Minnesota’s Cats and Dogs Are The Fattest in the Country
Yikes. Minnesota and Rochester are often ranked near the top of a lot of great lists, but here's one we probably in which we wish were weren't quite ranked quite as high.
It's a new list that runs down the size of our pets. And according to the survey (done by Banfield Pet Hospitals), Minnesota's dogs and cats are the largest in the nation. (That's a nicer way of saying our pets are the fattest, I guess.)
Banfield's "State of Pet Health" report looked at more than 2.5 million dogs and 500,000 cats in the country, and concluded the following:
"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."
By the way, in case you're curious, there are 56,088 dogs and 19,931 cats in Minnesota. And, if we believe those numbers, we're closing in on half of them being overweight here in the North Star State!
So, why are our furry friends getting so big? It says a couple of main reasons are the rather generous giving of treats (guilty!) and lack of exercise (also guilty!) are some of the big culprits in helping our pets' weight increase.
One thing it doesn't say, though, is what behaviors specific to Minnesota has caused our dogs and cats to top the list. Is it our cold winters? Our love of giving our pets extra treats?
We're not alone, though-- behind us and Nebraska, Iowa, Idaho, and Delaware round out the top five states with the most overweight pets.