# Tear Staining



## Snuggle's Mom (Jan 3, 2008)

I know that there are MANY posts regarding this issue, and believe there is a thread about poultry in food and tear staining. Is there anyone who might be able to tell me whether poultry might be the cause of tear staining??

The reason for my question is due to our Chrissy (our Malt) who has real bad tear staining and I have noticed it has gotten worse since I switched to food which contains poultry. I also remembered seeing something pertaining to an eye rinse that is also used for adults. With that in mind, perhaps someone might enlighten me to either or both of these issues. 

Thanks and I appreciate any and all responses to my questions.

Snuggle's & Chrissy's Mom


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## RudyRoo (Jun 24, 2011)

Oh, the 'ol tear stain question. It's a puzzle, that's for sure! I recently posted a thread about it too because Rudy started tearing out of the blue in October for the first time. I don't think there is any specific poultry across the board that is a culprit, but any poultry that Chrissy is allergic too would contribute to the staining. I do know that many fluffs can't do chicken. When I posted my thread, the majority response was that sometimes the staining just happens because of allergens in the air. I think the only way to know is to test it out, by either getting one of those allergy tests online or by experimenting with other foods to see if that makes a difference. Here are the questions my vet asked when I took Rudy in for it. Did you make sure that there is no artificial coloring in the food? Are you using purified water in a glass or stainless steel bowl? Have you switched laundry detergent recently? Is there excess hair in the ears? Is she biting her feet, like they are itchy? If so that would indicate allergens in her environment somewhere. 

Hope that helps! Feel free to PM me with any questions because I have been battling Rudy's stains for a while now and have researched the topic to until I'm blue in the face.


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## Snuggle's Mom (Jan 3, 2008)

Thanks so much for taking time out to respond to my recent post on Chrissy's tear staining. At least I know that I am not alone with my or should I say here plight with this issue.

I actually called the company that makes the food (Blue Buffalo) and the person that I spoke with said that her Boston Terrier also had tear staining as well. However, with a dog that has white hair it is oh so much more noticable. She also said that she had never hear that Poultry might be a problem. She said that the variety that she has her dog on actually does have chicken and brown rice in it and it has helped. 

I will most likely change to a different variety of Blue and see what happens and then I will be able to judge. And yes, environment does play an important part and perhaps that this is also a reason.


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## Ladysmom (Oct 19, 2004)

Allergies can cause tearing so if Chrissy is allergic to chicken it might contribute to her staining, but inhalant/environmental allergies are much more common that food allergies. How long ago did you switch to a poultry based food? It takes time to build up the antibodies that trigger the allergic reaction.

Do you have air purifiers in your home? HEPA filter on your vacuum? Do you use a furnace filter that removes allergens in the air? I have terrible allergies so I use all of them. Neither of my Malts have ever had a problem with tear staining.

Tear staining is very common in Maltese and genetics play a huge part. Certain eye conditions, like eyelashes growing inward or blocked tear ducts can cause staining though. Has your vet ever checked Chrissy's eyes? Sometimes a short course of antibiotics is prescribed.


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## lynda (Oct 11, 2005)

I have recently noticed that two of my babies were somewhat staining in their eye area. It was unusual for them. At the time I had them on food with chicken in it. I have since changed their food to the same product but with lamb. Both of their slight tear staining has vanished. I do think it could have been the chicken. From what I have read, chicken can be a factor.


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## luvmyfluffybutt (Jan 6, 2012)

So glad I found this forum! Daisy has really bad staining, we've tried everything-changing her dish, giving her filtered water, etc. and nothing has helped. I have never heard of poultry being an issue, I will have to see if that helps-I hate putting stuff on her face!


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## Snuggle's Mom (Jan 3, 2008)

Thanks to the rest of you who have taken the time out to offer your advice and suggestions regarding the tear staining issue. I have made up my mind to try the Longevity variety of Blue Buffalo and see how that works out. Since the food that Snuggles and Chrissy are on now is only a maintenance variety, and they have already lost the weight, I will make that switch to a non-poultry one for them both. Fortunately, they both do not mind switching from one variety to another as i have never had any problems when doing so.


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## Cosy (Feb 9, 2006)

Poultry can definitely be an issue with staining. Venison, lamb and fish are more likely not to be an allergen.


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## aprilb (Jul 9, 2010)

I would take her to the vet and get her eyes checked. She may have an infection unless she has always had heavy staining. Make sure you are keeping hair out of her eyes. Are you using an eyewash with her? If not, you need to. You can use any eye wash meant for humans. I use Bausch & Lomb.


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## Snuggle's Mom (Jan 3, 2008)

Well, I just saw some more suggestions and thoughts and want to thank those who came on after. And no, I do not use an eye wash and that is also something that I wanted to know about. Is there any particular variety of Bausch and Lomb that I should be looking at, or are they all the same.

Thanks again for you help and have a great day!!


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## jodublin (Sep 27, 2006)

i hate tear stains ,i could write a book on it ,
at the moment i am using spa facial scrub on summer ,its good 
but found that Tresemme instant refresh waterless foam shampoo
used the same way works for monkey .


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## Tija (Dec 26, 2011)

Tear Staining: The Causes & Cures
I get useful information from here, reasons and advices


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## Snuggle's Mom (Jan 3, 2008)

I cannot thank you enough for that fantastic article on Tear Staining an will print that out to have at hand. Since there are other Malts that are also having problems with the same issue with Tear Staining, I am sure that the information provided will be of help to them as well.


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## munchkn8835 (May 23, 2010)

Ollie is off of chicken, beef and dairy. He also takes allergy meds. I have found if he gets any salmon, it makes him stain more....don't know why.


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## lynda (Oct 11, 2005)

I use Collyrium for Fresh Eyes eye wash for my fluffs daily. I get it at Walmart.


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## Snuggle's Mom (Jan 3, 2008)

Sorry that I have not responded to the other posts since my last one, but I took a very nasty fall yesterday afternoon and broke two ribs. Not much fun being laid up and not getting on the computer. As soon as I can, I will check out the recommendation of the eye wash for Chrissy. Also, it was interesting to read about the other types of food that 
Ollie is not able to eat due to allergies.


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## munchkn8835 (May 23, 2010)

Sorry to hear you fell .... and two broken ribs .... ouch! Hope you are better soon.


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## RudyRoo (Jun 24, 2011)

Snuggle's Mom said:


> Sorry that I have not responded to the other posts since my last one, but I took a very nasty fall yesterday afternoon and broke two ribs. Not much fun being laid up and not getting on the computer. As soon as I can, I will check out the recommendation of the eye wash for Chrissy. Also, it was interesting to read about the other types of food that
> Ollie is not able to eat due to allergies.



oh my goodness, you poor thing! Feel better!


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## ckanen2n (Jan 2, 2012)

Sometimes allergies will cause the tear ducts to become congested and the eyes run. You can treat the allergy and/or have an opthamologist flush the duct - simple for an eye specialist to do! 
What most don't get is that the tears are not brown or red until the pigment in the tears interact with light. Ask your vet to place the dog on a subclinical dose of tetracycline (not until adult teeth are in, or they could yellow!) For Bichons, it was recommended 50 mg per day, but I have had success with every other day. I usually start with a higher dose for a week to knock out any inflammation. I have used Sumycin, because they are little pink oval pills which I can easily break and hide in cheese. The Sumycin or tetracycline binds the pigment in the tears so that they do not turn brown when exposed to sunlight. This I know from my experience breeding and showing Bichons, so I assume it works for Maltese. I hope this helps many of you!

PS - I would avoid trying to bleach out the stains. Bleaching will open up the cuticle of the hair shaft, making it more susceptible to future staining! You can trim some of the stain in the corner of the eyes and keep your dog clean. You will gradually see absence of tear staining.


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## luvmyfluffybutt (Jan 6, 2012)

aprilb said:


> I would take her to the vet and get her eyes checked. She may have an infection unless she has always had heavy staining. Make sure you are keeping hair out of her eyes. Are you using an eyewash with her? If not, you need to. You can use any eye wash meant for humans. I use Bausch & Lomb.


Thanks for the suggestions, I'm a new maltese mom and can use all the help I can get!!! Her vet said her eyes were normal and to just clean them daily. She is not a girly girl and will not keep rubber bands or bows in (much to my dismay) so I have the groomer cut her bangs short and my husband trims the hair around her eyes. We use an eye safe puppy wipe instead of an eye wash and if it gets really bad I use a facial on her that is 2 TBS Milk of Magnesia and 2TBS of peroxide mixed with enough cornstarch to thicken, but I really don't like to do that since she hates it! She doesn't seem to mind the blueberry facial at Petco, I got her one today when she got groomed.

Also, sorry to hear about your ribs, been there and it's miserable, hope you feel better soon!!!


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## Chantilly Lace (Jan 31, 2010)

Snuggle's Mom said:


> I know that there are MANY posts regarding this issue, and believe there is a thread about poultry in food and tear staining. Is there anyone who might be able to tell me whether poultry might be the cause of tear staining??
> 
> The reason for my question is due to our Chrissy (our Malt) who has real bad tear staining and I have noticed it has gotten worse since I switched to food which contains poultry. I also remembered seeing something pertaining to an eye rinse that is also used for adults. With that in mind, perhaps someone might enlighten me to either or both of these issues.
> 
> ...


Well after I spend so much money on useless items I took Chantilly Lace to a specialist and she had quite a lot of very fine hair growing on the inside of her lids and after having them removed it cured a lot of the problem. I found that although I wrote I thought all products were a rip off for stain I talked to a cat breeder who spoke so highly of one product which was Eye Envy! I had tried this before and thought it did nothing but I don't think I gave it a chance! It takes much longer than they say and of course it takes cleaning the face everyday with eye wash and conditioning! Funny thing I watch this same woman that had two Maltese, stained when she got them improving every time I saw them over a period of months. So I started using this product and I have to say Chantilly Lace is so white on her face!!!!! It doesn't happen over night thats for sure! Of course she is almost three years old now and I have done a couple of different things including food change. A couple of my dogs (Yorkie's) have had allergies to Innova so I changed to Natural Balance duck and potato. Don't know if this has anything to do with it! Good luck!


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