It might seem logical that the states with the highest prevalence of overweight people would have the highest percentages of hefty pets. Surely all those fit Coloradans with their outdoorsy lifestyles have slim dogs, right?
Not according to a new report based on the physiques of more than 2.5 million dogs and 500,000 cats in the United States. In some cases, it found nearly the opposite patterns for people and pets: Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi — which have some of the nation’s highest rates of human obesity, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — all ranked in the bottom five states for overweight or obese pets. Dogs and cats in Colorado were in the top 20.
Topping the list for both chunky dogs and fat cats: Minnesota, where 41 percent of pooches and 46 percent of kitties were rated by veterinarians as overweight or obese. In second place for both species was Nebraska, where the figures were 39 percent for dogs and 43 percent for cats.
The animals were all seen in 2016 at one of the 975 veterinary hospitals run by Vancouver-based Banfield, a chain that operates in 42 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Overall, 1 in 3 of those dogs and cats were overweight or obese, according to a five-point body conditioning score the hospitals’ veterinarians assign to animals after a visual and physical examination. They want to be able to see pets’ waistlines and feel their ribs (but not see them, because that would mean a dog or cat is too thin).
