This food toy does keep my old cat occupied without being too strenuous on her. She only eats no-grain wet foods, so in this feeder I only put 1/8 cup of dry food as a 'treat'. She spends a long while digging out the pieces from the tunnels (even though all the food falls through at once, since I give so little it doesn't fill up the hopper). I almost sent it back, since the hopper is made to dispense so much food, but decided to give it a try to see if she'd just play with the food in the tunnels. It is sturdy, well made, and does not skid around the floor a great deal.