Why is my Cav so overweight?!

My 5 year old KC Cav just keeps putting on weight and I really can't see what I'm doing wrong. I wonder if I write down what he eats, perhaps it will become glaringly obvious

By the way, he's a big boy, never has been 'typical' dainty cav size.

Breakfast - Wainwrights light adult kibble (about 1/4 cup full)

Tea - Half tray (200g) of Wainwrights light adult meat

He used to get lots of treats - toast, scraps, lots of dog treats etc., plus no walks (he is lazy and used to refuse to leave the house!!), but I've stopped nearly all snacks and treats and now walks once a day. Sometimes I give a carrot or a chunk of cucumber as a snack, sometimes a dental stick, but no more than about 1 every other day.

Now walks about 20-30 mins a day. I think he may have a hip issue as he sometimes 'slips' over on a hind leg, his legs splay out when he sits up, he 'bunny hops' when running and going upstairs (i.e. both his rear legs hop together) and he jolts when you touch his hips. So I don't want to overdo the walking.. but equally I know he needs more exercise.

Please can someone advise what might be a good plan of action? He is (embarrassingly) 14 kgs

Could I half the meat in the evening, so only 100g meat, and add vegetables? Or rice? (or does that just add more cals)

Yes cut down his food as being overweight will only aggravate his hips. I'd not give him Carbs if your trying to get weight off either. If he doesn't like walking you could try playing games indoors and get him moving that way.

Like all diet and weight loss - it's just a case of eat less and move more.
Cut down the food and a good form of exercise is swimming/aquatherapy which will give a good cardio vascular workout without the stress on weight bearing joints. As Trouble suggests - some form of indoor playing can only be a good thing to kick start his mobility.

How long ago did you stop giving him treats?

Has he seen a vet for the suspected hip problem?

Weight, unfortunately, goes on quickly, comes off slowly. Any suspected health problem should be checked out by an expert, ie the vet

Have you tried other diets, like the raw food diet?

I would always opt for a species appropriate diet

Genrally speaking the reason for weight gain is simple too much energy going in (food) and too little going out ( exersize).

However before going off and changing all his diet buying new food etc you really should get him tested by a vet, there are several medical conditions incl thyroid trouble which can cause lethergy and weight gain.

Addtionally if he is visibly uncomfortable about his hips he may have other underlying health issues and be in pain. Extra exersize at this stage could cause more pain so you really do need to see a vet.

Once your boy is checked over you vet will be able to give you more advice /tips about the type of activity most suited to him.

Thanks so very much for all of your replies.

Please don't worry, I have a vet appointment next week to check his hips - so sorry I should have mentioned this in my original post.

Right I'm going to cut the food quantities and add in extra veg and a little fruit. Let's see how that goes. Poor boy, we really have been trying hard to cut back but obviously not enough!

Thank you for all your advice, very much appreciated. Def won't give rice then as extra carbs won't help, and will try and get him doing more games in the house. We rehomed him when he was 2, and he has never really played with toys, chased a ball, etc, he doesn't seem to know what to do with them despite now having a whole box full of toys

Azz I must admit that I have never looked into raw feeding, but you've got me intrigued now and am going to look through posts on this forum. I'm pretty sure there are loads to find for advice

I'm also going to look into hydrotherapy as we have one locally. I think he would need to be referred so will ask the vet about that next week too.

Thank you again so so much, I'm getting started on this today Thank you x

Just be aware if you do decide to feed raw that they can still gain weight. When I first switched all my dogs put weight on even though I stuck to the feeding guidelines, so I ended up cutting down on what they ate by quite a lot and all of mine were very active. It is easier to adjust their weight while feeding raw and I've always got results quite quickly tbf just don't expect a miracle cure.
I'm sure he'll love hydrotherapy. Good luck at the vets x

First thing that came to my mind was hypothyroid. I would get vet to check for that

As with us humans, carbs are the killers so as Trouble says, cut those out, dogs do not need carbs. Less in more out = weight loss every time. But cutting out the carbs is definitely the way to go for starters!