You are probably eating more this month than usual. Do you find yourself grazing through Christmas goodies in the employee lunchroom or at parties? When food is easily available, we will eat even if we are not hungry. The same is true for our pets. There are a few animals who manage their calorie intake well when given food free-choice (a bull is always full.) Unfortunately, most American pets do not do well with free choice feeding. Most common pet foods taste real good. Most house pets have far less stimulating lives than those of animals who have to hunt for food. The combination of a little boredom and an enticing bowl of gourmet pet food usually leads to over-eating and thus an overweight pet. We find that feeding dogs and cats separate meals, with one bowl per pet, is often all we have to do to help them lose weight. If you start feeding puppies and kittens in meals, never leaving a full bowl out during the day, they will adapt very well as adult. Switching an adult dog or cat from free choice feeding to meal feeding can be much more tricky!