Tear Staining....to cut or not to cut the hair near the eyes??????

[Avec Bravissimo]

Originally Posted by Ladysmom

Have you seen this?

A Veterinary Guide to Tear Stains

I'm new here, but read this link after you posted it this morning, and wanted to thank you for it. There is a lot of good info there.

[Jo C]

Originally Posted by Max&Roxy

Ok, so Max is now almost 6 months old....and of course, adorable in every which way!!

He has fairly bad tear stains and I am at my wits end already with them. A month or so ago, I trimmed the hair near his eyes, just at the beginning of his muzzle area. The staining didnt go away, but it got better. However, as the hair is growning back in, its like a little bush of hair actually, his staining is pretty bad. I was thinking of growing the hair out....and go through the uglies, to have it long and lie over his muzzle on the sides. He is getting his first real groom on the 13 of December (mobile groomer is coming) I try and clean his eyes twice a day with a baby wet wipe and the Crystal Clear solution. But its not helping. I took him to Petland last week, after his bath....and a gal who works there says, "....oh he is cute....but he needs his eyes cleaned!!!...." I was mad and embarassed as his coat was soooo clean and pure white....he was brushed beautifully and looked so nice.

I have considered the Angel Eyes....just to clear this up a bit....but I am not so sure after reading some posts. But it does bother me and he is just so beautiful, that a clean white face would be so sweet. He has such a nice coat...very very silky and soft and full. If we could just get this issue under control...it would be great.

Sooooo any advice, thoughts, words of encouragement??? help.

I use Eye Envy. You can purchase it at www.eyeenvy.com
It's a liguid that you put a few drops of on a piece of paper towel and then there's also a powder the you put on the fur at the inner corner of the eyes. I also rinse my Nikki's eyes with Bausch & Lomb Eye Rinse. Nikki's tear stains wete not that bad and after 2 days they were gone. I still use the eye envy once a day. Hope this helps.

[Max&Roxy]

Thanks everyone. I am going to carry on and grow his hair out (that I trimmed) near his eyes. I do clean his face at least once a day....sometimes twice. I will try the potato flour. Do I just dab some on the cleaned wet hair?

I think he has a smaller muzzle for sure. He is a little dude....maybe only 2.5 pounds? he will get weighed at the vet when he is 6 months.

The Crystal Eye is just a clear solution I picked up at Petland for cleaning tear stains or stains in general on the dogs fur. So I add some to a wet baby wipe and clean his eyes with it.