# Tear Stains



## Pacey (8 mo ago)

Hi! I need some help with my Havanese’s tear stains. She’s had them since she’s been a puppy, and I was told that I should wait till after she’s finished teething to see what I’m really dealing with. Well now she’s almost a year old next month and I haven’t seen the tear stains get better- if anything they’ve gotten worse. I’m not sure what to do. I’ve been trying to wash her face with water and a towel 3-4 times a week, and I just started giving her a tear stain supplement from Naturvet about 2 weeks ago. I also give her filtered water in a glass bowl. She’s currently on Wellness puppy food, but I’m thinking of switching her to Orijen Ancient Grains when she becomes a year. Anyways, any advice? I’ve attached photos of what her tear stains look like both dry and wet.


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Have you had her eyes looked at by a vet?


----------



## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

Like Karen mentioned it's always a good idea to first check things out with your vet. Scout had a lot of tearing on the left side as a puppy. I tried a lot of different products. Someone here on the forum mentioned they had good results with Proviable DC. I started giving him a daily capsule for quite some time and eventually the tearing did clear up. I don't know if it was the Proviable DC or just disappeared. Recently he started getting tears stains again and I started the Proviable DC. Last week I changed his food to Nom Nom and ordered their probiotic. It will take a few weeks to see if it makes a difference. Recently I got a product I like by Premium Show called DOGGONE WHITE tear stain powder that helps to keep the area dry preventing the staining. I've been cleaning Scout's eyes daily. Once the tearing clears up it takes time to slowly trim the stain area off. If you put "tears stains" in the search bar you will find lot's of info. Your little one is very cute!🥰


----------



## Pacey (8 mo ago)

krandall said:


> Have you had her eyes looked at by a vet?


Yes, I have! The vet has just said that tear stains are typical of lighter haired toy breeds. Essentially, there’s no remedy to clear up the tear stains.


----------



## HavaHopeful (10 mo ago)

I’ve read good things about feeding a few blueberries per day or adding a probiotic.


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Pacey said:


> Yes, I have! The vet has just said that tear stains are typical of lighter haired toy breeds. Essentially, there’s no remedy to clear up the tear stains.


Not always. I have two with white faces. One of them had staining while she was teething, and we got rid of it with Proviable DC. Then it never came back. Her son, who is much lighter, has never stained. Keep working at it, though. As long as there isn't something physically wrong with her eyes that is causing a lot of excess tearing, there can be different "answers" depending on the individual dog, but a lot of people DO find ways to solve the problem!


----------



## mudpuppymama (Mar 24, 2012)

It will be interesting to see if changing to the new food you mentioned makes a difference. However, another thing you could look at is if you are using any artificial fragrances in your home. Some people and dogs can be very sensitive to these chemicals and one of the symptoms is eye or nasal discharge. You may also want to consider using unscented products on your dog like shampoo and conditioner. It is also worth looking at laundry and cleaning products.









Why artificial scents are harming your pets


Artificial scents may make your house fresh and fragrant, but the chemicals that are used to produce them can be toxic to your furry companion.




animalwellnessmagazine.com


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

...AND this is a high pollen time of year too, which could also add to it...


----------



## mudpuppymama (Mar 24, 2012)

Tear stains can be caused by excessive iron in the diet or water. I noticed that the Wellness Puppy food has two forms of iron added…Ferrous Sulfate and Iron Proteinate. Perhaps this is too much iron for your dog. I do not see iron added to the Orijens.

Porphyrin is what is formed when the dog’s system breaks down iron and too much iron may cause tear stains.

This may not be the problem but thought I would mention it. Please do your own research.

I think trying the new food could help if this is the problem.


----------



## KristenC (Sep 20, 2021)

I noticed that when I didn’t give Charlotte anything chicken, her eyes seemed less wet.


----------



## ApexMyles (Jun 1, 2021)

Myles also has issues with tear stains. I asked my Vet and he said it could be allergies or his diet. Further testing would have to be done that would be costly and not always rule out the cause. My Vet recommended that I experiment with limiting his foods and switching it around. It's less costly and I could pin point which foods are causing his allergies but this process could take up to two years if I don't hit the jackpot right away. He recommended to give the same foods for 3 months, if symptoms seems better then continue, if not to switch. Last year, I also had Myles on Angels' Eyes soft chew for 3 months. At first, I didn't see any result in 2 months giving him one chew, so I doubled it (1 in the morning and 1 at night). A month later totaling 3 months, it cleared up. The Active ingredients are: Cranberry powder, Eyebirght, Olive Leaf, and MarshmallowRoot). I also changed his diet on the 3rd month too. I cooked him ground beef, ground turkey, rice, kale, carrots switching the ingredients around for about a month. So, I'm not sure which helped more the Angels' Eyes or the food.

I then experimented taking him off the home cooked meal as I was becoming too busy to keep cooking for him.
I put him on Hills Science Diet for Sensitive Skin and Stomach, recommended by my Vet. Turns out he didn't touch his food until he was starving. So, I had to mix it with some soup broth to enticed him to eat and then he ate it. But he didn't really like it. A month after, his tear stains started coming back along with yeast in his paws. 

So, I decided to put him on a raw dehydrated food diet for 3 months Stella and Chewy's Raw dehydrated patties. Although he loved it, it was getting very pricey, one large bag didn't even last a month. Hence, there was no signs of improvement with his tear stains or the yeast in his paws. I then decided to put him on a single ingredient diet (lamb) by Instinct limited ingredient. At first he liked it, then later kind of got bored of it. But, he still eats it whether or not I mix it with other broths. So far, it's been one month and I don't see signs of improvement in his tear stains except on his paws. He stopped licking excessively. Only licks a few times a week now. But the Tear stains are still there. So, I'm going to give him the Angels Eye's once again for the next two months to see if that does anything. 
If all fails, then we'll go back to cooking for him. I will keep you all posted.


----------

