# Eye Clear eye drops, anyone using this frequently for tear stains?....



## tobysmom (Jan 1, 2011)

I bought this and tried using it, that was months ago, if i recall correctly it may have helped with staining. It has boric acid in it, but i know it's safe because my vet said use it daily, and it's in human eye drops as well..

My question is, anyone else here using it daily/just about daily? helpful?

and gosh i hate putting my doggy through that, how annoying is it to the dog? he tries to get away from me when i do it, i don't blame him, i hate eye drops myself. Is it just something that he might get used to? Maybe someone who uses contacts knows. lol. i only use them infrequently, during allergy season, not a fan.

Thanks.


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## ladodd (Jan 8, 2012)

I've never used any of those products. Lily had really bad staining when she was younger. I put her on distilled water and a high quality food..it took a couple months to grow out. She has a snow white face.


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## tobysmom (Jan 1, 2011)

ladodd said:


> I've never used any of those products. Lily had really bad staining when she was younger. I put her on distilled water and a high quality food..it took a couple months to grow out. She has a snow white face.


Unfortunately, that didn't work for me. Bottled water, took out chicken from the diet, grain-free everything, limited ingredient raw diet. Maybe improved 10-15% but i think at that point i may have been doing more face washing as well.


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## Snowbody (Jan 3, 2009)

I use a boric acid eye wash occasionally on Tyler but not every day. I especially use it at bath time. Don't know if it will help with tear stains. I just get Tyler to look up and without an trepidation drop it into his eyes. He doesn't seem to mind. You can also try to get his attention up atop him with a treat and drop it in when he's looking straight up.


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## Furbabies mom (Jul 25, 2011)

Your fluff may have blocked tear ducts. I've had 2 plus Laurel that has had this. Ask your vet.


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

I am presently using Zaditor which my Vet told me to get for Chrissy. Her eyes were really red; both upper and lower eyelids and the whites of her eyes as well. It has antihistimine in it and it has seemed to helped her out. However, I was in a Pharmacy today and they also recommened Alloway which is a lot less expensive and has the same ingredients as Zaditor. My Vet also said that boric acid can cause dry eye and to stay away from it. Hope this helps.


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## ckanen2n (Jan 2, 2012)

My pups breeder told me to use Bausch & Lomb eye wash for humans, then pat under eyes with cornstarch, to keep it dry. I've been using Eye Envy for about a week, and I definitely see some improvement.
I also came a cross some products by Gerrard Pellam for staining which have an enzymatic action. There is "Fresh Face" tear stain remover and "Fresh Fur Gel" coat stain remover. I'm going to try those this weekend.


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## tobysmom (Jan 1, 2011)

i don't know how to do multiple quotes, so...

furbabies, re: blocked tear ducts. When i asked my vet, he looked around and said he felt it was hairs in my doggy's eyes, i think that's why he rec'd the eye drops, to flush out the hairs. Then he rec'd i use hair gel to keep hair away (which i bought but haven't used. )

Snuggles, re: anti-histimine, yeah, that might be good. Right now i've been giving him benedryl because he definitely has allergies and they've been worse. But i only give him benedryl when he's actively sneezing, so not every day. I'll look into those products you mentioned.

re: Ckanen2n: eye envy, yeah, i was thinking about getting their powder actually. I have some different eye pads and products (malaket wipes to deal with the yeast, Gimborn pads with boric acid etc, and one more product that has mild cleansers and some softeners, but after i use them and dry the area with a paper towel the area is still wet. So i figured i could use eye envy powder after towelling the area off, to absorb some of the wetness that is left over. Or maybe even a little boric acid powder and putting a tiny bit in a safe powder mix that i could make myself. So i would do the cleansing pad, the malaket pad, paper towel, then powder.

I don't mind the color of the stains, when they're under control, they're actually kinda cute, but sometimes they just take over, like they are now. Here's them cute and under control:


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## Furbabies mom (Jul 25, 2011)

How cute he is!!!! I've waged war on tear stains (it seems like forever!!) Are the tear stains reddish brown, like yeast? Maybe the vet would prescribe an antibiotic, then continue on washing and keeping the area dry.


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## romeo&juliet (Jun 23, 2011)

I have this problem with Juliet and what i do is honestly keep her hair around her eyes shaved out of the way . I do wash her face every day with a toothbrush and i try to keep it dry . Her foods are grain free no chicken in her foods bottled water the works. She still gets the stains so i belive my next step will be to ask the vet if she has any conditions causing this.


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## tobysmom (Jan 1, 2011)

Furbabies mom said:


> How cute he is!!!! I've waged war on tear stains (it seems like forever!!) Are the tear stains reddish brown, like yeast? Maybe the vet would prescribe an antibiotic, then continue on washing and keeping the area dry.


Yes, they're definitely the red yeast ones. After a while if i put my nose up to them i know for sure. I used to somewhat battle them, but i give up a lot of the time because it seemed to get away from me and get right back to an insane level. i never minded them when they're mild, it's when they're out of control that i really have to make it a mission. so i've come up with what i think is a new plan, lol, it is to do flushing of the eye, and more daily cleansing with topical (liquid) lotions, then a powder sometimes to keep it a little dry.

my vet did mention an antibiotic, but then he said, naw, just give him the eye drops. But i'll ask him again. He seems to think the cause is hairs in the eye causing irritation and wanted me to do the eye drops every day. i have been quite the failure at keeping the hairs out of his eyes. I will give the hair gel i bought for him a try.

So now i have a plan that starts the day of the bathing. 

on the days i give him full faces washes in the bath and then a blowdry, (i bath him once a week, then sometimes a full face wash again in the week), i'm going to find a water barrier product, be it a light oil, or a light baby rash cream, or natural silicone based antifrizz something, and just put it lighty over the area, that will just buy me that one day of the tears not absorbing into the hair. (in theory)

then the next day i'll start using tear stain pads. i have one set of eye cleans pads with mild cleansers and softeners. I have the pads that have the same liquid as the eye drops above and lastly i have malaket eye wipes, and these are for killing yeast, they're pretty cool. I won't use them all on the same day, but rather choose whichever one/s i feel are appropriate for that moment. I actually like a lot of the tear stain cleansers on the market, i think they're good. The only problem is that after rinsing them and drying with a paper towel, the stains are still very wet, and then the problem continues. So on the days i uses wipes, the plan is to find a good (or make one) gentle safe powder that i can paint on the stain after i've dried it with a paper towel. lol. This way it'll absorb some of whatever wetness is left. I've been looking at the eye envy powder for that, or after doing a little more reading, i might make my own. 3 parts corn starch, 1 part boric acid powder, something like that.

And the eye drops will be for those days i see the impossible to remove tiny hairs in the eyes.

Ah, so that's the new plan. I'd love to give him the eye drops fairly often, because they do flush out those lightweight hairs i see on the eyeball that are probably causing more tearing. I think they will be key to the management.

I know when i'm pretty on top of things they get better, so, as long as i find a good routine and a good plan, i suspect he'll be looking much better in the future, and the hair will be in better condition for sure.


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## tobysmom (Jan 1, 2011)

romeo&juliet said:


> I have this problem with Juliet and what i do is honestly keep her hair around her eyes shaved out of the way . I do wash her face every day with a toothbrush and i try to keep it dry . Her foods are grain free no chicken in her foods bottled water the works. She still gets the stains so i belive my next step will be to ask the vet if she has any conditions causing this.


How do you do that? i definitely would prefer less hair there than more. I'm thinking about getting ball tipped scissors and cutting the hair, but i know that also risks the hair growing in all sorts of directions, inevitably poking them in the eye. What is the best way to do it?

thanks.


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## Snowbody (Jan 3, 2009)

tobysmom said:


> How do you do that? i definitely would prefer less hair there than more. I'm thinking about getting ball tipped scissors and cutting the hair, but i know that also risks the hair growing in all sorts of directions, inevitably poking them in the eye. What is the best way to do it?
> 
> thanks.


That's what my groomer does. When I had Tyler's hair long, his whole face was full of tears. I was just looking at some old pictures yesterday and was shocked by how bad it was. I keep the hair around the eyes very short - I don't cut it because...I'm a chicken...but my groomer takes a small scissors and holds him securely around his muzzle and cuts them. They stay down out of the eyes. It's just really the staining that she cuts out...nothing else so the staining isn't that visible in pix etc because his muzzle is still full. She cuts it every 3 weeks and I have a honeymoon period where he hardly has any tears for about a week and a half.


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## tobysmom (Jan 1, 2011)

Snowbody said:


> That's what my groomer does. When I had Tyler's hair long, his whole face was full of tears. I was just looking at some old pictures yesterday and was shocked by how bad it was. I keep the hair around the eyes very short - I don't cut it because...I'm a chicken...but my groomer takes a small scissors and holds him securely around his muzzle and cuts them. They stay down out of the eyes. It's just really the staining that she cuts out...nothing else so the staining isn't that visible in pix etc because his muzzle is still full. She cuts it every 3 weeks and I have a honeymoon period where he hardly has any tears for about a week and a half.


where is she cutting? just under the inner eyes?


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## Snowbody (Jan 3, 2009)

tobysmom said:


> where is she cutting? just under the inner eyes?


Yup. She mainly cuts all the brown, stained hair off under the inner edge of the eye and some of the few hairs that wicked the moisture down. As I said, I could never do it, but I've seen her in total control of Tyler doing it and he doesn't move a muscle.


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## pinkpixie1588 (Oct 12, 2009)

Leila went through a phase where her staining was really bad for a while. During that time, I tried everything (eye drops, boric acid, daily face washes with Spa Lavish or South Bark's Blueberry facial); nothing really seemed to solve the problem (although the Blueberry facial/boric acid combo was quite effective). In the end, I gave up, stopped fighting the fight, and they cleared up on their own. Now she's stain free. 

Some people seem to have luck with Angel Eyes, but I never tried it.


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## tobysmom (Jan 1, 2011)

pinkpixie1588 said:


> Leila went through a phase where her staining was really bad for a while. During that time, I tried everything (eye drops, boric acid, daily face washes with Spa Lavish or South Bark's Blueberry facial); nothing really seemed to solve the problem (although the Blueberry facial/boric acid combo was quite effective). In the end, I gave up, stopped fighting the fight, and they cleared up on their own. Now she's stain free.
> 
> Some people seem to have luck with Angel Eyes, but I never tried it.


wha????!!! holy moly re: went away on their own. that's pretty cool. Was it from babyhood and cleared up in adulthood? or from adult to adult? cuz that would be awesome.


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## pinkpixie1588 (Oct 12, 2009)

tobysmom said:


> wha????!!! holy moly re: went away on their own. that's pretty cool. Was it from babyhood and cleared up in adulthood? or from adult to adult? cuz that would be awesome.


She was stain free when I got her at 16 weeks. Starting at six or seven months the staining was in full swing. It stayed that way for another eight months or so until it cleared up. Like I said though, I'm not really sure what did the trick because she still had retained baby teeth when they went away. 

I think sometimes we can drive ourselves crazy about something like this that's purely cosmetic (usually). If I were in your place and the stains were really bothering me, I'd probably get the hair on the face cut way down for a while, to remove existing staining and see if they're being caused by the irritation from hairs poking the eyes all the time. Just a thought


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## Nervusrek (Apr 17, 2012)

Although I do use tear stain solutions to treat the discoloration, I also use UNISOL (a preservative-free saline solution) for cleaning & soothing my dogs' eyes. It's just like real tears so it doesn't sting or burn. You can apply it with a cotton ball or pour it over the eyes to thoroughly wash away debris (including hairs). My dogs don't mind it at all. In fact, they seem to really like it. It's available wherever contact lens cleaning solutions are sold.


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## ckanen2n (Jan 2, 2012)

I am also going through the tear staining and I hope it is only from pollen and little hairs poking. The breeder told me she clipped some of the little hairs at the corner of his eyes before sending him to me. I really think she clipped too much and as they grew back in, poked Gio eyes. Now, I am only trimming a few hairs that seem to grow out of the corner of his eyes and I'm trying to grow/train to lay down the other shorter hairs. However, I do notice his face is really wet after eating, so I am concerned about the chicken & brown rice food he is on. What is this others talk about grain-free, chicken free? What food might help with the tearing problem?


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## tobysmom (Jan 1, 2011)

pinkpixie1588 said:


> She was stain free when I got her at 16 weeks. Starting at six or seven months the staining was in full swing. It stayed that way for another eight months or so until it cleared up. Like I said though, I'm not really sure what did the trick because she still had retained baby teeth when they went away.
> 
> I think sometimes we can drive ourselves crazy about something like this that's purely cosmetic (usually). If I were in your place and the stains were really bothering me, I'd probably get the hair on the face cut way down for a while, to remove existing staining and see if they're being caused by the irritation from hairs poking the eyes all the time. Just a thought


Oh, i wish it were purely cosmetic. His are bad, they even get a little matted almost, and kinda, eiw, how can i say it, crusty (sry, i know that's gross) (as well as not smelling very nice sometimes). Brushing that out gets really difficult, impossible actually. The color i don't actually mind, i think it gives him character. . That picture i posted is of him with stains, but they were under control and so the hair with them were still manageable. But i will try that re: doing quite a bit of hair cutting for a few weeks to see if that's it. good idea. 



Nervusrek said:


> Although I do use tear stain solutions to treat the discoloration, I also use UNISOL (a preservative-free saline solution) for cleaning & soothing my dogs' eyes. It's just like real tears so it doesn't sting or burn. You can apply it with a cotton ball or pour it over the eyes to thoroughly wash away debris (including hairs). My dogs don't mind it at all. In fact, they seem to really like it. It's available wherever contact lens cleaning solutions are sold.


Oh perfect! I didn't realize it was the solution was also uncomfortable, i thought it was just the act of drops in the eye. Hopefully this will make it less annoying to him and i'll be able to do it more often.


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## mysugarbears (Aug 13, 2007)

We have been battling tear stains something fierce because of allergies, the pollen has been really bad. What i have been doing recently and seems to be working really well is, rinsing the eyes with Bausch&Lomb Eye Relief and then using Animals Apawthecary Eye and Nose drops and then wiping the under the eyes and corners with Silver Water and that has helped tremendously to help clear the eyes and the hair is growing back white.


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## tobysmom (Jan 1, 2011)

mysugarbears said:


> We have been battling tear stains something fierce because of allergies, the pollen has been really bad. What i have been doing recently and seems to be working really well is, rinsing the eyes with Bausch&Lomb Eye Relief and then using Animals Apawthecary Eye and Nose drops and then wiping the under the eyes and corners with Silver Water and that has helped tremendously to help clear the eyes and the hair is growing back white.


Ahhh, i just looked at some of the drops mentioned, and funnily enough, these drops and the ones Nurvursrek just mentioned are basically the same as the Eye Clear eye drops, they're boric acid drops. Cool, i will keep it handy and give him drops from time to time to flush out the pollen, dust, hair and whatever is bothering him, hopefully he gets used to it. I'll get a pair of ball tip smalll scissors and keep the hair out as best i can. : ). And i think i'll grab some Eye envy powder or something similar for days after a bit of wiping when i can't quite get the area dry. 

And i'll look into that silver water, i know that collodial silver is very good for ...well...everything! (especially fungus/yeast and bacteria) : ).

Big thanks all. : )


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