My wife and I have two cats and I work out of the house and getting automatic feeders was a godsend. They used to routinely wake us in the middle of the night by meowing and jumping on us, and meow incessantly in the evenings. Our feeders give them a little bit of food five times a day and they no longer meow at us when they're hungry; they sit by their feeder and wait for the food. We cuddle with them multiple times a day and play with them as much as possible, and they are incredibly loved. I like your sentiment that cats should be more than just fixtures in our household, but I feel your advice is a bit unfair.