Question:
We have a 3mths old bichon/maltese who has a small amount of tear staining, the vet has seen her and said she's fine/normal amount of tearing. She suggested just cleaning her eyes daily with sterile saline, which I do but she still has staining.

While doing some shopping a little while ago I overheard a conversation between a woman with a white poodle and her friend and the woman with the dog was commenting how she'd been using *this* for years to take away the staining. I only heard the conversation at the end (and didn't have a white dog at the time) and have no idea what she used to take them away.

I've researched this a little and am not even considering some of the suggestions (using bleach!!) so I'm wondering if there is something non-toxic to remove them. If not I'll live with it but I'd figure I'd ask if anyone had a solution.

Answer:
My Eskimo developed some staining at about 9 months of age. I did a search on a breed specific forum and many people had had luck with Bottled Water - so I switched my guy to that and within a week the stains had disappeared, never to return. Might just be luck, but who knows. I also feed him Fromms Salmon A La Veg - Eskies do well on a fish based diet - maybe this helps. I don't think I could put anything around my guy's eyes - would most likely live with the staining - unless it was caused by a medical condition which I would have checked out and treated.

Answer:
Tear staining in a dog and especially in the small breeds (Poodles (I had a poodle for 17 yrs and many show people have a variety of ways to remove the tear "stains", Maltese, Bichons, Pekes ) is common but should never be regarded as usual or expected as some ppl seem to think.

These tiny or asmall dogs (unlike an Eskino which is a large pooch) have tiny hairs in the inner aspect of the lid margin that acts as wicks for tear accumulation. With constant evaporation comes an overproduction of tears - so me going into the sinus canal. On the show circuit, I have seen everything from home remedies like mixtures of milk of magnesia, corn starch and peroxide and even bleach (ughhhhh!) and sometimes usually hydrogen peroxide. Needless to say, anyone using these mixtures needs to know a buit of chemistry . have help from their mentor and know what their ddoing and maybe even know some chemistry! But even in non show dogs, this is a problem and while groomers often fix it with poodles and bichons, there are formulas ion the market you can purchase now that will help. It has been awhile since my poodle was in that game (He is deceased for many yrs now) but I am sure someone here may have their own suggestions for nsome of the newer products.

You have to be soooo careful around the eyes!!! Some ppl even resort to medication but I think medication unless medially necessary is not a good idea.

Here are some combos I have seen successfully used:(But please check with your vet before doing any of this!!!):

1/ Measure equal parts Boric Powder, Baby Powder, mix together with Milk of Magnesia to smooth paste. Quite a large amt can be produced this way.. Apply to affected area with a soft toothbrush, allow to dry then brush off. If badly stained use a few drops of 10% peroxide in paste.

2.Optrex Eye Wash - Clean around the eye area with cotton pads moistened with Optrex (contains Boric Acid and Witch Hazel).

3. Many recommend Cornstarch and Boracic Acid but like bleach, even the fumes from this can be dangerous to the dogs!

I included the 3rd one because many ppl who show dogs use it but I would not use boric acid or bleach anywhere near my dog or cats' eyes!!! So, I would recommend the 1stt two before no. 3!!!

Canadian Eye and Wound Powder is also used by many who show white dogs, like poodles and bichons.

There are many other solutions and home remedies as well. Wash with Dawn and see how that works - that is the best shampoo to use for dogs or cats imho, even better than the so called pet shampoo and much easier on their delicate skin! I wash hairless cats once a week and their skin is in great shape with Dawn.


Here are some good sites that describe the problem with small white dogs:

http://www.maltesedogs.com/tear_staining.htm
http://www.bichonfriseusa.com/ref/tearstaintreat.htm
http://malteseonly.com/tear.html

Good luck!!

Answer:
Cake Fan, what kind of food are you feeding?

Answer:
There is a Beagle who regularly comes to the kennel I work at, who gets bottled water for this reason. We also get a few Bishons that used to be on spring/bottled water for their tear stains too. It works (while they were on it, the Bishons' tear stains disappeared and the Beagle doesnt have them) but it can get pricey, of course.

Answer:
I feed all my cats - two of whom are white (Siamese) and two who have no hair of course bottled water - even tho Halifax actually has good water. I have never had probs with tears or stains. Of course, I keep my cats clean and watch them like a wee bit overprotective meomy but that;s another story!

my poodle never drank bottled water - in those days, we had our own water which was really quite good - but I did use some of the home remedies and he was always OK. No stains for him around his mouth (That was always an issue with a white poodle!) or his tearing.

Answer:
For a safe commercial product, Eye Envy is a popular product for tear-stain removal.

http://www.eyeenvy.com/images/landing_r1_c1.gif

Apparently it works well - I was thinking of giving this product a try.

I've always just used the Optrex, and a soft cloth with warm water around the eye area.
My white persian is starting to get some light staining around her eyes as she gets a bit older ( now seven) It's not severe, but a bit of a detractor from her pretty face.

I've heard of the other home solutions mentioned, but am also very afraid of using anything potentially toxic in such a delicate area.

Answer:
Thanks for all the responses. After posting a I found a few of those sites (thx again ) and they also recommended bottled water &/or vinegar water &/or 1/2tums a day. I highly doubt my dogs would drink vinegar water and my husband says that tums has high magnesium (or something like that) that may not be healthy, so I'll try the bottled water.

I believe it may be a water problem because we do have high mineral water in my area (& new aquaducts) and our mini-schnauzer also gets brown tint on the bottom on her chin=high minerals.

I saw all those recipes for bleach etc and there is no way I'd use them on my puppy, she's far too squirmy and I just don't like the idea of having hazardous chemicals around her eyes.

I have been taking the vet's advise and cleaning her eyes daily with sterile saline but it's still shows up. I bought some tear remover and it didn't work very well.

At worst I'll just leave it if the bottled water doesn't help, she's just such a pretty girl I thought I'd see if I could remove those darn stains for her but if not oh well I tried.

Thx all

ps. I feed Medi-cal developmental

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