power strip behind the couch. That's where the long-term clock starts. Hopper eats two small meals a day totaling no more than a third of a cup, which means any feeder reviewed here has to dispense accurately at low volumes without catching on the portion wheel. Beans clears a quarter-cup in under 90 seconds when a tray opens fully, so slow-feeder and portion-lock claims get a real stress test in this apartment.

Freelance product design means I read failure states for a living. When a setup app routes someone through five screens to change a schedule and the error message sends them in the wrong direction, I notice. My neighbor Clint, who repairs electronics on weekends and treats monthly subscription fees as a personal insult, tests products for me by receiving them with no instructions and reporting back. His sticking points have a habit of being accurate.

My background here is three years of logged misfires and a job that trains me to look at products critically, not a certificate from a vet school or behaviorist program. When a review touches anything health-adjacent, it points to your vet before the buy button.

Articles by Brett Calloway

• The Late-Night Designer’s Guide to Reliable Feeding: My Six-Month Stress Test of Smart Pet Gear
• Design Deadlines and Hungry Cats: How I Finally Automated My Denver Rental for Hopper and Beans
• Why My Smart Feeder Needs a 'Dumb' Battery Backup: Lessons from a Suburban Denver Winter
• When Meetings Run Late: A Product Designer's Stress-Tested Guide to Reliable Pet Tech for Hopper and Beans
• Calibrating the Petkit App: My Setup for a Picky Ragdoll Mix
• The Renter-Friendly Guide to Automated Pet Care: Gear That Doesn't Require a Toolbelt
• Beyond the Red Blinking Light: How I Stopped My Automatic Feeder Jams
• Organize a Pet Feeding Station in Small Apartment Rental Kitchens
• FunnyFuzzy Calming Bed: A Few Months In, Did It Actually Help My Anxious Cat?
• Automatic Pet Feeder Comparison: Capacity, Power Backup, App by Model
• Beyond the Reset Button: What I Learned Stress-Testing My First Automatic Feeders
• Why I Use a Portable Cat Feeder When Moving Between Apartments
• Best Probiotics for Cats With Sensitive Stomachs and Automatic Feeders
• Testing the Petlibro Granary: A Few Months of Automated Feeding for Hopper and Beans
• How to Set Up an Automatic Cat Feeding Schedule for Long Workdays
• Denver Hard Water vs. Smart Fountains: My Maintenance Routine After Months of Trial and Error
• Using a Microchip Cat Feeder for Multiple Cats With Different Diets
• The Night My Pet Camera Went Dark: Why I Finally Swapped to Pro-Grade Gear
• The Late-Night Deadline Test: Why One Smart Feeder Finally Stopped My Cats' Mealtime Standoff
• Best Stainless Steel Cat Water Fountain for Small Apartment Kitchens
• Best Automatic Wet Cat Feeder With Ice Packs for Work Days
• How to Use an Automatic Cat Feeder With Camera to Check on Pets
• Setting Up an Automatic Feeder for Two Cats With a Divider
• Best Automatic Slow Feeder for Cats That Eat Too Fast (2026 Update)
• How to Stop Your Cat From Breaking Into an Automatic Cat Feeder (2026 Update)
• Stress-Testing the Petkit: My 12-Hour Shift Survival Guide for Hopper and Beans

Disclosure

Some links here are affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you click through and buy, at no extra cost to you. Gear gets bought out of pocket first, tested for weeks, then either stays or goes back. If a brand drops its affiliate program, the recommendation stays if Hopper and Beans approved.