An apparatus for preparing pet food has a base and a lid. The base is engageable with a container of the pet food and the lid is moveable relative to the base between an open state for allowing engagement and disengagement of the container and a closed state for preventing disengagement. The apparatus includes a scanner for reading a pet food identifier on the container. The scanner is adapted to read the pet food identifier and provide it to a controller. The controller is adapted to obtain food preparation parameters from an external database and to cause the apparatus to then prepare the pet food according thereto.
