# Time to attack the tear stains!



## Purple-peep (May 14, 2009)

Ok ladies, I'm ready to deal with Libby's tear stains. I've done nothing to improve them, as her face was contantly wet from hair in her eyes. 

The hair is just about grown out enough to keep it out of her eyes.

Do I take her to the vet to get Tylan? Is it in pill form or a powder?

Once the treatment is done, what do I do to keep the stains under control?

TIA!


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

How old is she?
Has she lost all of her baby teeth (including the molars which they loose around 9-10 months of age)? 

It is up to you to select what you do first
trial of antibiotics (10-14 days worth)
have her evaluated by a veterinary ophthalmologist

If you do antbiotics and it comes right back, you must look for an underlying cause. 
If there is no underlying cause that is fixable (ie it is just due to her facial structure), then you have to decide if you want to take the risks of long-term antibiotics or manage things cosmetically. I, personally, would never do long-term antibiotics.


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## Purple-peep (May 14, 2009)

Thank you!

She's 11 months old. She doesn't have any baby teeth. They were pulled when she was spayed.


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## LJSquishy (Feb 27, 2008)

Wow, Libby has grown up so much! Preston also still has tear staining and I haven't done anything yet about it. I was thinking of giving him another month before taking him in for a complete check-up and hopefully the vet can tell if his tear ducts are blocked, etc rather than me taking him to an eye specialist. I will probably try Tylan for 14 days if everything looks okay.


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## Cosy (Feb 9, 2006)

Has the vet checked her tearducts for blockage ? If all is clear there I would question her diet. Perhaps there are too many
ingredients in her food? Just throwing ideas out there. Tylan is a powder which is given for 10 days. You can give another
round of it after a week if tear staining isn't stopped completely. It's bitter so you will have to hide the taste of it in a food
she loves.


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## Purple-peep (May 14, 2009)

Thank you all!

Preston is so adorable!

Dian would kill me if she found out about Libby's stains. Shh, don't tell LOL!

They don't bother me but she would look so much prettier without them.

She's on Natural Balance duck and potato. Is that bad for tear stains? She only gets NB cookies too.

While I'm thinking of it, when is the first teeth cleaning done? I can't believe the tarter on her back teeth! She doesn't get any soft food or people food.

I friend with a Yorkie told me to get some gauze squares to wipe her teeth with.


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## Cosy (Feb 9, 2006)

Some do well on duck. For others it's too rich. Since you're on NB have you tried the sweet potato and venison?


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## sassy's mommy (Aug 29, 2005)

QUOTE (Cosy @ Feb 20 2010, 07:51 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=888313


> Some do well on duck. For others it's too rich. Since you're on NB have you tried the sweet potato and venison?[/B]



I agree with Brit, I would switch her to the Sweet Potato and Venison, or Sweet Potato and Bison.


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## Nikki's Mom (Feb 13, 2008)

Do you brush her teeth? Sometimes tear stains can be from a tooth or gum infection. I brush Nikki's teeth every other night. She's 2 and hasn't yet needed a dental, and I really hope she won't need one for a long time. She still has tear stains, but they're much better than they were. I'm taking her off sweet potato to see if that makes a difference. She will be eating just meat and 1 veggie at a time for a while so I can see if it is something in her food that is causing the staining. I've given her Tylan 2X and it worked both times, but I'd rather try an elimination diet first before I give her Tylan again.


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## cleooscar (May 28, 2008)

Our fluffs tear stain went away last spring when we switched to NB Duck & Potato. Now they're on both NB D/P and Acana Grasslands. Once the NB D/P is done, I'm planning to switch to NB Fish. I also feed them fruits, veggies, probiotic yogurt and buttermilk powder. I also brush their teeth every other day and they also get daily chews which I find help clean their teeth.


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## LJSquishy (Feb 27, 2008)

It's doubtful that her food is causing her tear stains. I only say this because I've fed NB Potato & Duck as well as NB Sweet Potato & Venison in the past and neither were causes of tear staining for London. Both London & Preston eat Orijen 6 Fresh Fish kibble and tear staining neither stopped, improved, nor got worse. Do you know if Libby's sire & dam ever had or currently have tear staining? It could possibly be genetic. I've never asked if Preston's parents have/had staining. Libby might need her 1st dental done when she turns 1 year old -- I've noticed that Preston has quite a bit of plaque and tartar on his back teeth. London is 2 and has never had much tartar at all so she hasn't had a dental yet. About a month ago I bought Petzlife Oral spray and people say it works wonders but I haven't been faithful in using it daily so far...but I'm pretty sure it would make a huge difference if I did!

I think at this point, make an appointment for Libby to see her regular vet...see if they can tell if her tearducts are blocked -- if not, try the Tylan. Maybe even ask Dian what she thinks, since she knows her lines. Ugh, now you have me thinking about trying to combat Preston's tear stains! LOL! His are FAAAAAAR worse than Libby's judging by your siggy picture!


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## Purple-peep (May 14, 2009)

How do you ladies get those other NB varieties in bite size? I can only get the chicken or duck in bite size at my Petco.

Lisa, I think Libby's stains are from hair poking her in the eye. I'm going to get some of those flat clips to try to keep it neat and out of her eyes.

Dian wanted me to do angel eyes...and keep her on a sweet potato/duck formula. I'll ask her to see what she says about the stains.

I'm going to take her to the vet this week. Hopefully, they can shed some light.

Thank you!


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## LJSquishy (Feb 27, 2008)

QUOTE (Purple-peep @ Feb 22 2010, 05:43 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=888862


> How do you ladies get those other NB varieties in bite size? I can only get the chicken or duck in bite size at my Petco.
> 
> Lisa, I think Libby's stains are from hair poking her in the eye. I'm going to get some of those flat clips to try to keep it neat and out of her eyes.
> 
> ...


The NB Sweet Potato & Venison does not come in the small bites formula unfortunately. When London was on the Venison she didn't have trouble breaking up the larger pieces. I found that the Venison kibble was softer than the Potato & Duck so it wasn't a problem.

Well, if Dian wanted you to try Angel Eyes, that is what Tylan powder is so hopefully the straight Tylan powder will work (since it's bad to keep them on Angel Eyes for a prolonged period of time). Keep us updated on what the vet says!


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## cleooscar (May 28, 2008)

NB Duck & Potato seems to have harder and denser texture compared to other varieties. I ended up having to crush it up manually for Raine or she'll swallow it whole and then throw up. We're about finished with our current bag and plan to switch to NB fish next time.


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## Snowbody (Jan 3, 2009)

Anne -Tyler and I are in the same boat as you and Libby. :huh: I took him to the vet two weeks ago and he's on Tylan and so far it doesn't look like it's really working. She and my breeder Chris, suggested I cut the hair near his eyes and on his face (his Wilfred Grimley mustache as I called it) since the hair near the eyes constantly poked in. I had grown in out for 4 months but he'd constantly sleep on it or play and it would poke him. I got the hair cut two weeks ago near the eyes and yesterday the mustache. He's on Wellness canned puppy food, probiotic Greek yogurt and some boiled chicken. So now instead of the tears cascading down his hair it looks like they're pooling on the bridge of his nose. :smpullhair: and it looks even worse to me...like raccoon eyes. :w00t: Here's a photo below taken yesterday. So not sure what to do next. Maybe diet. She said with tear duct flushing they have to anesthetize so not wild about that and his teeth are great so no dental coming up. Someone else mentioned a dye test..don't know how that works. Let's keep each other posted.
His before picture would be his siggy.
This is yesterday.


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

My ophthalmologist can flush tear ducts on most dogs awake. I would get a referral.


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## Purple-peep (May 14, 2009)

I met a women at the pet store who had this very shy malt who was filthy and matted. OMG, I wanted to kidnap him just to clean him up.

Anyhow, I had to chuckle when she told me that she thought the stains were from him crying blood. (Poor dirty baby)


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## FortheloveofBuckeye (Mar 11, 2010)

Hi everyone, I'm a newbie here...can someone tell me what "NB" stands for? I assume it's something related to their diet but am not sure. If it is, do they have to be a certain age before inducing? Trying to learn all I can for my Buckeye.

Thanks!


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## LJSquishy (Feb 27, 2008)

FortheloveofBuckeye said:


> Hi everyone, I'm a newbie here...can someone tell me what "NB" stands for? I assume it's something related to their diet but am not sure. If it is, do they have to be a certain age before inducing? Trying to learn all I can for my Buckeye.
> 
> Thanks!


'NB' stands for Natural Balance (a dog food brand). It is a fantastic brand to feed if your dog may have food allergies, but if not, there are several brands that in my opinion are far more nutritious than Natural Balance.


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## pinkpixie1588 (Oct 12, 2009)

FortheloveofBuckeye said:


> Hi everyone, I'm a newbie here...can someone tell me what "NB" stands for? I assume it's something related to their diet but am not sure. If it is, do they have to be a certain age before inducing? Trying to learn all I can for my Buckeye.
> 
> Thanks!


NB is Natural Balance..a brand of food.


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## FortheloveofBuckeye (Mar 11, 2010)

Thank you for clarifying. I thought it was a dog food but wanted to be sure. I did purchase NB for Buckeye a few days ago...he likes it so far.


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## Nikki's Mom (Feb 13, 2008)

I took Nikki off of sweet potato and her tear stains went away. But that doesn't mean your dog is sensitive to sweet potato, it just means that it might be causing Nikki's tear staining. I home cook.


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## jodublin (Sep 27, 2006)

Summer has these stains also ,how long does it take Angels eyes to start working ? i started her on it 10 days ago . still change in the stains ..


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## nekkidfish (Aug 25, 2009)

jodublin said:


> Summer has these stains also ,how long does it take Angels eyes to start working ? i started her on it 10 days ago . still change in the stains ..


I know I've read a lot of people on here say that they do not use this product because it doesn't work. And others who say don't use it, or don't use it long-term, as it has an antibiotic in it and could cause health problems down the road.

HUGz! Jules


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## nekkidfish (Aug 25, 2009)

Susan, how old is Tyler? That is exactly what Poppy looks right now, at around 4 1/2 months. I too trimmed the long hairs. Everyone on here told me just to keep his face dry, and Mary suggested that I wash his eyes twice a day with Bausch & Lomb Collyrium for Fresh Eyes (I found it at Rite-Aid, and started this yesterday.) I am hoping that Poppy's is just due to teething, and that at some point this boy will have a pure, white face.

HUGz! Jules





Snowbody said:


> Anne -Tyler and I are in the same boat as you and Libby. :huh: I took him to the vet two weeks ago and he's on Tylan and so far it doesn't look like it's really working. She and my breeder Chris, suggested I cut the hair near his eyes and on his face (his Wilfred Grimley mustache as I called it) since the hair near the eyes constantly poked in. I had grown in out for 4 months but he'd constantly sleep on it or play and it would poke him. I got the hair cut two weeks ago near the eyes and yesterday the mustache. He's on Wellness canned puppy food, probiotic Greek yogurt and some boiled chicken. So now instead of the tears cascading down his hair it looks like they're pooling on the bridge of his nose. :smpullhair: and it looks even worse to me...like raccoon eyes. :w00t: Here's a photo below taken yesterday. So not sure what to do next. Maybe diet. She said with tear duct flushing they have to anesthetize so not wild about that and his teeth are great so no dental coming up. Someone else mentioned a dye test..don't know how that works. Let's keep each other posted.
> His before picture would be his siggy.
> This is yesterday.


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## Nikki's Mom (Feb 13, 2008)

Angel's Eyes is an antibiotic with liver flavor. When you use it, you do not realy know what dose of Tylan (antibiotic) you are giving your dog. I wouldn't use this product as it is overpriced and inconsistent. I have used straight Tylan on Nikki and it worked. I'm not a fan of meds, everyone knows that, but I tried it because I really tried everything else I knew to try first. 

Tylan is available in a big jar at Cal Vet supply online for a low cost. My advice is to try other things and only use Tylan as a last resort. Antibiotic resistance is a real problem and you don't want your dog getting very sick later on in life if they get an infection, and their bodies became resistant to germs due to over use of Tylan, just because you wanted to improve their outward appearance issue.


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## llf060787 (Nov 19, 2007)

We tried Angle Eyes with Bianca and she wouldn't eat anything that I put the Angle Eyes on. It was such a hassle to try and get it into her because of the bitter taste and the amount I needed to give her. You also need to give them the Angle Eyes indefinately. When you stop, they start tearing agian. We then switched to Tylen (bought on e-bay) and did 10 days with a measured pinch per day because of her weight. It worked. She stopped tearing but her face didn't really clear up until the next grooming appointment when they trimmed her face. She started tearing again about a year later and we did another 10 days and she'll be 4 this July and has since been tear-free.


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