Around 20% of dogs suffer from some form of ear disease. If your faithful friend is one of them, our probiotic, natural dog ear cleaner spray is a helpful addition to your dog’s routine.
In this news post, we explain how LUCAA+ Pet Probiotic Ear Care Spray:
- Helps prevent bacterial dog ear infections and keep ears clean and comfortable.
- Is used by vets to resolve recurrent ear infections in a natural, safe and healthy way.
This post includes three probiotic success stories – one veterinary case study and two owner testimonials. Ben, Pongo and Mylo all recovered from chronic ear infections, even after developing resistance to previously effective antibiotics. (Antimicrobial resistance or AMR).
Their owners say “The spray has helped him and he is so much happier” and “We can’t recommend this product enough”.
Important: Always check with your vet if your dog has signs of an ear infection, or if in any doubt.
A Brief Overview of Dog Ear Infections
Ear infections are a common problem for many dogs and can become recurrent and chronic. Most are caused by harmful bacteria, but yeast and ear mites also cause ear issues.
Causes of Dog Ear Infections
Dogs are more prone to ear infections than humans because their ear canal forms an ‘L’ shape that can hold moisture. Moisture creates an ideal environment for bacteria and yeast growth.
Infection is often outside the ear canal (otitis externa) but also occurs in the middle (otitis media) and inner ear canal (otitis interna).
Potential Risk Factors
Dogs with floppy ears such as spaniels, beagles and basset hounds are particularly prone to ear infections.
Other factors increase the risk too:
Local factors
- Moisture.
- Wax build-up.
- A foreign body in the ear or an injury.
- Cleaning with products that cause microbiome disruption.
Underlying medical conditions
- Around 50% of dogs with allergic skin disease also develop ear infections*.
- Autoimmune and endocrine disorders.
- Food sensitivities (often linked to yeast).
Recent activities
- Bath water getting into the ears.
- Swimming in dirty water such as a lake.
- Grooming, trimming or plucking ear hair.
*If your dog suffers from seasonal or environmental skin allergies, our Probiotic Dog Skin Allergy Pack will help.
Symptoms of Dog Ear Infection
Ear infections can be very uncomfortable. Your dog may display signs such as head shaking, whining and scratching the sore ear. The ear may be red, sore, itchy or painful. There may be scabs or discharge or a build-up of wax.
Untreated inner ear infections can cause serious problems including poor balance, facial paralysis and deafness. Treatments include operations to deep clean the ears and total ear canal ablation (removal of the diseased tissue and the whole ear canal). This can stop the infection, but the price is high: the dog loses hearing in that ear.
Ref: Ear Disease in Dogs – The Veterinary Expert| Pet Health
Probiotic, Natural Dog Ear Cleaner – Prevention is Better than Cure
Preventing infection by safely cleaning the ears is always the best approach. Routine cleaning with LUCAA+ Pet Probiotic Ear Care restores and maintains a healthy ear.
This non-invasive, probiotic, natural dog ear cleaner spray keeps ears comfortable and reduces the risk of bacterial infections. In this way, it helps to reduce the length and severity of flare-ups and the risk of serious operations and antibiotics.
- Prevents ear infections.
- Improves ear hygiene.
- Reduces the risk of inflammation.
- Removes organic material from the ear canal.
- Provides long-term cleaning.
- Safe for all ages of dogs and cats.
Although not a specific ear mite treatment, the helpful probiotics can help to reduce ear mite itching. They consume the ear mite faeces that cause the irritation, as a natural food source.
How LUCAA+ Probiotic, Natural Ear Cleaner Works
The healthy probiotics are ‘good’ bacteria from plants. They work in a safe, natural and mechanical way to inhibit the activity of harmful bacteria restore and maintain a healthy microbiome. For more information read our article How Probiotics Restore Balance.
This article by Danielle Masterson (09-Nov-2021) is about ear infections in children, but shows how probiotics reduce the risk…
Probiotics for ear infections? Researchers demonstrate microbiota linked to ear health.
‘Ear infections are typically treated with antibiotics, which could compromise the gut microbiome and reduce the ability of immune cells to kill bacteria. Now, fresh research indicates there could be a promising new approach to this relatively common childhood problem’.
Probiotics help to protect the effectiveness of antibiotics, our most precious medical commodity. They prevent bacterial infections without contributing to antimicrobial resistance (AMR). AMR occurs when bacteria and other microorganisms evolve and develop resistance to treatments that were previously effective.
Instructions
For infection prevention/control: Apply with a clean cloth or cotton pad or spray directly into the ear. Apply between twice daily and twice weekly depending on the ear condition.
Note: Do not use in conjunction with other topical ear medications or cleaners. Visit the product page for more information.
Ear Infection Case Study and Testimonials
It is important to act quickly if an ear infection does occur. If it does, we recommend seeing a vet such as Dr. Richard Doyle, Veterinary Surgeon at Wylie Vets in Essex, for guidance. Richard says:
“The treatment of multi-resistant ear infections presents veterinary surgeons with a challenging problem. Bacteria that commonly infect the ears of dogs are becoming more and more resistant to the available antibiotics. Ear infections cause pain and discomfort for dogs and can affect hearing and balance in the long term. The use of probiotic ear products presents a new approach to this problem. It uses commensal (friendly) bacteria to eliminate pathogenic bacteria by competitively inhibiting them without the need for traditional antibiotic treatment.”
Here are the stories of three much loved dogs, who were all helped by LUCAA+ Pet Probiotic Ear Care:
Bens Story – a Vet’s Case Study
Topical probiotics helped Ben, an eight-year old Newfoundland, when antibiotics stopped working.
The Problem
Ben presented with inflamed ears and clinical evidence of an infection in his left ear. This infection was effectively treated with an antibiotic (Florfenicol) ear preparation. Three weeks later he developed symptoms of another infection in his left ear.
Three different pathogenic bacteria were isolated from this ear: Escherichia coli, Staph. Pseudintermedius and Beta Haemolytic Streptococcus. An antibiogram showed that each of these bacteria were resistant to several antibiotics commonly used for ear infections.
Ben was admitted for sedation and full assessment of his ears. His ear canals were swollen, and both contained a thick, yellow, smelly discharge.
Ben’s ears were thoroughly cleaned, and he was treated with a combination of antimicrobial products (Marbofloxacin and an antimicrobial peptide, which helps to kill bacteria by damaging their cell walls). He was also treated with anti-inflammatory medication to reduce the pain and discomfort of his severe ear infection.
Ten days later his ears looked much better although his left ear was still a little inflamed. A further swab revealed a profuse growth of Staph. pseudintermedius again and a moderate growth of Alpha Haemolytic Streptococcus. Both bacteria were resistant to Marbofloxacin.
The Solution
The vet (Richard Doyle of Wylie Vets), decided at this stage to trial Provilan’s LUCAA+ Pet Probiotic Ear Care preparation. The spray was applied to both ears twice daily.
Eight days later, a reassessment showed that Ben’s right ear appeared normal. His left ear was improving but was still slightly waxy and inflamed. New swabs did not culture any pathogenic bacteria.
The Outcome
Ben ears were cleaned with LUCAA+ Probiotic Ear Care twice weekly for one more month, before stopping the treatment.
Four months later, he has not suffered any further ear infections.
Pongo’s Story
LUCAA+ Probiotic Ear Care Spray prevented Pongo losing his ear canal and his hearing.
“My Dalmatian Pongo has suffered from recurring nasty ear infections since a puppy. He has had surgery many times to have his ears deep cleaned and treated. The infections get so bad it affects his eardrum. My vet eventually transferred us to the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) to investigate and be treated.
The RVC found seven different types of bacteria and infection in his ear. They suggested that the only way to prevent this reoccurring problem would be to remove the whole inside of his ear. We decided this wouldn’t be a good option as Pongo is a very nervous dog and if he was deaf it would potentially make his behaviours worse if someone accidentally scared him.
We went back to our local vets with Pongo to get some more medication. He suggested trying LUCAA+ Probiotic Pet Ear Spray as it would be interesting to see if it works or helps at all.
We started using the spray to treat his ears and his ears cleared of all infections! We now spray his ears twice a week to keep on top of it but Pongo hasn’t had an infection for 6 months. The spray has helped him and he is so much happier”. Gabrielle MacKenzie
Mylo’s Story
“Our dog, Mylo, suffered from multiple ear infections as a puppy. From 8 weeks to 5 months we took him to the vet many times due to the constant discomfort he was in – we were given antibiotics and cleaning solutions but the infections kept returning.
After having an operation under general to clean out his ears, he got another infection. When we went back to the vets LUCAA+ Probiotic Pet Ear Care was suggested. It worked wonders; Mylo’s ears cleared up.
Since then, a few sprays a week have kept all infection at bay. Being a Doodle he has very hairy inner ears which means he is prone to infection, however the probiotics have completely alleviated this issue.
We can’t recommend this product enough”. Lucy Uwins
The Vet’s Letter of Recommendation
Of course, Mylo, Pongo and Ben may still be having antibiotics and surgeries without their vet’s recommendation. Richard Doyle (director of Wylie Veterinary Centre in Essex) says:
“My name is Richard Doyle and I am a director at The Wylie Veterinary Centre in Upminster, Essex. We are a RCVS-accredited Small Animal Veterinary Hospital. We have been successfully treating and/or preventing superficial bacterial infections in our patients using the LUCAA+ range of probiotic animal care products (wound, eye, ear, allergy sprays).
Typically, conditions we treat include surface pyoderma including pyo-traumatic pyoderma (hot spots), superficial bite wounds, otitis externa, bacterial conjunctivitis, lick granulomas, intertrigo (skin fold pyoderma) and atopic dermatitis. These products contain three commensal bacillus species which competitively inhibit pathogenic bacteria without the need for antibiotics and without the risk of developing antimicrobial resistance. These commensal species also digest organic material, so we also use the Allergy Spray as an adjunct to more conventional treatments for atopy to limit antigen exposure.
Whilst, in our experience, these products certainly have a place in treating such infections, they need to be used with caution in situations where there is more deep-seated infections or conditions such as furunculosis, deep tissue infections, septicaemia, otitis media/interna, corneal ulceration or glaucoma.
The purpose of this letter is to highlight the benefits of using such products in superficial infections but also to alert you to circumstances in which the use of these products is not appropriate when used as sole agents without qualified advice. If you have any further queries or questions, please contact Ingenious Probiotics.”
Next Steps
Contact us for more information: Call +44 1268 544530 or email enquiries@pure-ingenious.com today.
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LUCAA+ Pet Probiotic Ear Care helps your dog’s – or cat’s – ears become healthier and stay healthier. Please use sensible caution and always consult your vet if your dog has signs of infection or you are unsure. If your dog is on antibiotics, our recommendation is to finish the full course first.
NB: Photos are of Mylo, the Newfoundland and Dalmatian photos are stock photos.
