Emme, like many white dogs, has tear stains under her eyes. Emme has only mild tear staining at the inner corner of her eye and the amount of tear staining often has more to do with genetics than anything else. One of Emme's parents gets stains only in the corner of her eyes and the other does not tear stain at all, which may be why Emme has only mild tear staining. These stains come from a number of different causes: dye in dog food, excess iron in the water, allergies, and are only a cosmetic problem. Many articles state that the most common cause of tear stains is excess tearing. The wet face hair is an excellent breeding ground for bacteria and the most common yeast infection, Ptyrosporin or Red Yeast. Although most dogs can have this tear staining problem, it is most noticeable in white dogs such as Bichons and Maltese. In dogs with darker colored hair, the staining may be present, but may not be noticeable.
In an article about tear stains from the Bichon Frise Club of America, they recommend a few solutions. I have tried them all, with little success: feeding only good quality dog food, not giving treats with dye in them, keeping the hair around the eyes clipped short, keeping the area under the eyes clean and dry and using commercial preparations for tear removal. I bought a product called Tear Stain Removal from the pet store and put that on the stains with a cotton ball. It really made little difference. On the recommendation of our breeder, with the endorsement of our veterinarian, I have used a powdered antibiotic, Tylan, given in tiny amounts mixed in peanut butter and reduced over a few weeks. This helped reduce, but not eliminate, the staining. I have talked with the Emme's vet and her groomer, but they have no additional suggestions.
My best remedy is to wash Emme's eyes daily with a washcloth dipped in warm water with a little tearless puppy shampoo. Sometimes, there is a gummy mucus at the corner of her eye that I wash off; other times there is no substance that I can see. I then rinse her eyes with clear water and dry with a towel.
The tear stains don't bother Emme at all but I don't like them. I wish they were not there at all, but I do my best to keep them to a minimum.
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1 comment:
Thanks for this post! I think Emme looks so clean and nice. You take such good care of her. I also use a wash cloth moistened with warm water (no soap) and clean the mucus out. I found that sterile saline on the wash cloth DOES take some of the pink stain away, and I use that periodically, too. (Chloe likes to like the washcloth while I wipe, which is why I don't put the saline on all the time.)
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