# Do all Maltese get stains?



## Boobookit (Dec 3, 2005)

OK, this is probably a silly question but I have searched the questions on this subject but they all about getting rid of the stains.

My question is....is the staining something that I will eventually have to look forward to?? Pacino is 6 and a half months old and he tears a lot. I am constantly wiping his eyes, but although he is tearing, which the vet said was normal, he does NOT get discolored.

He does not get the stains like I have heard everyone talking about...and not that I am complaining, I am rather happy about it!!

The vet told me to give him spring water or distilled water, never tap water and therefore he has never had tap water. He said that the iron in the tap water adds to the discoloration.

Is there an age when it starts or has he just been lucky so far?

Thanks

Marie and (are you wiping my face again, Mommy?) Pacino


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## MaxMommy (Nov 1, 2005)

All malts are different. From what I have read, they usually can start tearing either from the beginning or at the time they are teething...about your pups age. There are many contributing factors...food, water, hair in the eyes, genetics, and the acid level in their body.

teaspoon vinegar in the water will change acid level

Tums will change acid level

teaspoon lemon juice and teaspoon baking soda to wash back to white (works on beard food stains, too)

There are champion breeders that have tear staining dogs, so it really is complicated. You have to find what works for you....even they don't have the answers guaranteed.

YES, consider yourself very lucky...your dog may never stain...except for food under his mouth.

Mine hardly tears, either. Keeping my fingers crossed.


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## MalteseJane (Nov 21, 2004)

No not all Maltese stain. Consider yourself lucky.


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## doctorcathy (May 17, 2004)

in my avatar, sprite used to get really bad tear stains. till i put her on a homecooked diet. it helped ellie a lot too.


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## Koa (Oct 11, 2005)

Koa is still a puppy too, and at this stage he does not tear very much. (Knock on wood.) I did notice that he teared more when he was on Eukenuba than on what I feed him now: Nautral Balance. On the new stuff I have to clean his eyes every few days and even then it's not bad... now we'll see if that changes once he starts teething. Yikes.


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## RexsMom (Jun 8, 2005)

Rex stains a lot, however his groomer gets his eyes clean and always says they werent that bad. I guess some must stain worse. I gave up the fight. It was torture to the both of us to use the eye cleaning solutions or the creams. I am too concerned about putting something in his diet with all of his allergies. We just switched from Nutro Natures Choice to Wellness Venision, the transition ended 2 days ago, I am not sure if that will make a difference. However stains or no stains, he's my best bud and he doesnt seem to care about my flaws either!


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## kodie (Aug 24, 2004)

Kodie is over 2yrs old and I never had staining. I consider myself to be lucky! Kodie will tear of course but he never gets that redish staining on his fur.... i think it just depends on the dog and the genes. Kodie's mom didnt have staining either.


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## RexsMom (Jun 8, 2005)

> Kodie is over 2yrs old and I never had staining. I consider myself to be lucky! Kodie will tear of course but he never gets that redish staining on his fur.... i think it just depends on the dog and the genes. Kodie's mom didnt have staining either.[/B]


What do you feed Kodie? Rex's parents didnt have the staining and Rex didnt have any stains until I had him a couple weeks, but I refused to keep him on that 'ol Roy dog food they had him on.


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## kodie (Aug 24, 2004)

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Kodie is on Hill's d/l for his liver... but before that he was on Eukanuba and Nutro... Kodie also only gets polan spring water. I dunno... I think its in the genetics... kodie's aunt has slight staining (which is kodie's mom's sister). Some people say its the things you feed your pup... i dunno..


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## MalteseJane (Nov 21, 2004)

I don't think it's the feeding or water. It's the genetics, tear ducts, allergies... Alex has always been on a home cooked diet and gets spring water. He used to have pretty bad staining and I put him on panmycin aquadrops. That stopped the staining. Then last year he had a bounce of thrombocetopenia and he was put on prednisone to control that. I stopped the panmycin and still barely any staining. End of the year we stopped the prednisone. It's now a year, he has not had any panmycin and he barely has any staining. Knock on wood I hope it stays that way.


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## Brit'sMom (Aug 18, 2004)

Brit'ny gets really bad stains and chunky eye boogers

She eats Science Diet

I don't know how to make it better, but I still think she is beautiful


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## cindysilver (May 15, 2005)

Jack stains, but only after trips to the groomer... I think the tools they use must have yeast on them. ICK.

I saw a Maltese the other day, that (not that I am JUDGING, or anything, but I couldn't help myself) was DISGUSTINGLY TEAR STAINED ... to the point where I wondered if she could even see. BLACK RED gunk all over the eyes and nose, in the eyebrows, just horrible. I mean, I had acne as an adolescent, so I learned the hard way about keeping the face clean, the bacterial growth on one's face to a minimum, etc. And Jack gets the same treatment as a human with bacterial-colonies on their face -- cleaning the face, a healthy diet, and the occasional Angels Glow to keep the yeast away









but that poor doggy I saw ... I felt SO BAD for her... I know I shouldn't judge other owners for not being the same anal-retentive about clean-face as I AM but ... ICK.


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## Sylphide and Shrek's Mom (Dec 4, 2004)

Shrek doesn't stain at all. He never has - neither does his mom. His dad had some tearstaining.

Sylphide tear stains. We keep her face clean, bacteria-free and mostly stain free with Chelsey's solution - the dental cleanser routine.

She's been on a special diet of white rice and boiled chicken for the last 10 days since her bout with Giardia. We noticed that her tear-staining has almost completely stopped on that diet. She's usually on Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul, which may have ingredients that cause her to stain. I might just try to switch her to a "whiter" diet, to see if that makes a difference.


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## Chelsey (Dec 17, 2004)

> Shrek doesn't stain at all. He never has - neither does his mom. His dad had some tearstaining.
> 
> Sylphide tear stains. We keep her face clean, bacteria-free and mostly stain free with Chelsey's solution - the dental cleanser routine.
> 
> She's been on a special diet of white rice and boiled chicken for the last 10 days since her bout with Giardia. We noticed that her tear-staining has almost completely stopped on that diet. She's usually on Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul, which may have ingredients that cause her to stain. I might just try to switch her to a "whiter" diet, to see if that makes a difference.[/B]


Could you list what in the ingrediance for chicken soup.. I wonder what's in it that may cause that to happen.
I'm glad the solution works for you.

I hope your puppy feels better soon, she is so pretty


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## TheButtercup (Mar 3, 2005)

buttercup had horrid staining til she was about 16mos old. then it just *poof* went away. i think hers was due to her teething. my favorite pics of her are her at her worst staining stages. i am obviously in the minority, lol, but i thought she was just precious with her stains. she now, only stains when the weather takes severe changes...and then, not so bad. it's only a couple days' worth. 

ann marie and the "they're not stains, they're HIGHLIGHTS!" buttercup


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## Sylphide and Shrek's Mom (Dec 4, 2004)

> Could you list what in the ingrediance for chicken soup.. I wonder what's in it that may cause that to happen.
> I'm glad the solution works for you. I hope your puppy feels better soon, she is so pretty[/B]


Thanks for the kind thoughts, Chelsey. Sylphide is doing well - back to her bossy self!

The ingredients for Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul, Adult formula, are:

Chicken, turkey, chicken meal, turkey meal, whole grain brown rice, whole grain white rice, oatmeal, potatoes, cracked pearled barley, millet, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), duck, salmon, egg product, flaxseed, natural chicken flavor, kelp, carrots, peas, apples, dried skim milk, cranberry powder, rosemary extract, parsley flake, potassium chloride, salt, choline chloride, dried chicory root, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate, manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin, vitamin D supplement, folic acid.


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## Littlemans Mom (Apr 6, 2005)

> buttercup had horrid staining til she was about 16mos old. then it just *poof* went away. i think hers was due to her teething. my favorite pics of her are her at her worst staining stages. i am obviously in the minority, lol, but i thought she was just precious with her stains. she now, only stains when the weather takes severe changes...and then, not so bad. it's only a couple days' worth.
> 
> ann marie and the "they're not stains, they're HIGHLIGHTS!" buttercup[/B]

















That Buttercup sure is a smart little one


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## Fenway's Momma (Dec 6, 2005)

> Shrek doesn't stain at all. He never has - neither does his mom. His dad had some tearstaining.
> 
> Sylphide tear stains. We keep her face clean, bacteria-free and mostly stain free with Chelsey's solution - the dental cleanser routine.
> 
> She's been on a special diet of white rice and boiled chicken for the last 10 days since her bout with Giardia. We noticed that her tear-staining has almost completely stopped on that diet. She's usually on Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul, which may have ingredients that cause her to stain. I might just try to switch her to a "whiter" diet, to see if that makes a difference.[/B]



Just curious about a whiter diet- how much do you feed her, and do you just feed her the rice and chicken? 

I think that it is interesting that she stop staining on that diet. Both Fenway's parents have staining, so I am sure he'll have it too, esp. if it is genetic. If it is something that can be controlled or reduced by diet, then I am willing to try that. both parents are fed Innova (sp?) which I thought was pretty quality food. His mom is on the puppy formula and her owner said she is going to keep her on that for good because she is a small dog and she can benefit from the extra nutrients. I am not sure if it is necessary to do that, but her staining is not as bad as the dad's. I am not sure what formula he is on. but then maybe the mom's owner keeps up on the cleaning a little better. 

Does anyone have any comments on Innova, or a white diet?

Renee


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## LexiAndNikkisMom (Apr 13, 2004)

> do you just feed her the rice and chicken?[/B]


You can feed bland rice and chicken occasionally when your furbaby is constipated, has diarrhea, or an upset stomach but you should not feed it for more than a few days (unless the vet says otherwise) because it is not a balanced diet.

The reason some foods cause staining is because the dog is allergic to something in it or there is food coloring or beets added. That is another reason why it is important to read the ingredients on the packaging.

Innova is a very good food. I had the girls on it for a long time but stopped when I started making their meals. I'm now giving them Nature's Variety and occasionally home cooked meals.


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## RexsMom (Jun 8, 2005)

Rex's stains started going away now that he is on the Wellness-venison food. He didnt have stains when we got him, the we put him on Nutro-Natural Choice and I didnt think that food was causing stains, but now that we switched to Wellness and I am seeing a huge difference even in the amount of eye watering, I do think it was the food after all!


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## Chelsey (Dec 17, 2004)

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Your welcome. Thanks for listing the ingredients, I wanted to compair it to what chelsey was eating before. Royal cain but the Ingredients seem pretty good to me. Only thing i could see is the cranberry but since it powder i don't think it could casuse staining.. but I'm not an expert at this. 
I'm glad your puppy is feeling better.


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## Fenway's Momma (Dec 6, 2005)

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thanks for the info...I am glad to hear the Innova is good. He is starting on puppy food this week. We will just continue with that when he comes home and see how that goes.


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## Sylphide and Shrek's Mom (Dec 4, 2004)

> Just curious about a whiter diet- how much do you feed her, and do you just feed her the rice and chicken?
> I think that it is interesting that she stop staining on that diet.[/B]


Hi Renee, 

You know, I realized after writing this that it probably isn't the white diet that got rid of the staining. She was on antibiotics for the giardia, and antibiotics clear up tearstaining. Some folks use antibiotics regularly to control tearstaining, but I wouldn't do that because it creates a resistance to the antibiotic and won't work when our babies are really sick and need it.

I put her back on her regular diet of Adult Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul plus fresh chicken. My three get fed morning and evening, roughly 12 hours apart, and free feed on kibble the rest of the time. 

When they were on white rice and chicken, it was the same routine. I gradually mixed in the kibble to get them back to the regular meals. Shrek was so happy - he didn't like the bland chicken and rice and wanted his Chicken Soup back.

As for how much, I just guestimate. I know how much they'll eat and feed them that much. Sylphide and Shrek are not overeaters, so if there were more, they just wouldn't eat it. 

Sylphide still isn't staining after a week on the regular diet, which is what made me realize it was the antibiotics. I'm sure that'll last a while and then she might start staining again.


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## shasbury (Nov 10, 2004)

I am so frusterated with my little Lilly. Neither her mom or dad has staining. I checked on that before I got her because stains just drive me nuts. Lilly is 14 months old now and has the worst staining!! I just can't keep it down. She is on Euchanuba food. I talked to the vet and he was of no help at all. Just says it is common with this breed and deal with it basically. 

I know some of you mentioned differant kinds of food but I have never seen or heard of them before. Can you tell me where to get these foods to try them if you think that will make a differance.

Thanks so much


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## Sylphide and Shrek's Mom (Dec 4, 2004)

> I am so frusterated with my little Lilly.[/B]


Awwww, it's not her fault.

Try combining Chelsey's tearstaining recipe with clipping of the worst part around the eyes. I bought some very small, blunt shears with rounded edges for that purpose. I manage to keep Sylphide's tearstaining under control that way. The hair around her eyes is never perfect, but those combined techniques keep her face looking very good.


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## lacey (Oct 17, 2005)

I have never had a problem with Daisy getting tearstains. She is just lucky I guess. She's always had tap water. I think that it just depends on the puppy.


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## Teddyandme (Feb 6, 2005)

Teddy has never had tear staining...or I should say he has not since just after I brought him home. I too have given him only bottled spring water since bringing him home. I also feed him naturally - only fresh ingredients of natural lamb, fresh veggies, fruit and the like. 

S


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## Fenway's Momma (Dec 6, 2005)

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 Thanks for the update, I did read a thread about the antibiotics succesfully getting rid of stains for some people and how it is heavily debated as a treatment on this forum. As it stands right now I am just jumping the gun on the whole tear staining thing. I am just trying to prepare myself, as I said before both parents had it and it is v. likely that Fenway will too. I am glad that the food they are giving them is quality. As long as he is healthy, I have nothing to complain about! 

I did read with the Innova that one should follow the feeding directions on the back as it is high calorie and easy to over feed. I'll prob. do that until I can start to guage the right amount that he will eat. So you feed them the dry all day and the wet twice a day- that sounds like it is good to break up the feedings. I may try a different wet food for him, because Innova doesn't make a puppy wet food. 

As far as antibiotics to treat the stains, I'll cross that bridge when we get there, but I don't like taking any drugs (prescription or even tylenol) myself, so I am not sure I could give him something that wasn't necessary for his health. 

Thanks again for the help!


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## Fenway's Momma (Dec 6, 2005)

> I am so frusterated with my little Lilly. Neither her mom or dad has staining. I checked on that before I got her because stains just drive me nuts. Lilly is 14 months old now and has the worst staining!! I just can't keep it down. She is on Euchanuba food. I talked to the vet and he was of no help at all. Just says it is common with this breed and deal with it basically.
> 
> I know some of you mentioned differant kinds of food but I have never seen or heard of them before. Can you tell me where to get these foods to try them if you think that will make a differance.
> 
> Thanks so much[/B]


Innova's website is
http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=home-tab
they have a store locator section.
alot of people here have mentioned the chicken soup for the dog lovers soul, dog food as a favorite, it might be easier to find.
Check out the food and recipe section of this forum, there is a poll on the top with alot of food recommendations, it is interesting and helpful. I personally, don't know if diet is a factor in tearstaining, if neither parents had it it might be worthwhile to research the cause a little more. Maybe a different vet might be more sympathetic to help you find out what the cause may be. 

Hope this is of some help to you, good luck!


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