Tear Stains
Submitted by eachango on November 9, 2011 - 5:53pmFirst, THANK YOU to everyone who responded to Gino's first beach trip. We are obviously in LOVE with the new addition :)
As you've seen he is a white baby - and we have noticed some pretty heavy tear stains under his eyes already. I've read that it may be diet that is helping to contribute - so far he's been on Natural Choice puppy food (in case anyone is familiar) - so I'm not sure that is it. Does anyone have suggestions for 1) preventing tear stains and 2) removing the ones he has? They're brownish-red right now... we're trying to prevent it from getting any worse. I try wiping his fur with baby wipes, but they don't seem to have an effect.
Thank you all again :)
Ashley
Tear stains
Several things to try -
Filtered water instead of tap water to drink
Tear stain solutions available at the pet store, or wipe his face folds with a cotton ball soaked in rubbing alcohol - be sure to keep it out of his eyes. Pat dry and dust in Baby Gold Bond powder, being careful to keep it out of his eyes.
If the stains are really bad you can mix up a solution of equal parts hydrogen peroxide and Milk of Magnesia then thicken it to paste consistency with corn starch. Paint this mixture onto the stains every other day for about a week and they should either disappear or get much lighter. Works on stains on feet and chins too.
Could also be a food issue, so you can try different brands trying to find one that he doesn't stain from.
There is also an antibiotic, Tetracycline, that works on stains. But don't give it to a dog under 13 months old because it will permanently stain their tooth enamel. Tylan powder also does a great job of clearing up tearstains, but I'm not sure if it is ok for puppies or not?
Others will have some suggestions too.
Is an antibiotic safe to give long term though? I guess what
I'm wondering is if it'll build up any kind of tolerance to other antibiotics when they are really needed ie after surgery or to clear up an infection.
Fatboy aka Stinky :)
only gie the A/B for 10-14 days - n/m
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tear stains
james had em real bad too for a while. we switched to filtered water (not bottled, just bought a britta water filter) and they left. the stain took a little while to clear up, but its been gone ever since we switched to filtered water.
we put a little white zinc oxide on the wet tear stain just to keep it dry, and since he is white, that helps too
Silverback's Immaculate Interception, "James"
My Fatboy used to get them really bad.
And yes I noticed it was his diet. We switched him to Petcurean NOW! Grain Free. But what works for mine might not work for yours. What I use to clean up the stains is his bath soap on a wet wash cloth, and clean. I use the other half of the wash cloth to pat dry followed by corn starch to soak up the moisture left behind. I hope you can find what works for your baby, who btw is a cutie :)
Fatboy aka Stinky :)
Angels Eyes...
Is powder with Tylan in that does a good job. Was recommended to us by Bulldog vet. Need to use for a while, so get largest jar for economy--Amazon.com has best price. It takes about 6 weeks for the old hairs to all fall out and be replaced, so in the meantime you can only clean, dry and cover up. Our white boy had the stains and this worked beautifully, and we didn't need to buy it again. It's supposed to be safe for puppies. Good luck!
Another Possible solution
One of our babies has her eyes watering all the time, and it is just constant maintenance to wipe them and keep them dry and that helps with tear stains on her. One of our other babies has dry eyes, but tear stains, and on a hint from a local breeder we started adding plain old yogurt to the food and it has not only cleared it up in one baby (took about two months, but made it better in the other one.