# Tear Staining....WHY NOW!!!!



## Maltese_NH (Jul 23, 2006)

Haylee will be one year old on May 25th. She had some slight tear staining while she was teething ...but really not much.

Last Thursday she started getting some staining and her eyes seemed to be very weepy...yesterday her whole little face was stained. I got an appt late yesterday with her vet. The vet thinks it may be allergies but she can't be sure. We haven't changed anything lately....same food, same snacks, etc. She put her on a six day regiment of PrednisoLONE (5mg) and two weeks of Clavamox (62.5mg - 2x daily) plus wiping her face with Chlorhexi-Derm (2x daily).

Does anyone have any suggestions....the prednisolone seems to be making her very tired. I hate giving her all of this medication...she's so little it just seems like too much!!!


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## coco (Sep 20, 2006)

I am going to tell you what my breeder, Bonnie Palmer, said to me, and what I have discovered. She said not to give Coco any food with beet pulp in it. It is hard to find one which doesn't have it. She never had staining as a puppy, even when she was teething. Then when she went on adult food, I read all the information here, and I put her on foods I read were good, even though they had beet pulp in them. She had some small staining. I put her on a food which does not contain it, Blue Buffalo, and the staining has stopped. I had a dog which took predisone for allergies, and he lived a very short life. I wish I could do it over, but I can't. I would try finding a food without beet pulp and see if that helps. Good luck.


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## Maltese_NH (Jul 23, 2006)

Haylee's been on Natural Balance Potato & Duck Formula for about 4 months....reading the list of ingredients beet pulp isn't mentioned.

Now I'm really concerned about giving her the Prednisolone....maybe I should just stick with the Clavamox


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## luvmyfurbaby (Feb 11, 2007)

Prednisone or any other meds in that family if used on a short term basis is not bad. Long term it will make them retain water, make her grumpy and lower her defenses. It is a double edge sword.(I use it when I have severe asthma).

Did the vet check to see if she had an ear or eye infection? You said you haven't changed her food right? Try to keep her face clean & dry. The vet put Mia on Neobacimyx for an eye infection and she hasn't had any excess tear staining and her stains seem minimal since that area stays dry now. He told me to keep her on it for 10 days. You may want to ask the vet.


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## Tina (Aug 6, 2006)

Just to add a little information about tear staining. I too thought that by not feeding a dog food with beet pulp in it would lessen the staining. I don't feed anything with beet pulp, but still have tear staining. I think some dog food companies add food coloring to their kibble and that contributes to the staining. Prednisone is used to reduce any inflamation and gives the antibiotic a chance to work. Right now I think that most of them are staining because of new things blooming, mowing grass, and other pollens in the air. I know my allergies are kicking in. 

I have tried everything to stop tear staining. There isn't one sure way to get rid of them. In my household I do not like to give Tetracycline. A round with that would probably help. But, in people it causes birth defects if taken while pregnant and I do not want to chance it. Sometimes accidents happen. When I did try to use it most of the dogs got upset stomachs with it, even when given with food.

Tina


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## Furbaby's Mommie (Jul 10, 2004)

More than likely the Clavamox will stop whatever little infection is causing the staining. The Pred is a cortisone drug and after having a dog with Cushing's I would not give a dog any cortisone drug unless it was a really serious condition. Frosty had only had cortisone drugs as a young dog for allergies. He was allergic to grass in the Spring, but he ended up with Cushing's. There is no way to know if damage to his adrenals was from taking cortisone--but if certainly could have been. However, if you are already giving it, you can not just stop. It has to be tappered off. At least that is what I've been told.


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## coco (Sep 20, 2006)

> More than likely the Clavamox will stop whatever little infection is causing the staining. The Pred is a cortisone drug and after having a dog with Cushing's I would not give a dog any cortisone drug unless it was a really serious condition. Frosty had only had cortisone drugs as a young dog for allergies. He was allergic to grass in the Spring, but he ended up with Cushing's. There is no way to know if damage to his adrenals was from taking cortisone--but if certainly could have been. However, if you are already giving it, you can not just stop. It has to be tappered off. At least that is what I've been told.
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It would really be a last resort for me, I know that. Thank you for saying that.

Beyond that, I had a long post written, and it disappeared, so here I go again. LOL! Tear staining. I am not sure about the beet pulp issue, but I do know that Coco had no staining while she was on puppy food which did not contain it, even while she was teething. When she started on adult food, I chose Natural Balance and Royal Canin. One or the other caused staining. I posted a picture today, and you can see some slight staining on her face. I started feeding her Blue Buffalo. It has no beet pulp. It is also holistic food, but a lot of my switching foods had to do with the recalls. I threw away 3 bags of Natural Balance. I saw beet pulp as an ingredient on the Royal Canin, so I searched the ingredients to find a food without it. I chose the Blue Buffalo, and things are better. Does it have anything to do with the beet pulp? I have no idea. However, I have to believe that my breeder has a clue about this situation. It was something about which she warned me. Just a suggestion.


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## Tina (Aug 6, 2006)

On the beet pulp, it was something we all thought was causing the tear staining. Every breeder told you not to feed anything with beet pulp in it. In all due respect. After several years of monitoring different methods of trying to stop it, I don't think that is the sole thing that is causing it. I don't feed any dog food with beet pulp listed on the package. I have more tear staining when corn is in the second or third ingredient listed. Who ever comes up with the answer for this will be rich.











Tina


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## camfan (Oct 30, 2006)

> Haylee will be one year old on May 25th. She had some slight tear staining while she was teething ...but really not much.
> 
> Last Thursday she started getting some staining and her eyes seemed to be very weepy...yesterday her whole little face was stained. I got an appt late yesterday with her vet. The vet thinks it may be allergies but she can't be sure. We haven't changed anything lately....same food, same snacks, etc. She put her on a six day regiment of PrednisoLONE (5mg) and two weeks of Clavamox (62.5mg - 2x daily) plus wiping her face with Chlorhexi-Derm (2x daily).
> 
> Does anyone have any suggestions....the prednisolone seems to be making her very tired. I hate giving her all of this medication...she's so little it just seems like too much!!![/B]


Prednisone is a very intense, anti-inflamitory drug and should only be used for short periods of time--I know this from having had one of my skin kids take it in the past when they were quite sick. The side effects can be intense. I don't see how it could help with tear staining? Unless your dog is showing severe allergy symptoms (is she?), and, even then, there are other things to try first. Just a head's up. I hope the staining will clear up soon--I hope the tips others are giving you help.


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## Cosy (Feb 9, 2006)

If staining starts with change of seasons chances are it is allergy related. Keeping the eyes free of debris and spores, pollen, etc. is the first measure to take. You can rinse the eyes with a good eye wash twice a day (I use Fresh Eyes collyrium, human eye wash). Keep hair out of eyes as much as possible. Keep the face/moustache area clean and dry. When the face becomes wet from overflow of tearing bacteria sets in and causes the red yeast. This also applies to food allergies. A short round of tylosin (10 days) can clear up the staining but you must stay on top of what caused it in the first place. 



There are many ingredients that can cause an allergic reaction in dog foods, depending on the dog's sensitivity. Some of the most common are corn, beet pulp, wheat, eggs, and chicken.


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## carrie (Aug 24, 2004)

beet pulp or no beet pulp, my dogs stain either way.....

along with all the testing to rule out all other problems to end up with the diagnosis of epilepsy, we found out massimo has allergies.

massimo is also on a monthly regiment of clavamox for periodontal disease, it doesn't do anything for his staining... i just have to live with it. it comes and goes.... however, since he's been on the meds for his epilepsy his staining has gotten worse. it's either stop the meds and have him seize to death or deal with the staining... so....we all know what we'd do in a situation like that!


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## The A Team (Dec 1, 2005)

My two have tear stains right now....I'm contributing it to the change of seasons. We're starting a round of Angel Eyes tonight! They look so much prettier with clean faces


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## Deanna (Jan 14, 2005)

Wilson's always comes back a tiny bit in the spring and then again in the fall. I would give her the allergy medicine, and hopefully it will clear up.


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## starry (Sep 4, 2006)

I had to give my r.i.p. Star predisone but also w/pepsid bc it is hard on the stomach and can cause ulcers.
It made her very hungry and she gained 1 lb in a week!









That's what my vet said..
Also Dee is correct, youhave to slowly decrease it not just stop at once now.
Let us know how things are going.
P.S. I think to some extent tear staining is just in a dogs genes..


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## MalteseJane (Nov 21, 2004)

I would never give prednisone for tear staining. Frosty's mom thinks Frosty got Cushing's from it. And I think my late lhasa got diebetes from it. It suppresses the immune system. Tear staining can come from a lot of things besides allergies. When Alex's tear staining got real bad I resorted to Panamycin drops at a very very low dosage. It did the trick. It does not stop the tearing, but it stops the hair to turn red. Now a strange thing happened. When he came down with thrombocetopenia, I HAD to give him prednisone for a short period. Since I did not want to over medicate him I stopped giving the Panamycin. When I finally was able to stop the prednisone, I did not need to go back to the Panamycin. I don't know why, but he still has tearing, I can see it on the discharge, but for some reason the hair does not stain as it used to. And it's very minimal. As long as it is not more then that, I will not give him anything for it.


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## Lilly521 (May 29, 2004)

Not sure where you are but in the southeast the smoke from these fires has really been bothering me, maybe thats got something to do with it? If it just that time of year where all allergies act up.


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## LisalovesRocco (Mar 28, 2006)

Thanks for this post. Rocco has some tear staining right now also.
I think it is because of the change of season as well.
My allergies are acting up so it makes sense that his might as well.
I started Angel Eyes last night. Hopefully that will clear it up!


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## Milou (Jul 29, 2007)

> There are many ingredients that can cause an allergic reaction in dog foods, depending on the dog's sensitivity. Some of the most common are corn, beet pulp, wheat, eggs, and chicken.[/B]


What is beet pulp?


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## I found nemo (Feb 23, 2006)

> > index.php?act=findpost&pid=378777
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Beet pulp is the by-product of the extraction of raw sugar from commercially grown sugar beets. In english its an ingredient :biggrin: but I know when Nemo was on Nutro he stained like crazy and that had the beet pulp , when I put him on NB and Wellness the stains were gone, sorry but I believe beet pulp plays a huge roll in staining..JMO
ANDREA :biggrin:


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## dicorsa32 (May 23, 2007)

Hi
I have had Chevy on Blue Buffalo (puppy food) for over 3 months. I/he seems to really like it and it was much easier to find around here then some of the other food. He doesnt seem to have a problem with staining on it. Knock on wood :smilie_tischkante: I do keep his eyes clean and try to pick out the eye burgers :new_shocked: (can't think of a better term haha) picked out during the day which he is probably so tired of haha. I hope the food works for you. I havent heard many negative things about it. Good Luck

Toni and Chevy


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