Neakasa Riko Fresh-Made Wet Meal Feeder Review 2026: Our Expert’s Opinion

You’ve probably heard by now that feeding wet food to your cat is better than feeding dry food. This has a lot to do with hydration and moisture levels. As it turns out, most cats don’t drink enough water, and a diet of dry food compounds the issue by further dehydrating them.

Feeding canned or wet food is a great solution to this issue. Unless, of course, you travel, work long hours, or otherwise don’t have the bandwidth to open can after can for your hungry feline.

This is where the Neakasa Riko Fresh-Made Wet Meal Feeder comes in. This isn’t another automatic wet cat food feeder that requires constant refilling and cleaning. Oh no, this is something completely new.

This revolutionary device fresh-grinds freeze-dried cat food, rehydrates it with filtered water, then serves it automatically—up to 20 meals per day! Never before has keeping your cat hydrated been so easy or so tasty.

But does this high-tech contraption live up to the hype? I had the opportunity to test this space-age automatic cat feeder with the help of my hungry-hippo kitty, Makoa. Keep reading to see what we liked about it and if it’s worth the purchase in my full Neakasa Riko Fresh-Made Wet Meal Feeder review.

Why Feeding Wet Food Is Better But More Difficult

Domestic cats are descended from African desert wild cats. These wild felines got most of their hydration from their prey. Their kidneys became ultra-efficient at retaining moisture, and their drive to find fresh water sources nearly disappeared completely.

Our house cats retain this same physiology and lack of interest in hunting down fresh water. The problem? They aren’t typically chowing down on juicy rodents a dozen times a day. Which means they often don’t get the moisture they need to keep those specialized kidneys healthy.

This is why 40% of cats over 10 years old and 80% of cats over 15 years old develop chronic kidney disease. After a lifetime of chronic dehydration, their kidneys simply can’t keep up.

One solution is to increase the amount of water cats consume through their food by offering wet food or adding water to their dry food. This is doable if you are home during meal times every day. But if you work long hours, have a million other things to juggle, or occasionally (or often) travel, feeding moist meals consistently becomes more of a challenge. 

Some turn to automatic wet food feeders that keep pre-prepared portions of wet food cool, automatically opening each portion on a set schedule. While these work in the short term, they hold only a limited amount of food (generally between three and six meals) and require a lot of cleanup and constant restocking.

For those who travel or already struggle to get everything done in a day, this is far from being a convenient or effective solution.

What Makes the Neakasa Riko Fresh-Made Wet Meal Feeder Different?

The Neakasa Riko Fresh-Made Wet Meal Feeder combines the health benefits of a wet-food diet with the convenience and high-capacity of a dry-food automatic feeder.

Unlike traditional automatic wet food feeders that can only store a handful of meals, the Neakasa Riko Fresh-Made Wet Meal Feeder can hold weeks of food at a time and dispense meals up to every hour, keeping kitties with even the most specialized dietary needs happy and hydrated throughout the day.

How does it do this?

Rather than canned or wet packaged food, the Riko works with freeze-dried cat food. This shelf-stable food is ground up into portions, mixed with water, and allowed to rehydrate before serving.

No refrigeration or constant refilling needed. Just fill the hopper with a bag of freeze-dried food of your choice, add filtered water to the reservoir, set the amounts and feeding schedule on the app, and take a well-deserved break from fretting over your cat’s meals and hydration status.

About Neakasa

Neakasa is a smart-home and pet-care brand operated by Genhigh, a technology company headquartered in Shenzhen, China. Founded in 2017 as Neabot, the company specializes in automated solutions designed to make everyday home and pet care easier, including robotic cleaning and smart pet products. The Riko is manufactured in China, where the company is based.

Who Is the Riko Best Suited For?

Given the price point of this product, I wouldn’t recommend it to cat owners simply hoping to unload some of their kitty chores to automation. There are less expensive automatic feeders for that. But for cat owners who normally feed wet food but are taking a long trip or frequently travel and want a feeder that can provide meals more often than their cat sitter can, the Riko Wet Meal Feeder is a worthwhile investment.

It is also a great option for cats who require small portions frequently throughout the day or who already eat freeze-dried food and can benefit from a more consistent schedule and more moisture in their diet.

Because this feeder allows for highly customized feeding routines and portions, it works well for kittens, adults, and seniors. But do be aware that the meal sizes cap out at 15g of dried food, which means larger cats may require multiple feedings throughout the day rather than the typical two meals they might be used to, something the app makes easy.

Neakasa Riko Product Specs (the boring bits) 

How Does It Work?

The Neakasa Riko takes the guesswork out of serving moistened meals. Simply fill the food hopper with compatible freeze-dried food, fill the water tank, and use the app to create a feeding schedule.

At mealtime, Riko automatically grinds the food, adds your selected amount of water, and allows the mixture to soak while the bowl is hidden out of reach. Once the food is ready, the bowl swings out so your cat can enjoy their fresh meal.

You can adjust the water-to-food ratio to create a consistency your cat prefers, from thicker to more soupy. Riko can schedule multiple meals throughout the day, add water to keep uneaten food fresh, and track food consumption through the app.

Machine Features

Beyond preparing moistened meals, the Riko packs several thoughtful features into the feeder itself:

• Large capacity: The 3-liter food hopper and 2.4-liter water tank can hold enough for 10+ days of feeding.

• Freshness-focused design: An airtight food compartment, desiccant system, and sealed grinder help protect freeze-dried food from moisture.

• Precise portions: Riko weighs each serving for approximately ±1-gram portioning.

• Easy cleaning: The removable stainless-steel bowl is dishwasher-safe, while other components can be removed for cleaning. Each order comes with two bowls, so you can pop one in the dishwasher while the other is in use.

App Features

The Neakasa app gives you control over Riko from your phone, whether you’re home or away. You can create feeding schedules, adjust portion sizes and water-to-food ratios, and trigger extra meals remotely.

The app also records your cat’s food and water intake, making it easier to spotchanges in eating habits over time. You’ll receive alerts for low food and water storage and potential feeding problems, while adjustable settings let you configure features such as freshness detection, child lock, and desiccant replacement reminders. 

Through the app, you have control over the amount of ground food in each meal, the ratio of water added, how long it sits to rehydrate, and how often water is added if food is left over. You can even program “water only” meals to encourage even more moisture intake.

Optional Extras

Riko can be customized with a few optional accessories. The rechargeable battery pack provides up to seven days of cordless operation and backup power during outages, while the Multi-Cat Access Module uses microchip recognition to restrict feeding to each designated cat in multi-cat households.

Neakasa also sells replacement silicone desiccant packs with a color-changing indicator that lets you know when the pack needs replacing.

Comparison

Our Experience with the Neakasa Riko Fresh-Made Wet Meal Feeder

If you’ve read any of my reviews before, then you know that my cat, Makoa, is a BIG fan of food. So any device that makes meal times less of a hassle for me and more accessible for him is worth trying out. And, since our family also travels fairly frequently, I thought this high-tech contraption might be helpful in multiple ways.

When the Riko arrived, I immediately felt like I was unboxing some kind of fancy kitty espresso maker! It’s about the same size as one, and the grinder really does look very similar to a coffee grinder.

Getting the Riko set up was fairly painless. I followed the Quick Start Instructions to assemble the few parts that had been stored internally during shipping, then downloaded the app and connected the device to my Wi-Fi.

From there, things got a touch trickier. Because the Riko works using weight, not volume, it can be a little difficult to set the proportions for each meal. For example, I typically feed Makoa ¼ cup twice per day. How many grams of ground freeze-dried food plus water is that? No idea.

Luckily, the app does have a very helpful Smart Feeding Plan setup that allows you to use your cat’s weight and select the type of food you feed to automatically create a feeding schedule based on the food brand's recommended intake.

The downside here is that it defaults to 10 meals per day. Which probably isn’t a bad thing since cats did evolve to eat multiple small meals throughout the day (and this also guarantees better hydration). But if your cat is used to a couple of big meals at the same time each day, this can make for a tough transition.

I ended up manually adding up the dry food total it recommended, then manually adding meals that were more aligned with his typical schedule.

The other hangup I ran into is that the feeder (in the US, at least) maxes out at 15g of ground food per meal. For comparison, my 12-pound cat needs about 60g of ground food per day. In other words, I had to schedule at least four meals per day for him to get all the food he needs.

These smaller meal sizes are intentional. Not only does it help avoid food being wasted (or left out for too long without being eaten), but it also ensures your cat is continually taking in food-based moisture throughout the day—the way they evolved to.

So I wouldn’t say this is a bad thing or design flaw, but it is something you and your cat may need to adjust to.

Beyond the tricky parts of portioning and scheduling, I really do love this feeder! It is so easy to fill and, once the schedule is set, you really can just forget it. It starts preparing each meal ahead of time so that the food is ready at the scheduled mealtime.

It makes a recognizable beep when food is ready, so your cat can learn to come as soon as dinner is served. (Makoa learned to recognize the low buzz of the grinder almost instantly, and now waits for his meals twenty minutes before they are served.)

Not only has this gadget taken the stress off me (now Makoa has something else to obsess over when it’s dinner time), but it has made it so much easier to ensure consistent, moist meals throughout the day. And I know it will be a lifesaver for those weekend trips and long vacations our family likes to go on.

I highly recommend this feeder to anyone who is looking for a way to automate their cat’s meals without having to rely on dry kibble. The rehydrated freeze-dried food isn’t the same as canned food, but the texture is similar, and most cats love this type of food, especially when it is mixed with water. Even better, freeze-dried food tends to be healthier and more nutrient-dense than even the best canned food options.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Can Riko dispense regular wet or canned cat food?

No. Riko is designed to grind and rehydrate freeze-dried food, not conventional wet food. Do not put canned, pouch, or other wet food, or kibble, dehydrated, or air-dried food into the hopper.

Does Riko require Wi-Fi to work?

Riko's smart features and remote app controls require a Wi-Fi connection, but once programmed, the feeder can still perform its feeding schedule if the internet connection is interrupted. It supports 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi networks.

How long can prepared food sit in the bowl?

Because Riko adds water to the food before serving, the resulting meal should be treated like wet food. Neakasa recommends that your cat consume it within about three to four hours.

What happens if my cat doesn't eat a meal?

Riko's freshness settings can detect leftover food and pause the next scheduled feeding when the amount remaining exceeds your chosen threshold. The feeder can also retract the bowl after food has remained uneaten for an extended period.

Conclusion

If hydration is a concern for your cat and providing consistent moist food is a challenge for you, then the Neakasa Riko is worth looking into.

This high-tech automatic feeder can store 10 days' worth of freeze-dried food at a time and provide up to 20 freshly rehydrated meals per day. Each meal can be scheduled and proportioned to meet your cat’s needs while ensuring their moisture intake is optimal to avoid future health issues. It's perfect for busy cat parents, extended periods away, and cats who require frequent, moistened meals.