# Spring Water versus Distilled Water



## nekkidfish (Aug 25, 2009)

I had been giving Poppy only spring water (Crystal Geyser) since he came home. I also had been putting a pinch of dried buttermilk on his breakfast, but that seemed to cause loose stools, so I have stopped that.

I feel like such a bad momma ... I cannot keep his face clean. :mellow:

I use Spa Lavish each morning to clean his face as best I can. It's just me here, and he is young (4 1/2 mo) and still a wiggle worm. I dry his face several times a day, using a baby wash cloth. I also use Boric Acid very carefully in the lower corner parts of his eyes.

He had his first visit at the groomers the other day, and Yvonne said that even the spring water can cause staining because it has minerals in it. I told her I thought he needed those minerals, and she said that as long as I was feeding him a high quality food, he should be getting all of his minerals from that. I feed him Orijen 6 Fish. She said for me to switch him to distilled water, which is what I've now done.

Can anyone tell me if there is a reason I should NOT be giving him distilled water? All I know is that the spring water doesn't have the flouride, whereas distilled water doesn't have anything in it (I hope that's right.)

Thanks bunches! Jules


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## The A Team (Dec 1, 2005)

I am no expert on the subject....but I think I remember hearing that long term use of distilled water is no good for their muscles. There have been threads on this in the past, but of course - that's all I remember about it. Your pup is probably still teething and there's nothing you can do about the staining during that period. Hang in there, it won't last forever. Oh, then you'll go through the coat change and want to pull your hair out with all the knots!!!!


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

I would not give distilled water. It is not meant for drinking.


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## Nikki's Mom (Feb 13, 2008)

Stick with Crystal Geyser. It's better than distilled water. He's still in the teething stage. Just do the best you can and try to ignore it until he's older. Nikki had horrible tear stains as a puppy. She's doing great now.


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## nekkidfish (Aug 25, 2009)

Don't you just hate when you're trying to do the best for your babies and get conflicting information? :blink:

Okay, I'm dumping the distilled water and filling his bowl back up with the spring water.

Thanks all!

HUGz! Jules


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## MaryH (Mar 7, 2006)

I agree with Pat and Jackie. We eat food with lots of minerals in it but we don't drink distilled water. I would not be using boric acid powder (and I hope you are mixing it at least 50/50 with cornstarch) or buttermilk powder either. Your puppy is a baby who is growing and cutting teeth. Tearing is normal. If he is still staining once all of his adult teeth are in then you can try different things to stop the tearing/staining. For now the only thing I would do is rinse his eyes twice a day with B & L Fresh Eyes.

MaryH


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## nekkidfish (Aug 25, 2009)

MaryH said:


> I agree with Pat and Jackie. We eat food with lots of minerals in it but we don't drink distilled water. I would not be using boric acid powder (and I hope you are mixing it at least 50/50 with cornstarch) or buttermilk powder either. Your puppy is a baby who is growing and cutting teeth. Tearing is normal. If he is still staining once all of his adult teeth are in then you can try different things to stop the tearing/staining. For now the only thing I would do is rinse his eyes twice a day with B & L Fresh Eyes.
> 
> MaryH


Mary, my breeder is the one that told me how to use the boric acid, and I am very careful with it. But, I will say that since it doesn't seem to be making any difference, I have backed off on using it.

In all the reading I did on here about staining (before Poppy ever came home), I don't ever remember hearing anyone mention B & L Fresh Eyes. I'll have to look that up.

Thanks bunches! Jules


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## MaryH (Mar 7, 2006)

nekkidfish said:


> In all the reading I did on here about staining (before Poppy ever came home), I don't ever remember hearing anyone mention B & L Fresh Eyes. I'll have to look that up.
> 
> Thanks bunches! Jules


Fresh Eyes, also called Collyrium, is the same eye rinse used in hospitals if one got something in their eye and needed it flushed. It is a boric acid solution, but something like 2%. Lots of people use boric acid powder (myself included) but I've always been told to mix it 50/50 with cornstarch and brush it on well below the eyes so as not to get any in the eye. The cornstarch helps to dry the area and the boric acid helps to lighten up any staining. I don't use this mix on a regular basis because I find that it causes the face hair to get very dry and brittle. For me it is a quick fix at shows if I have a dog who starts tearing. I think the minerals in water (high iron content maybe?) don't cause tearing and subsequent staining of the eye hair as much as they might cause staining of the hair around the face and chin just because that hair gets into the water and absorbs the minerals through open hair follicles. Drinking from a water bottle or Bayou bowl would help take care of that. A 10-day course of Tylan, either sprinkled on the food or mixed into the water, is another thing to try but again I wouldn't try that until he's done with teething.

MaryH


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## nekkidfish (Aug 25, 2009)

Thanks so much for the info Mary!!! :thumbsup:

HUGz! Jules


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## LJSquishy (Feb 27, 2008)

Mary offered some great suggestions. You are doing everything right so far -- his tearing will likely pass once he's older, but I do understand how you feel having gone through the same thing twice myself. London completely stopped staining when she was 1, but it just came back when she got an infection and so far I haven't been able to get rid of it. Preston is turning 1 in a week, and he is still staining but I haven't tried anything with him yet.

I recently started giving my two filtered water from a Brita water pitcher (which is what we drink). It hasn't made any difference, but it is at least better than tap water anyway.  Hang in there!


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## pinkpixie1588 (Oct 12, 2009)

here's an interesting article. i was overwhelmed at the store with the options of spring, distilled, and 'drinking' water, so i looked this up: 

Discussion: H2O: Spring Water


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## nekkidfish (Aug 25, 2009)

Good article ... thank you!!

HUGz! Jules


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