# food and tear stains



## mtenander1 (Aug 12, 2006)

I am wondering if anyone on the site changed their dog food which in turn made the tear staining better? I am asking because Millie eats Canidae Chicken and Rice and has always had tear staining. When I got her from Josy she was eating Royal Canin and she had staining then as well. I was thinking that the staining would get better after her baby teeth were pulled but that was a month ago and she is still having tear staining problems. So I was thinking it might be her food, but would hate to switch her unless I knew for sure that it would make a difference. It is such a pain to play with the food. So if anyone can give me some suggestions I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks...


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## Lainey & Martin (Jul 23, 2007)

Firstly, you should be looking for what is classed as a 'Super Premium' food. Royal Canin isn't - it's probably rated as 'premium'.

Then, make sure there's no food colouring OR beet pulp. Sometimes just looking at the colour of the food can be a help - is it dark brown?, probably has some colouring in it. Look for a paler food.

I switched to Orijen 6-fish - Martin was having a bit of staining before. Now, although I can tell his eyes have watered a bit (probably normal) but there's no staining.


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## coco (Sep 20, 2006)

> Firstly, you should be looking for what is classed as a 'Super Premium' food. Royal Canin isn't - it's probably rated as 'premium'.
> 
> Then, make sure there's no food colouring OR beet pulp. Sometimes just looking at the colour of the food can be a help - is it dark brown?, probably has some colouring in it. Look for a paler food.
> 
> I switched to Orijen 6-fish - Martin was having a bit of staining before. Now, although I can tell his eyes have watered a bit (probably normal) but there's no staining.[/B]


If I am not mistaken, Royal Canin has beet pulp in it. Coco had a bit of staining when she was on it. I am now feeding her Canidae and Flint River Ranch, and she's got no staining. I know some don't believe this, but my breeder said to make sure there was no beet pulp in the food which I fed Coco, and until the one with beet pulp, we never had a problem. Now we have no problem, so take that for whatever it is worth to you.


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## mtenander1 (Aug 12, 2006)

I agree with you both regarding Royal Canin and the beet pulp. That is why I took her off that when I got her from the breeder and changed her to the Canidae. But she is still having staining on the Canidae. The staining is more brown than red and her eyes are wet but she does not wake up that way in the morning. Her eyes are dry and not staining in the morning. It also smells like yeast. I have tried washing her face etc and it still does not help. I was reading the ingredients of EVO dog food made by Natura. They also make Innova and California Natural. The EVO is low carbs and high protein. I was wondering if she might have a grain allergy??


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## Lainey & Martin (Jul 23, 2007)

I've never been a fan of this food - although the first ingredient is chicken meal (good) the next THREE are grains etc. (so that would probably be the majority of the recipe)
Look for better ingredients up front - (_meal_ is GOOD, but I'd rather see 2-3 of them as the first ingredients). You want to see a 'meal' in the first ingredients, because it's already had the water removed. If a food states 'chicken' as the first ingredient, then grains afterwards, what that actually means is that after everything has been dehydrated there's actually MORE grain/filler than there is meat! (can you tell I used to be a partner in a pet food company??)

clear as mud?? anyways, here's the ingredient list:

*Royal Canin Toy Indoor Adult 25*

Ingredients:
Chicken meal, brown rice, rice, oatmeal, chicken fat, wheat gluten, natural chicken flavour, *dried beet pulp* (sugar removed), rice hulls, anchovy oil, soya oil, dried brewers yeast, dried egg powder, sodium silico aluminate, salt, potassium chloride, fructo-oligosaccharides, calcium sulfate, sodium tripolyphosphate, DL-methionine, taurine*, Vitamins [DL-alpha tocopherol (source of vitamin E), inositol, niacin supplement, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of vitamin C*), d-calcium pantothenate, biotin, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), riboflavin supplement (vitamin B2), thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), vitamin A acetate, folic acid, vitamin B12 supplement, vitamin D3 supplement], choline chloride, magnesium oxide, marigold extract (Calendula officinalis L.), Trace Minerals [zinc proteinate, zinc oxide, ferrous sulfate, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate, copper sulfate, manganous oxide, sodium selenite, calcium iodate], tea (green tea extract), L-carnitine, preserved with natural mixed tocopherols, rosemary extract and citric acid.


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## Lainey & Martin (Jul 23, 2007)

Here's the ingredients for the Canadae Chicken and Rice

All Natural Ingredients
_Chicken Meal, Brown Rice, White Rice, Chicken Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Flax Seed, Sun Cured Alfalfa Meal, Sunflower Oil, Chicken, Lecithin, Monocalcium Phosphate, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Linoleic Acid, Rosemary Extract, Sage Extract, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Mixed Tocopherols (source of Vitamin E), Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Iron Amino Acid Chelate, Copper Amino Acid Chelate, Cobalt Amino Acid Chelate, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Ascorbic Acid (source of Vitamin C), Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (source of B2), Beta Carotene, Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Calcium Iodate, Folic Acid, D-Biotin, Sodium Selenite, Dried Papaya, Vitamin B12 Supplement._

I'm wondering if the Rosemary Extract might be causing some discolouration? I know it's often an ingredient in shampoo for brunettes (keeps the brown colour). But that's just a surmise.


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## mtenander1 (Aug 12, 2006)

I am not feeding her the Royal Canin any more and have not been for months. She has been on Canidae for 3 months. Canidae is suppose to be really good, but she still has staining???


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## Lainey & Martin (Jul 23, 2007)

Compare to Orijen 6-fish (I see the Rosemary is still there, although in a different form):

Fresh salmon (includes chinook. coho and sockeye species), salmon meal, russet potato, herring meal, fresh lake whitefish, sweet potato, fresh lake trout, fresh Northern walleye, freshwater cod, fresh herring, sunflower oil, salmon oil (preserved with mixed tocopherals, a natural source of vitamin E), sun-cured alfalfa, dried sea vegetables (brown kelp, Irish moss, dulse and bladder wrack), leeks, psyllium, crab shell, rosemary, lecithin, apples, black currants..

TONIC HERBS AND BOTANICALS
Chicory root (FOS), licorice root, fennel seed, zea mays, peppermint leaf, marigold flowers, chamomile flowers, dandelion, summer savory, rosemary, rosehips.

ORGANIC MINERALS
Iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate.

PROBIOTIC MICROORGANISMS
Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, Enterococcus faecium fermentation product..

PREMIUM VITAMINS
Mixed tocopherols (source of vitamin E), choline chloride, vitamin A, vitamin D3, niacin, riboflavin, thiamine mononitrate, vitamin B12, folic acid, biotin, pyridoxine (source of vitamin B6).


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## Harley & Dakotas Mum (Jun 11, 2005)

I hate to be a thread stealer here - but I wanted to first thank you for starting this post, I've found it very interesting & educational - and also to thank Lainey - that's a LOT of information, and it sounds like you know your stuff!!

I have my 2 on Royal Canin (they get half/half of 'Beauty' and 'Indoor', they were on 'Sensible' but I noticed it has a higher fat content & Harley needs to watch his waist) - we don't have any problems with tear stains, so I wont think about switching just because of that, BUT aside from the dried beet pulp, is there something else in the ingredients that is not so good???

We don't have the variety of 'super premium' here, so I try to do the best I can, with the limited resources available.


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## I found nemo (Feb 23, 2006)

I have never had a tear stain problem with Nemo only when he was on Nutro.. Now he is on Natural Balance and the stains have gone, I know it was the beet pulp.I know some people disagree but it had to be cause they just magically disappeared when he was taken off of Nutro

ANDREA :biggrin:


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## anouk (Nov 3, 2006)

> I have never had a tear stain problem with Nemo only when he was on Nutro.. Now he is on Natural Balance and the stains have gone, I know it was the beet pulp.I know some people disagree but it had to be cause they just magically disappeared when he was taken off of Nutro
> 
> ANDREA :biggrin:[/B]


I had the same problem with Lizzie, when she was a puppy I fed her Nutro and she had really bad tearstains, now I switched her on Royal Canin Sensible and they had improved a lot.


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## camfan (Oct 30, 2006)

> I am not feeding her the Royal Canin any more and have not been for months. She has been on Canidae for 3 months. Canidae is suppose to be really good, but she still has staining???[/B]


lol--I'm laughing because you only said it 3 TIMES NOW that she's not on Royal Cainn, lol. 

I think this is a good question.

I took Ollie off Natural Balance because of the recalls and, after trying a few things, put him on Nature's Variety. In the meantime, throughout the changes, he started staining for the first time in his life. It's also high allergy season here (summer and fall weeds) so I couldn't tell what it was from. But I decided to change him back to Natural Balance and now his tear stains appear to be lessening. He's also stopped scratching and biting his feet from what I can tell. I've also got him on Angel Eyes, too. 

I think after the recall that the Natural Balance will be safe now. I'm going to stay with it for now. If I change my mind it will be to California Naturals, probably, that PreciousPaws suggested to me.


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## precious paws (Jun 7, 2006)

> Firstly, you should be looking for what is classed as a 'Super Premium' food. Royal Canin isn't - it's probably rated as 'premium'.
> 
> Then, make sure there's no food colouring OR beet pulp. Sometimes just looking at the colour of the food can be a help - is it dark brown?, probably has some colouring in it. Look for a paler food.
> 
> I switched to Orijen 6-fish - Martin was having a bit of staining before. Now, although I can tell his eyes have watered a bit (probably normal) but there's no staining.[/B]


I'm curious about this "super premium" food rating? Who does the rating? I always thought it was just wording that certain companies put on their packaging? If there is an actual rating system, I'd really like to know more about that.


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## Lainey & Martin (Jul 23, 2007)

_I'm curious about this "super premium food" rating? Who does the rating? I always thought it was just wording that certain companies put on their packaging? If there is an actual rating system, I'd really like to know more about that._

Yes, it is an actual rating. I believe it's given when the food goes through it's testing, however I'm not 100% on that.
Try doing a google search - then report back to us!


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## Lainey & Martin (Jul 23, 2007)

I did find this:

_Nutritional Statments
Making comparisons between pet food products can be a bit bewildering, and requires an understanding of how to read the label's Nutritional Statement, List of Ingredients and Guaranteed Analysis.

The Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) and the American Association of Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) have developed standards for pet food nutrition, so products labelled premium or complete and balanced mean the products comply with those standards.

The CVMA has a testing and certification program, but it is voluntary. Some pet food manufacturers label their product as meeting the AAFCO standards, but it does not imply endorsement of the product by that organization._

http://www.topsellingpetsupplies.com/nutri...statements.aspx


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## precious paws (Jun 7, 2006)

> _I'm curious about this "super premium food" rating? Who does the rating? I always thought it was just wording that certain companies put on their packaging? If there is an actual rating system, I'd really like to know more about that._
> 
> Yes, it is an actual rating. I believe it's given when the food goes through it's testing, however I'm not 100% on that.
> Try doing a google search - then report back to us![/B]


That goes through what testing by who? Who does the rating?


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## Lainey & Martin (Jul 23, 2007)

Unfortunately, I don't have the answer at my fingertips - however, do feel free to research it yourself.


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## Lainey & Martin (Jul 23, 2007)

Here's an eye-opener...

http://www.api4animals.org/facts?p=359&more=1


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## precious paws (Jun 7, 2006)

> Unfortunately, I don't have the answer at my fingertips - however, do feel free to research it yourself.[/B]


Well you're the one who posted about ratings so I guess I just figured you knew more about that. Sorry.


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## precious paws (Jun 7, 2006)

http://www.best-dog-food-guide.com/dog-food-labels.html


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