Tear Stains in White Dogs archived

We have a Bichon who has a terrible problem with this. We just wipe it occasionally and accept her with a stained face. Even after grooming it hasn't come out.

We have used "Angel Eyes" for a little bit for our Maltese. It did take care of it but we decided against long term. It has not really come back after about 1 month of use. We did also feed him distilled water. That also seemed to help. And the vet suggested we use a flea comb to clean the hair around his eyes since the tear stains are caused by a "fungus" of some sort so the area should be kept groomed and hair around the eyes short.

When i notice the tears are looking rusty I've found a few capfuls of cider vinegar in his water seems to help - i do the vinegar treatment for a couple of weeks but i see results in a few days.

Also i never give him tap water straight from the tap - it seems to help if it's filtered.

We're trying to work through this with our Malti-Poo too. We adopted him in January, and at that time he was a mess. His skin beneath the tear stains was raw and bloody from the irritation. We've got that healed, and comb/clean his face daily, but they're still pretty bad. We found a supplement at the pet store, but haven't really seen improvement in the 2 weeks we've been giving it to him (package says results in 4-6 weeks). I'll report back after the recommended time. Although, I'm thinking of trying Martha's cider vinegar suggestion, so results may not be due to the vitamin.

Stumbled across this article:

http://www.leospetcare.com/a-veterinary-guide-to-tear-stains/

The first supplement mentioned is the one we're using. NatureVet tear stain supplement.

When my dog had this problem someone told me not to let her eat or drink from a plastic or ceramic bowl. Metal bowls are best.

I still think the category title would make a great name for a garage band.

I have not used the specific products for tear stains, but Royal Treatment pet products are the only ones we use at Doggone Farm Their shampoos and conditioners help with the tear stains and leave the dogs smelling AMAZING!
http://www.royalpetclub.com/tear-stains

What Are Cherry Eyes? (Harders Glands)

Cherry eyes refers to the prolapsing nictitans gland, the third eyelid in dogs. It appears as a red bump in the inside corner. It can happen in one or both eyes. The exact cause is unknown but it's been suggested that the attachment of the gland to the tissue is weak. It can occur in any breed but is seen more often in cocker spaniels, bulldogs, beagles, boston terriers, lhasa apsos, and pekingese.

The gland can prolapse and return to its normal position periodically. It can also become permanent. Other than the appearance, there is no know problems.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filerolapsed_gland_of_the_third_eyelid.JPG#globalusage

Personal Experience


When Coco first appeared to have a red lump in the corner of her eye, I took her to the vet. In my head I am thinking, "do dogs get pink eye?" As soon as he took one look, he knew it was a cherry eye. His treatment was to give her eye drops and showed me how to massage the gland, helping to push it back into place. Well, that worked. Great news, right? Well, a few weeks later, the opposite eye gland popped out. Knowing what to do, I started the drops and massages.

Next thing you know, the other gland popped out again. This was a cycle that kept happening. I was getting harder to massage the gland back into place. Finally, when both eyes were prolapsed, I took her back to the vet. He basically said it was purely cosmetic, and unless it seemed to really bother Coco, I should leave them alone. The only other option was to remove the glands through surgery. At that time, I chose the wait and see approach.

Treatment (Surgery)

Many months later, I couldn't take it any more. Coco was pawing at her eyes, and there was no real way for her to tell me if she was in pain. She always looked so sad. I decided it was time for surgery. I called the vet and scheduled it. I was informed that with this surgery, there is a risk of dry eyes afterwards. My vet also advised that he had only ever had 1 case of dry eyes following this surgery in the last 25 years. I thought those sounded like pretty good odds. The cost was $150 per eye and Coco had both done. It was a same day procedure and she came through it with flying colors. My only regret was waiting so long to do it.

























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Angel Eyes, Angel Eyes, Angel Eyes. This is like a miracle product. We used it for a year or two tops and our dog hasn't had a stain since. We tried other things recommended by our vet but this was the only thing that worked. Order it at amazon as it is a bit cheaper than other retaliers.

Our vet suggested Angels Eyes. Our dog groomer suggested Angel Eyes and sells it.

This is a food additive and not that chemical you put in the dogs eye or wipe on the dogs face and eye area.

We are on the 3rd bottle and the it has solved the problem.

As a food additive, the ingredients are: Sweet Potato, Brown rice, Tylson as Tartrate.

I just did the Google on Tylson. I looked pretty tame to me. As for Sweet Potato and Brown rice, I guess I'm OK with that.

What did your Vet say was bad about this product?

Da,
George

I just read the link tenecih posted.

Hummm. Tylson. More questions for the Vet.

I will expect that he will remind me that as long as I follow the directions, and use in moderation, all will be good.

One point in the article that popped out.

Hard water. We give the dogs South Orange tap water in steel or glass.

As of this read they went on filtered water like the rest of us.

I do not trust this SO water, the same water that makes me replace plumbing fixtures that gunk up and stop working.

Later,
Da
George

Thanks for the suggestions, folks. That was an interesting link. I'll try the cleaning route, the distilled water, and save the cider vinegar for the last and best treat!

This is what I did, very simple:
I washed my white dog's face several times a day with no-tears baby shampoo. I can really clean out the yucks and all wipe it around the eyeplashes, very gently and quite diluted of course. It got rid of any mites or other tiny critters which had taken up residence there. She has extremely long and luxurious eyelashes, so that may have been a hide-out.
I also trimmed the tips of reddened fur off. i do my own grooming so I have tiny, sharp scissors at hand. I do this weekly now
but orignially i had to keep at it as i said, several times a day.
Now I only wash her face once a day and her whole head weekly. Including that stinky brown-rust colored beard which I keep trimmed down to almost nothing. I cannot stand a stinky dog in my house. Outside, no prob. Inside, you are going to get cleaned up, woffer! >< Nice and fresh smelling, pronto.
OOPS, forgot to add, I used eye ointment, Teramyacine (spelling wrong but google it) and a tiny bit of that after cleaning both soothed the eye area and killed any bacteria that was causing the staining. And hers were big and bad and ugly.
All gone now.
I keep the ears cleaned out well, too. It's all related, imo.
The Angel Eyes wipes can also be helpful. Good luck everyone.