PETKIT YumShare Solo 2 Review: A Meal Log for Shared Bowls

The camera sits on a post beside the bowl. PETKIT says it tells pets apart by face, without a collar tag. Each visit is logged with the time, how long the cat stayed and how much it ate. The same camera watches the food level. Set a limit in the app, and the feeder pauses the next scheduled meal while food is still sitting there. Fresh kibble doesn't land on top of yesterday's.

In a house where three cats share one bowl, the log can show that one of them has eaten less all week. A timer feeder can't tell you that. The Solo 2 can't act on what it sees, though. There's one hopper and one bowl, and any cat that reaches the bowl can eat what's in it. If one cat is on a prescription diet, this feeder will only record that another cat ate it. A feeder that opens for one cat's tag is the tool for that job.

Without a PETKIT Care+ plan, the manual says the timeline shows still pictures only. Full clips, sped-up highlights and HD moments need the plan. PETKIT's help center adds a 7-day free trial of playback when the feeder is first set up. The manual also lists pet detection among the Care+ services. Neither it nor the product page says which per-cat records stay free after the trial. Ask PETKIT support before counting on the face log without a plan. We'd buy the Solo 2 for the photo timeline and the bowl check, and treat clip playback as an extra.

One tap switches the camera off, or it can run only during the monitoring hours you set. The manual says feeding plans keep running with the camera off. PETKIT also says the footage is end-to-end encrypted, so PETKIT itself can't watch it.

PETKIT's product page promises a built-in battery that keeps meals on schedule for up to two weeks. Nothing is built in. Both the spec block on that page and the manual call for five AAA alkaline batteries, sold separately. They go in a tray under the base, and only alkaline cells work, the manual adds. Then the page's FAQ asks for four D batteries, which no other PETKIT document for this feeder mentions.

Buy the batteries with the feeder, because the manual has you fit them before clipping on the raised stand. Without them, a power cut stops the meals.

With batteries in, the meals continue and the camera doesn't. PETKIT says the camera is disabled in battery mode, and the manual says its indicator light goes out. So an outage is the one stretch when the Solo 2 can't show you the bowl. An owner checking in from a trip sees nothing until the power returns. The two-week figure is PETKIT's rating, and the manual's advice is to check them before a long absence.

PETKIT says scheduled meals keep coming while the feeder is offline, so a router restart won't cost a cat its dinner.

Only dry food goes in: kibble up to 12 mm across and freeze-dried pieces up to 9 mm. Wet food is out. The hopper holds 3 liters, about 12 cups. PETKIT's 15-day figure for one pet works out to about four-fifths of a cup a day. Two cats eating that much empty it in about a week.

The spec block on PETKIT's product page allows up to five portions per meal, at 10 grams each. The FAQ on the same page says up to 10 portions. Plan meals around the 50-gram ceiling until PETKIT settles it. The app schedules up to 10 meals a day.

The hopper lifts off with the two PUSH buttons, and the dispensing vanes pull out without tools. Turn the impeller cover clockwise and the impeller comes free. PETKIT's manual says to wash those parts, the lid and the bowl with detergent, then let them dry completely. The main unit stays out of the water: wipe it with a damp cloth and never soak it. No dishwasher is mentioned, so wash by hand.

The manual also asks you to hide the power cord from chewing. Stand the feeder against a wall or in a corner, it adds, so a pet can't knock it over. The raised stand comes in the box, and PETKIT rates the feeder for cats and small-breed dogs.