Ear Issues in Our Animals- The Very Interesting Fact I Learned that is Critical for Healing

Brushfire’s Terrible Ear Infection 

Brushfire arrived on our farm in 2008. I’ll never forget the crazy stench we could smell from his ear as soon as he arrived at our farm. Brushfire was a gorgeous alpaca we had purchased from a breeder in another state. We were still very new in this industry and didn’t know what we didn’t know. We had asked for health records and the seller mentioned Brushfire had a minor ear infection that had been treated. It was not minor by any stretch of the imagination. It was a terrible chronic ear infection that none of our vets could resolve.

But I learned something that turned out to be an important clue and key to healing for all future ear issues I encountered on our farm.

Frustrating Experiences

Brushfire had such a great temperament, and we were able to give him the medications our vet prescribed. But nothing helped. It was very frustrating with the amount of time, energy, resources we were pouring into his ear infection and not getting any results. We had a culture done to check what pathogens were in his ear so we could get the most appropriate medication for him. The vet informed us that he had Proteus in his ear. I asked if this Proteus was the same one more commonly found in the gut. She confirmed, so I asked her why a gut bacteria would be found in his ear. I don’t think she gave me an answer but none of the medications resolved his situation. And these were top level excellent vets with camelid experiences. 

Although I didn’t know it then, this puzzling fact of the gut bacteria Proteus being found in the ear became the critical key in understanding how to approach ear issues.

My Aha Moment

Years later, we gave dewormers to an alpaca named Titanium since his fecal egg count was a bit higher than ideal. I noticed one of his ears was tilted down after the 3 day deworming protocol. That’s when the aha moment struck me. By giving him dewormers, I had created an imbalance in his gut, the gut bacteria weren’t happy and the body was using the ear as one of the detox pathways. I smelled his ear and it didn’t really smell like an infection. To see if my theory was correct, I gave him probiotics for a week to balance his gut. And each day, the ear tilt was a little less noticeable until the ear was fully upright within a week. After that, he never had any ear issues. It was completely resolved with probiotics.

I finally felt like I understood how Brushfire’s ear infection started and why it kept getting worse over time. Most alpaca farms were doing routine deworming instead of the individual fecal checks and only treating high load animals. After one of the many routine deworming treatments (with each deworming creating more and more gut imbalance), it’s very likely the animal was trying to detox through the ear. The caretaker called the vet, the vet gave an antibiotic just to be safe- which created even further gut imbalances…and the chronic cycle kept getting deeper and deeper. It’s my opinion rom personal experience)  that gut imbalances can show up in the ear, but I saw it to be true again in one of our adopted dogs.

Diet Change in Our Adopted Dog

Gut imbalances can be created in many ways including changing their food. When we adopted our beautiful guardian dog, we switched her food and shortly after that, I noticed one of her ears started to have a bit of a smell. I decided to allow for the detox and adjustment process by supporting her naturally. Her ear took about 2 weeks to clear, but her ear fully resolved and has not had any signs of imbalance in the last few years ever since we put her on our diet. Not all dogs have issues with diet change, but it’s a good time to be extra alert and allow for their body to adjust appropriately.

My Takeaways and What I Do Proactively Now

For all my animals, all deworming protocols are followed with a probiotic protocol. For the record, we do individual fecal testing and only deworm animals that have a high parasite load.  We do this because each time they are given dewormers, there’s a potential for gut imbalance issues. 

All changes in food (especially for newly adopted animals) are followed by careful observation and supplemental support as needed. Healing and optimizing the gut is one of the most important things we can do for our animals. So if you experience any ear issues, become a detective first and see how you can bring their gut to balance before adding new inputs that can potentially create more imbalance.

I hope you found this article insightful and helpful. There are always many dots to connect but I am so grateful for the learning experiences my animals have presented me- and I look forward to sharing them with you.

*This is my personal experience.  The protocols I use are for educational and entertainment purposes only. Please do your own research, become your animals’ health detective and advocate. And please always consult your vet as appropriate.