Hello you again ;o) See below -

Thinking back to when I had my first dogs nearly 40 years ago I would have stuck with vets advice even although I would have discussed with friends. As I got more experience and confidence in myself I started to wait before going to vet with certain problems and in some cases would deal with things which cleared up without the vet.

Now that we have the internet it's easier to ask for advice but people still need to have the confidence to act on advice given. Now that everything is typed rather than just discussed maybe it makes advice asked for and not taken look more obvious than spoken advice.

Hope that comes over as i mean it to

me thinks its a case of weighing things up for now.you need to be wary of putting anything down his ear for now if there is a suspicion he has a perferated ear drum,this in itself is painfull advocate will treat the ear mites(if thats what it is) but nothing else.the metacam has a painkilling and antiimflamatory effect but if he has ear mites he will be over producing wax(the black crud)if your vet is happy to leave that for now i would.concentrate on convincing woody that everytime you lift his ear flap your not gonna do something to him.he will probably always need to be muzzled but there is no reason why he cant get better about it over time,he's had a horrible time with his ears lately. and earache bl***y hurts,so you can see where hes comming from.
im guessing the vet will advise a different treatment if his ears dont clear up soon,ear mites are little bu**ers but do clear up with medication(you dont have cats do you?)if and when they are gone i would start from the beggining and re-train woody that ear cleaning is actualy quite nice(my dogs like it)being a spaniel you will probably have to clean his ears a fair few times in his life(cruel to e kind )
im sorry if ive gone over old ground and or stated the obvious.im just trying to help(i did stay out of it til now.lol)
all the best.x

i agree with you,but i would always be extra carefull with ears and eyes
and you should always be able to talk to at least the head nurse in a surgery for advise,or they can relay to the vet, thats free........

I've known of many cases where dogs who have had years of ongoing ear problems to try Thornit and it clears up so it is really worth a go and Woody doesn't have to go to the vets to get stressed out. Better a small pinch of powder in each ear daily for a bit than having to stress out at the vet and have chemicals such as metacam and advocate.
I actually like the smell of Thornit and I use it in all my dogs ears when I pluck them.
Becky

Good point It's eyes that I'm really careful with

Thanks for all your help. I'll see how he goes and discuss with vet.

I agree - in fact there are various testamonials to this effect in amongst their literature.

If it puts your mind at rest Pidge, I think I am right in saying Thornit was actually developed by a vet? With respect to your vet not recommending it, TBH - that wouldn't surprise me as there is no money in it for them

My sisters Lab used to constantly get ear probs and was in & out of the vets for ages. Even though I'd recommeded Thornit to her, she didn't try it until many vet trips later. She was astounded when she did as it cleared the poor dogs ears up so quickly and saved her a fortune!!

to be fair,most vets just dont know what it is!!(its not always about the money )

Cheers AM.

Guys, I don't want you to think that I don't trust your advice, I really do it's just that I followed everything, everyone told me when he was little and ended up getting so confused I made a decision to stick to one source only.

I will discuss with vet though. ;o)