Tear stains

[Pamommy]

Hi,
I was wondering if their is anything you can use for this? I have an all white boxer and her eyes just always look so bad i did go to petsmart and geot something but it never worked. i do wipe her eyes 3 times and day with a clean rag but always very dark under her eyes.

Holly
Mia 4 1/2 months

 

[Thomas Liggin]

There are several products on the market, Crystal Eye, and I think Diamond Eye, just to name two. They seem to work on some stains, but not at all on others. Stains can be seasonal. Ava's eyes tend to stain in the warm weather, but by the middle of winter, she has not a trace of discoloration.

Some believe diet can have a major impact on the stains. If a dog is allergic to an ingredient in the food, it can cause any number of reactions, among them, greater tear production and "gunk" around the eyes. If there is a substance in the tears which can stain, increased tear production will increase the staining.

Mia may outgrow the staining. If not, you can try a change of diet.

I don't know what you are feeding Mia, but a good quality food such as Innova (what we feed Indy and Ava) may reduce or eliminate the stains. There are several high quality foods on the market. Do a search regarding diet or dog food on this site. You'll find much info about dog food, and what makes a good product.


Tom

 

[carolshafer]

I use Crystal Eye on Haley. It works somewhat...I also use doggy wipes on her two to three times a day. She loves to have her face wiped!

 

[Pamommy]

Thanks so much for the information. I have just been always told that's what comes with white boxers. and being a new Mommie i didn't now if this was true.

Holly

 

[BXR RYD]

I have the same problem with my Arley...
and I use a shout stick on his stains and we have had no problems.
I too have tried the diet change, and all the poodle tear stain remover out there and nothing seemed to work.

Be very careful if you try this....I put it on a wash rag then on the stains.

Good luck

 

[karenrunge]

People have said that a tablespoon of raw pumpkin (the unsweetened kind) in their food will help. Not sure how long you have to use it to notice a difference, but the dogs certainly seem to enjoy it!

KAren in Il

 

[karenrunge]

Pamommy,
I have 2 white boxers. Coach has dark stains under his eyes and Spenser hardly has any. So obviously diet isn't the only factor, as they eat the same food. I've seen other white boxers without any stains.

Karen in Il

 

[Donna1969]

my white one

ALWAYS has tear stains. I clean, wipe, scrub (no not really and I can never seem to totally get rid of them. I do slack off sometimes because Blizzy HATES when I "mess" with her eye area. Now, when she's gone to get "groomed" as much as a Boxer can be groomed, she comes back to me with the whites under eyes! I always forget to ask what product they use! I think tear stains are common, but since our babies are white it really shows up.

Actually if you look at my avitar of Blizzy you can see the tear stain. She looks so youthful when the stains are not there.

 

[MMMM]

Babywipes

I wash Brewy's face off with baby wipes- no particular brand- just whatever is on sale. I also wipe his eyes off about.... 5-6 times a day with a tissue.
He doesn't really have any tear stains so maybe this helps- not sure, but the baby wipes do keep his face nice and clean so I can give him kisses all over his mushy mug.

Brew has turned yellow under his neck though for some reason as of late- I don't use the baby wipes there but I think I am going to try to. The bleaching products always seem to irritate him when I have used them in the past. Hmmm....

 

[beanieh]

One thing I've tried . . .

Bongo has tear stain issues. I've just switched food (from solid gold hund-n-flocken to barking at the moon), and I'm hoping that will help. Also, there is a product called eye-envy that has worked really well for us. They have a website: www.eyeenvy.com

It's a two part treatment -- first you clean the stain with the liquid then you put on a powder. It has helped a lot, when I remember to use it! The down side is you really need to use is every day for a while to clear up the bad stains. But my puppy looks lots better when I use it!

Good luck!