The war against tear stains! HELP!

9868 Views 34 Replies 21 Participants Last post by Theo's Mom, Jun 7, 2010

Twinkle

Discussion Starter · Apr 27, 2010

3

Okay guys, so I have a 4 year old maltese with lots of red stains. She had it when she was a puppy, and she has it now. I know this is a common problem but I am desperate for a recipe to stop this madness! I have been patient for 4 years! I have changed her diet to natural balance (sweet potato and venison) to reduce dietary allergies, but she still tears. I cannot figure out what it is and it is driving me nuts! I am in the process of growing out her hair so that i can tie it up in a top knot and prevent the hairs from irritating her..but there must be something else i can do! If anybody has any secrets about preventing tears, or tear removal wipes (that actually work!) or other ideas...PLEASE HELP!!!

-Rachel and Twinkle

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iheartbisou

· #2 · Apr 27, 2010

What kind of water are you giving her?
Have you tried using probiotics?

Also I've heard that some dogs stain no matter what, based on genetics or maybe the structure of the head? (Not sure about the structure..just heard that).

pinkpixie1588

· #3 · Apr 27, 2010

I'd ask your vet about getting a prescription for Tylan. I think it's normally a 10 day course and for a lot of Malts it can clear it up. Otherwise, it might be environmental. Are you giving her filtered or spring water? Have you tried giving her a limited-ingredient diet so you can eliminate food allergies?

Has the tearing come and gone or has it been consistent her whole life?

Twinkle

Discussion Starter · #4 · Apr 27, 2010

I give her water from the sink (not filtered. Is filtered better?) and no i have not tried probiotics. However, she has been getting fleas, but she was tearing before she had fleas too. Her tearing has been constant for 4 years straight. =(

pinkpixie1588

· #5 · Apr 27, 2010 (Edited)

Filtered/spring is better because high concentrations of minerals can contribute to staining.

Not sure about the flea problem and how that might affect things.

ETA: Check out this site. I found it to be one of the most comprehensive explanations of potential causes and ways to tackle stains. http://www.bhejei.com/tearsta.htm

CloudClan

· #6 · Apr 27, 2010

Fleas absolutely can make tear stains worse as they induce allergies and allergies just like in humans can make your eyes water.

mysugarbears

· #7 · Apr 27, 2010

When Riley got his teeth cleaned i had the vet check his eyes because he was tearing and staining like crazy and his tearducts where clogged. Since his tearducts where flushed no more wet face and his staining is clearing up. I find with Noelle and Chloe if i don't wash their faces daily they start to tear.

jeannief

· #8 · Apr 27, 2010

Mason had tear staining too. This is what worked for him -- Filtered water, changed to NB potato and duck, and I give just a bit of powerdered buttermilk after he eats food twice a day. I use Spa facial scrub on his face when it is needed or I just use a damp washcloth to wipe his face daily and also a little comb to comb out the eye stuff. That has worked for him. I hope this helps you.

Maltsnme

· #9 · Apr 27, 2010

Nb d/p

jeannief said:
Mason had tear staining too. This is what worked for him -- Filtered water, changed to NB potato and duck, and I give just a bit of powerdered buttermilk after he eats food twice a day. I use Spa facial scrub on his face when it is needed or I just use a damp washcloth to wipe his face daily and also a little comb to comb out the eye stuff. That has worked for him. I hope this helps you.

Have you noticed the horrible "smoke" smell now?? I'm so irritated with them. Here they have this GREAT food and then they add in "natural smoke flavoring". um, scuze me but what is so "natural" about smoke flavoring!!!

AS far as probiotics, Iams has a new one out (well, fairly new) called Prostora. It is freezedried live cultures, taken from the intestinal track of a healthy Labrador (bit sceptical about a healthy Labrador LOL) and the rep asked me yesterday when he came into the clinic, if I knew any "white dogs with tear staining" I said "um, a few"

) he said this product they found as a side effect, helps tears stains.

So, just passing along. I got a pack and will try it, but I don't have too much of an issue with tear stains, maybe a tad on Indi and Feather, just from hair getting in their eyes, so, not sure I'm a great candidate, but I'll see... It is actually made to help with diarrhea and he claimed it was resistant to metranidazole and albon... not sure I believe that either (listened to alot of reps over the last 25years

)) but we'll see how it works.

karla

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uniquelovdolce

· #10 · Apr 27, 2010

question about the tear stains ? if u wet her hair does it come off slightly like when they hv the eye boogies or is it that the hair is just stained that way ...

she is adorable tear stains and all .

sheila's malt

· #11 · Apr 27, 2010

I would like to suggest you have a groomer cut around her eyes for awhile. My little one had that and i had her hair cute around her eyes for about 3 groomings, and i used crystal eye that you can buy at petsmart. Now she don't have any tearng. i can asure you that cutting does help and it looks much much better. They are alot of nice cuts the groomer can do. Hope this helps.

pinkpixie1588

· #12 · Apr 27, 2010

I'd be careful about cutting around the eyes unless you want to do it consistently/long-term. Letting it grow out past a certain point will cause it to poke into the eyes until it gets long enough to fall flat, which can be a long wait.

bailey02

· #13 · Apr 27, 2010

I used angel eyes for a short period of time and that helped Bailey alot with her tear stains. Now I just wipe her eye area once a day with a q-tip and the tear stains seem to be under control. Also I get her groomed every two weeks and that has also helped me keep that area nice and clean.

yeagerbum

· #14 · Apr 27, 2010

sheila's malt said:
I would like to suggest you have a groomer cut around her eyes for awhile. My little one had that and i had her hair cute around her eyes for about 3 groomings, and i used crystal eye that you can buy at petsmart. Now she don't have any tearng. i can asure you that cutting does help and it looks much much better. They are alot of nice cuts the groomer can do. Hope this helps.

I use a small scissor from Daiso's pet section to trim the stained hair on yeager's face by myself. After the trimming his face looks much cleaner

he's pretty cooperative too.

pinkpixie1588 said:
I'd be careful about cutting around the eyes unless you want to do it consistently/long-term. Letting it grow out past a certain point will cause it to poke into the eyes until it gets long enough to fall flat, which can be a long wait.

I agree.

Twinkle

Discussion Starter · #15 · Apr 27, 2010

She has both the gunky eye boogies and the stains in the fur. Sometime i can't just use a cloth to wipe off the boogies..i have to cut them out =( So i just cut out the stained fur as well.. 3 days later..more gunky stuff and stained fur. This is an endless cycle.

Twinkle

Discussion Starter · #16 · Apr 27, 2010

I will try giving her filtered water and see if that helps a little..but i feel she needs a little more help than that. I guess she might need to make a vet stop (you know how expensive that is going to be =/ ). Thank you all (from me and Twinkle) for your advice and let me know if you have more ideas.

iheartbisou

· #17 · Apr 28, 2010

Twinkle said:
She has both the gunky eye boogies and the stains in the fur. Sometime i can't just use a cloth to wipe off the boogies..i have to cut them out =( So i just cut out the stained fur as well.. 3 days later..more gunky stuff and stained fur. This is an endless cycle.

Are you using a cloth with warm water? That's what I use to wipe the gunky stuff away, usually just a (dry) cloth doesn't do it (in my experience). Also I use a very fine, soft material cloth...you can use a baby washcloth too, that helps as well.

uniquelovdolce

· #18 · Apr 28, 2010

for dolces eye boogies , cause he tears alot , i noticed first of all i have to clean his face every day , i usually take a wet warm washcloth or a babywipe n wet n wipe but usually i have to use a flea comb to take boogies out , i notice when i miss even one day his hair looks like if it is stained when it really isnt its just dried eye boogies , so i have begun to do this every day !

puppymom

· #19 · Apr 28, 2010

pinkpixie1588 said:
I'd ask your vet about getting a prescription for Tylan. I think it's normally a 10 day course and for a lot of Malts it can clear it up. Otherwise, it might be environmental. Are you giving her filtered or spring water? Have you tried giving her a limited-ingredient diet so you can eliminate food allergies?

Has the tearing come and gone or has it been consistent her whole life?

Just a note of caution, filtered and spring water are two very different things. Water sold as "spring" water is not filtered and often comes right out of a tap. It may contain more minerals than some well water.

If you think it is from the water you need to use a high quality water filter system.

We had very good luck years ago with Tylan.

yeagerbum

· #20 · Apr 28, 2010

puppymom said:
Just a note of caution, filtered and spring water are two very different things. Water sold as "spring" water is not filtered and often comes right out of a tap. It may contain more minerals than some well water.

If you think it is from the water you need to use a high quality water filter system.

We had very good luck years ago with Tylan.

So would you say Arrowhead Spring Water(the bottled ones) have too much mineral content? Here's their mineral content analysis: Arrowhead - Sources Of Water, Mineral Contents & The Water Cycle - Know H2O | Nestlé

thanks! I'm just confused about what exactly is too much.

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