I've thought about doing this too. You would have the button trigger some identifier like a phone notification, screen, or even a light and then reset itself after so many hours or at scheduled times to know if they've been fed.

We have to give our cat a pill in the morning and evening so it would help us know if the other (or someone else like a relative babysitting) had already given it to him in addition to the feeding schedule.

That sounds familiar. I bet she's trying to get you to build a cat calorie counter.

I mean, for myself I have a button that creates an alarm on the phone for the next meal. Because I'm forgetful and have a whack schedule, but have to shove food in the stomach before it dissolves itself with acid.

With cats, though, a regular schedule might be better. A friend has an automatic feeder, and their cats straight up know when they should be fed. However, some automatic feeders can be dangerous to cats.

My cats get dry food in the morning and wet in the evening. For the dry I got an automatic pet feeder. I do need to put a sensor or something inside it though because it's cheap, it doesn't have Wi-Fi access so I have no idea when it's empty lmao