# Tear stains



## djackson59 (Sep 22, 2014)

Hi everyone, it has been awhile since I have posted but I know that this is the place to come for advice. Jonas will be 1 year old on the 9th of April and we are still fighting tear stains. I was hoping it would get better when he was done teething, well he seems to be finished teething and the stains have gotten no better, if anything they are worse. I was thinking that his tear ducts might be blocked but we don't have Vets here that I would trust to take care of it so I am trying to find other solutions. I have tried everything that I can that is available here and everything I try seems to just make it worse and he just has more tears than before. I have even tried cutting the red parts off but that doesn't work either. I think I remember someone talking about using antibiotics. If anyone has used them could you please let me know what kind and if it helped. 
Thanks so much
Debbie


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## Malt Shoppe (Jul 20, 2011)

Debbie, You sound like me about 8 months ago.
I couldn't get rid of stains either, had tear ducts flushed, antibiotics twice, special probiotics, face washing, change of food, you name it, I did it.
Then my vet gave me a bottle of OcuBright RS200 for dogs less than 15 lbs./ 30 count. Chewable, tasty to doggies and it worked, showing improvement within a week. He just started staining again so I bought a bottle of it from the vets (cheaper than on Amazon) and just started him on it for a short time as indicated on the bottle. It was the only thing that worked for him.


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## Cupidsmommy (Mar 12, 2015)

I use Butler Schein and SHAZAM Whitening Gel in tandem. I find the both work very well, maybe 80% better than before.


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## djackson59 (Sep 22, 2014)

Hi Claire and Rhonda, thank you so much for the tips. Rhonda, I wasn't able to find the Butler Schein and SHAZAM Whitening Gel where would I look for it. Claire I did order the OcuBright RS200 from amazon and am having it shipped to my daughter so she can send it to Peru. ( I have no idea why this changed to blue print, strange)
Thank you both so much!
Debbie


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## maggieh (Dec 16, 2007)

Debbie - I found that when I switched to grain free food and added Animal Essentials Pro Biotics the stains stopped. I've heard good things about OcuBright and it does contain a tiny amount of the antibiotic tylosin, which is controversial. The concern over that ingredient is antibiotic resistance, but the product has a very low amount. While I'm not a fan of antibiotics for cosmetic reasons, I know that others have had good results with it. 

Butler Schein is an opthalmic rinse. You can buy a human opthalmic rinse like Bausch & Lomb eye wash at a pharmacy and it is essentially the same thing. As for the Shazam Whitening Gel, that's a bleach that is used on show dogs.


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## Sophieanne (Aug 1, 2013)

Debbie- I had the same problem with mine. So I changed their diet to home cooked and grain free. I also changed the water bowl from a metal to ceramic. This helped a lot. But my smallest, Sydnie, still had a problems. So, then like the others said I started using some Equate or Bausch & Lomb sensitive eyes saline solution for eye contacts as it has the boric acid which is the whitener. I wear contacts so just let her use mine. It has done wonders. Her face is white and it has no more stains. I didnt want to use any antibiotics. This was the answer for us. I clean her face every day and get the "boogies" out and she is white. I put it in my eyes, so i know it is safe for her. Hope it helps.

Lorie


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## Malt Shoppe (Jul 20, 2011)

Keep in mind, there is a small amount of antibiotic in the OcuBright (the last ingredient) and considering you only use it until the staining goes away, which was in a bout 10 days and if necessary, treated again in more than 1/2 a year, I'd say it's completely safe. My vet now carries it after I reported the success, sells a lot of it and has no complaints. I have friends who are vets too and she said they use a different eye treatment, oral as well as drops and it works; can't remember the name of it.
I don't consider this just a cosmetic fix since reading that tear staining/draining can eventually cause blindness.
I too had Blaze on grain free food for a long time, even took him off chicken for awhile, I did everything I could think of. He is still on grain free, in fact, gets very little kibble. This product quickly cleared it up. His current problem might be caused from pollen now. Oh, I had tried allergy med too before!


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## Sylie (Apr 4, 2011)

I can say just about exactly what Claire has said. The Ocubrite worked. I had switched the dogs to Primal raw, frozen from kibble and MiMi's face seemed like it wasn't getting all wet all the time. But, soon after, on Celeta's recommendation, I started giving MiMi Occubrite. Her tear stains are growing out, getting lighter, and I hope will eventually be completely gone. I only stopped the Occubrite about ten days ago, and am hoping that I won't have to continue.


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## Malt Shoppe (Jul 20, 2011)

Sylvia, I'm so glad you had success with OcuBright too.
I had recommended it long before Celeta mentioned it but it seems no body takes my suggestions til someone else does which is why I say very little anymore. Same thing with the wood toothed brush. Recommended it long before someones did which ended up numerous members then bought the brush! I've just learned to keep my fingers still......:smilie_tischkante:


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## Sylie (Apr 4, 2011)

Malt Shoppe said:


> Sylvia, I'm so glad you had success with OcuBright too.
> I had recommended it long before Celeta mentioned it but it seems no body takes my suggestions til someone else does which is why I say very little anymore. Same thing with the wood toothed brush. Recommended it long before someones did which ended up numerous members then bought the brush! I've just learned to keep my fingers still......:smilie_tischkante:


I'd take your advice any day, I must have missed it. Same thing with the wooden brush...however, I never use mine any more. Please don't keep your fingers still.


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## djackson59 (Sep 22, 2014)

Claire, please don't keep your fingers still. Like you I have been trying everything possible for Jonas and can't wait until I get the ocubright. I am excited that there might be something that might work. Jonas is so cute but now all I see is his red face, even though the rest of him is sparkling white.
Thanks again for the info.


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## djackson59 (Sep 22, 2014)

If anyone is interested Jonas and his little sister Ruby are on facebook.
Their page is at: 

https://www.facebook.com/JonasandRuby?ref=bookmarks


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## CorkieYorkie (Apr 10, 2012)

Sophieanne said:


> Debbie- I had the same problem with mine. So I changed their diet to home cooked and grain free. I also changed the water bowl from a metal to ceramic. This helped a lot. But my smallest, Sydnie, still had a problems. So, then like the others said I started using some Equate or Bausch & Lomb sensitive eyes saline solution for eye contacts as it has the boric acid which is the whitener. I wear contacts so just let her use mine. It has done wonders. Her face is white and it has no more stains. I didnt want to use any antibiotics. This was the answer for us. I clean her face every day and get the "boogies" out and she is white. I put it in my eyes, so i know it is safe for her. Hope it helps.
> 
> Lorie



Metal bowls cause tear stains?! This is news to me! 😕


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## djackson59 (Sep 22, 2014)

Hi Lorie, I am going to see if I can find the Bausch & Lomb sensitive eyes saline solution. Thanks for the suggestion.


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## MalteseObsessed (Mar 7, 2010)

Claire that is so cool that the Ocubrite was effective. Debbie == hopefully this will be the answer you are looking for.

If you want the Butler Schein solution to help with daily cleaning as you use the Ocubrite and even after you have complete the Ocubrite == you can find it on Amazon, but they periodically run out of stock so I like to buy more then one as I use this after every batch and pretty much every time I clean their eyes.

Maltese Obsession Grooming - FACE

I did make a video on how we use the Butler Schein solution if you want to see it === it has dramatically cleaned up my girls eyes 

https://youtu.be/4SyVyCRPYVs?list=PL5YH_6eshwgFi4rgqNaO7wBM6J3wu5Nd9


Tear stains:
The Ocubrite has the Tylosin which attacks the issue systemically
The Blueberry Facials are really just a color enhancing cleanser attacking the stains on the hair shafts
The Tear Stain solutions like the Butler Schein or the Contact Solutions are using the Boric Acid active ingredient to attack the externally existing bacteria (some pro groomers like to use Boric acid as an ingredient to kill bacteria in the ears too) == i haven't researched this enough to try this)

Good luck!!! You are not alone...


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## djackson59 (Sep 22, 2014)

Thank you Hedy, I am going to try to find it on ebay. Its much easier if I find someone that will ship here. If not I will buy from Amazon and have my daughter ship it here with the ocubrite.
Thanks for the links.


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## Cupidsmommy (Mar 12, 2015)

Debbie, I get both the Butler Schein Tear Stain Remover and Shazam whitening Gel on Amazon. The Butler Schein has a much stronger smell that typical eye solution and works well. 



djackson59 said:


> Hi Claire and Rhonda, thank you so much for the tips. Rhonda, I wasn't able to find the Butler Schein and SHAZAM Whitening Gel where would I look for it. Claire I did order the OcuBright RS200 from amazon and am having it shipped to my daughter so she can send it to Peru. ( I have no idea why this changed to blue print, strange)
> Thank you both so much!
> Debbie


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## Matilda's mommy (Jun 1, 2005)

djackson59 said:


> If anyone is interested Jonas and his little sister Ruby are on facebook.
> Their page is at:
> 
> https://www.facebook.com/JonasandRuby?ref=bookmarks


 

Awww I've missed seeing them, gosh they are just adorable :wub::wub:


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## Matilda's mommy (Jun 1, 2005)

Malt Shoppe said:


> Sylvia, I'm so glad you had success with OcuBright too.
> I had recommended it long before Celeta mentioned it but it seems no body takes my suggestions til someone else does which is why I say very little anymore. Same thing with the wood toothed brush. Recommended it long before someones did which ended up numerous members then bought the brush! I've just learned to keep my fingers still......:smilie_tischkante:



Claire, I'd listen to you, DON'T keep those fingers still:wub:


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## Matilda's mommy (Jun 1, 2005)

Matilda has never had tear staining, well maybe once when she was a puppy.
Maddie has just a little, I'm going to buy both Thanks for making this thread


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## djackson59 (Sep 22, 2014)

Thanks everyone, I ordered the ocubrite and am hoping I don't have a problem getting them through customs. I'm hoping my daughter can make them look like vitamins or maybe candy since meds are not allowed. I found boric acid here, has anyone diluted it with water and just used that?
Paula, Jonas and Ruby wanted to say thank you for the kind words!!


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## Cupidsmommy (Mar 12, 2015)

Ahhh you were so lucky with Matilda! I do notice as Cupid gets older they have reduced. So crossing fingers!


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## maltese#1fan (Feb 20, 2012)

We've seen a huge improvement in Jasmine's tear stains since switching her to grain free food.


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## djackson59 (Sep 22, 2014)

Thanks for all the advice. I am home cooking for both of my babies, but they have been eating rice as part of their meal which they love but I have just stopped giving it to Jonas, I hope that will help also.
Thanks again


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## Cupidsmommy (Mar 12, 2015)

Malteseobsession- you are the reason I bought the Bultler Schein from watching your vid. I didn't know you were a part of this group. I LOVE your babies! Rhonda


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