# Ughhhh......tear stains



## SoonerChris (Sep 26, 2012)

Lucy is 7 month old and her tear stains are out of control. Can someone recommend something, anything that will help? IF it makes any difference, she is on Science Diet Puppy Small & Toy Breed - Dry food.


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## IvysMom (Dec 24, 2012)

You are among a group of tear stain sympathizers here.

When I brought Ivy home from the breeder, I switched her to Science Diet Ideal Balance for puppys. Her tear stains have improved considerably since then though I have no idea if the change of food is contributing to the improvement. If you like SD, you might want to try the Ideal Balance next time rather than the type of SD you are feeding.

What I think has helped Ivy the most is vigilant face washing. Every day without fail I use cotton squares (next to cotton balls in Walmart) to wash her face first with Collyrium Fresh Eyes (I put a drop in each eye too), soaking any stained hair well. I then let that sit for about 2 minutes. Then I use clean cotton squares and thoroughly lather her face with Biogroom Waterless Shampoo (fabulous stuff that doesn't have to be rinsed out!), then rub and squeeze her hair damp-dry with additional cotton squares. Comb her facial hair, let air dry, then comb again. If done every day, I think it really helps fade existing tear stains and prevent new from developing. 

Also, make sure no little hairs are poking her in the eyes, causing her to tear excessively.

If the situation is really desperate, you might try a limited trial of Angel Eyes (not the useless "Natural Angel Eyes") for a month or 6 weeks. It contains tylosin, an antibiotic normally used only for livestock, so it is not something you want to give forever. However, it has "jump started" clearing up tear stains for many, giving you a chance to get ahead of it, then keep ahead of it with daily face washing. You can see in Ivy's photo below that she has no new tear stains below her eyes. Her only staining starts about halfway down her muzzle, and is the old stains growing out that hopefully I'll be able to snip off one of these days when the hair gets long enough. And the Collyrium seems to have faded the old stains considerably. The washing her face daily seems to be preventing new stains from developing, though I expect if I quit being so vigilant about it, the stains would come right back.

Good luck!


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## Zoe's Mom88 (Apr 25, 2011)

Lucy could still be teething and that can be the cause of her tear stains. It is important to wash her face everyday and keep it as dry as possible. A wet face causes the staining from the build up of yeast. You should also give her bottled water to drink.

You could try Angel Eye's as Ivy has suggested but you should read up about it first.


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## AshleyAndSophiePup (Aug 24, 2012)

Here's a few suggestions that you may already be doing:
-only give Lucy filtered water, Sophie has never had tap water in her life. And I know there's a reason you shouldn't give tap water to your fluff, I just don't know what it is :blush:
-instead of using a water dish try having Lucy use a water bottle to help keep her face as dry as possible
-use cornstarch on the area under her eyes (on Sophie that part of her face always looks a little wet) and that will help keep her face dry, help pick up eye gookies, and almost act like chalk does in the show ring to take away the look of the staining
-try a couple drops of apple cider vinegar in her water, I'd look up how much and how often because I'm not sure, but I've heard it works
-if all else fails, before going to angel eyes or anything like that I would consult your vet. You could do everything right and it could end up being that her tear ducts aren't the right shape or aren't wide enough. If those are fine and there's no other explanation, that's when I would start using angel eyes. There is so much controversy about it, that I personally would rather use all the home methods I could before trying it, just to be to the safe side

Good Luck! Remember, you may not see a vast improvement RIGHT away, but give it some time to work on things


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## Yogi's Mom (Jan 6, 2013)

*Hello from Pa--Just Every day face washing a must.*
*Stainless water dish Distilled water and i think the food has alot to do with it for some Fluffs.*

*So Far Its not real Bad For Yogi, But he has some days it is-if get right on it there is no problem.*


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## IvysMom (Dec 24, 2012)

I'm always so impressed with Yogi's wardrobe! I look forward to your posts to see what the fashionable attire of the day is today! He is quite the fashionista!


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## SoonerChris (Sep 26, 2012)

So just to give everyone an idea how bad her stians are, here's a pic. This is from early December. 

My thought is to start out with the Fresh Eyes and Spa Lavish and see how that works. If they don't get better I'll move on to Angel Eyes.

To answer a couple of the questions above. Lucy gets filtered water out of the refrig and, after tomorrow, will only be drinking out of stainless bowls.

And I know, she's a little camera shy.


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## Kathleen (Aug 4, 2011)

Lucy is beautiful! What a pretty girl!


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## SoonerChris (Sep 26, 2012)

Kathleen said:


> Lucy is beautiful! What a pretty girl!


Thank you. She's a daddy's girl.


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## Yogi's Mom (Jan 6, 2013)

IvysMom said:


> I'm always so impressed with Yogi's wardrobe! I look forward to your posts to see what the fashionable attire of the day is today! He is quite the fashionista!


Oh My I Just seen this-Thank you so much Nickee*-That was really nice!!!


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## Sylie (Apr 4, 2011)

Her tear stains don't look that bad. I've seen much worse. She is probably still teething. Science Diet probably has a lot of corn, which is one of the most likely to cause problems foods. I would recommend that you do some research and gradually switch her to a higher quality food that does not contain wheat or corn. 

This is one of the best articles on tears stains I have ever read. I hope you find it helpful...........

A Veterinary Guide to Tear Stains


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## Yogi's Mom (Jan 6, 2013)

*Oh My Lucy is really Beautiful. She is just so darling.*
*I fight eye stains also-I Just try to keep up and keep his face really clean. I Think I Might Be Having him looked at by the vet one eye looks a little irritated. Oh What we go thru For our Babies.*
*As of now i have only done distilled water and he eats off of stainless. Good luck and let us know what works on her. Nickee in Pa**

*Yogi Says Shes a sweetie pie and is sending her this card.*


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## Yogi's Mom (Jan 6, 2013)

Sylie said:


> Her tear stains don't look that bad. I've seen much worse. She is probably still teething. Science Diet probably has a lot of corn, which is one of the most likely to cause problems foods. I would recommend that you do some research and gradually switch her to a higher quality food that does not contain wheat or corn.
> 
> This is one of the best articles on tears stains I have ever read. I hope you find it helpful...........
> 
> A Veterinary Guide to Tear Stains


Love that- Good reading. MiMi Looks beautiful!!!!


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## SoonerChris (Sep 26, 2012)

Sylie said:


> I would recommend that you do some research and gradually switch her to a higher quality food that does not contain wheat or corn.


Suggestions for higher quality food that you have had good luck with?


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## Nycsparkle (Jan 23, 2013)

Lucy is a cutie pie. Monte is my first malt so I don't have a lot of experience with reducing tear stains. But I did follow the daily cleaning as all of you recommended, and I did notice a significant difference. I will say Teething was a major tear stain contributor as well.


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## Sylie (Apr 4, 2011)

SoonerChris said:


> Suggestions for higher quality food that you have had good luck with?


Solid Gold Just a Wee Bit. Many SM member are happy with Fromm.


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## Grace'sMom (Feb 22, 2012)

Like Sylvie said... I was going to say it's probably the corn in the Science Diet.

She gave you good foods  Most here like the Wee-Bit or the Fromm...or I see a lot of people use Wellness.

Washing their eyes daily will help 

And also giving her a few more months for teething to end.


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## nwyant1946 (Jan 2, 2013)

*Since I switched Mia over to Merricks lamb, brown rice and apple and Merricks grain free wet food, I've noticed an improvement in her tear stains. Not perfect by any means, but not as dark either.*

*Now that I've read about Violet's problems, I'm watching her like a hawk for any funny symptoms. So far, nothing has changed and its been almost two weeks since I switched her over. I didn't do it real gradually either...the first day I mixed it with the BB chicken but the next day I just gave her straight Merricks. Her BM's have been nice and firm and very regular. I just wanted her off the poultry because she was scratching so badly. That has calmed down a lot as well.*


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

Someone suggested that they had seen a difference when they switched from what they were feeding their Malt to Fromm and gave them distilled water. I actually switched from Blue Buffalo (never thought I would do that since they did so well on it) to see whether or not it does make a difference in Chrissy's tear stains. So far, I have not seen much difference but it has only been a few days since she and Snuggles are on Fromm. I give them the Whitefish since it is the lowest in protein and the choices in the Pet store where I bought it did not have very many to choose from.


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## sherry (Jan 4, 2013)

So I've been looking for the Collirium eye drops and cannot find them. I've never heard of them. Am I looking for the right product? Riley has tear stains also.


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## Oakley Jackson (Feb 7, 2013)

sherry said:


> So I've been looking for the Collirium eye drops and cannot find them. I've never heard of them. Am I looking for the right product? Riley has tear stains also.


I got Fresh Eyes at Walmart. It has Collirium.


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## IvysMom (Dec 24, 2012)

Fresh Eyes IS Collyrium. It has been called just Collyruim for many decades (50 years?? 60 years??) but I think they simplified the name recently to Fresh Eyes. 

I buy it at Walmart. Here is a pic of what the box looks like. The words rather blend into the colors on the box so it can be hard to spot on the shelf:

Collyrium Soothing Eye Wash for Fresh Eyes - CVS pharmacy


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## sherry (Jan 4, 2013)

OK, so I'm a dummy! Now I can find it! 


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## Sylie (Apr 4, 2011)

sherry said:


> OK, so I'm a dummy! Now I can find it!
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App



You are not a dummy. There are dozens of eye drops, dozens of contact lens solutions, but only that one little box of eyewash. Even though I have been buying it for years, it takes a while to find it.


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## Silkmalteselover (Apr 1, 2010)

:thumbsup: I am bumping this thread for some new puppy owners to see some of the answers to control the tearing issues. I encouraged them to come to Spoiled Maltese. I hope they join in.


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## 4everjack (Feb 11, 2013)

Hi Sherry I finally found the drops in rite aide I actually looked over them the first time lol..


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