Tearing in the eyes...

Hi all... just wondering, there has been a discussion on another board about what foods we feed our babies, and the possibilities that tearing stains could be a part of what they eat!

Does any one have any info on tearing and tear stains? I have all the latest products for cleaning the eyes, but I feel like thats all I get done doing. Gracie's are especially bad...

The vet told me it's just the breed... poodles are prone to this. But, some people I know have poodles (heck my mom has a white/apricot maltipoo whoes eyes are beautiful) who do not have this problem. He said they do not have a cold or allergies, it's just the breed.

I feed them Science Diet small bites, which they do very well on. But if there is a chance that they are being predisposed to something in the food that could be causing this... well...

Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated!

Thanks, Denise

 

My little maltipoo has some tear staining also. She is white with light apricot ears -- so her staining is easy to see. I clean her eyes at least twice a day to get all the "yuckies" out and try to keep the hair around her eyes as dry as possible. It may be allergy related, but could have other sources as well. When Laci was spayed at 6 months, I asked the vet to see if her tear ducts were clogged. They found that she had no tear ducts!!!! I didn't know that was possible, but know that this is an issue I will deal with always with Laci. If I stay on top of it daily, it's not quite so bad. I don't know if you've checked with your vet for clogged tear ducts but that may be the cause. If not, it very well could be allergies, hair rubbing or irritating the eye, etc. I guess it's just a trial and error thing unless your vet can help. Laci's tear stains used to bother me, but now I try to keep them dry and am okay with what little bit she has -- she's still the cutest little fluffball ever!!!!!

 

Malteseonly.com has some good articles on tear staining, here is one of their pages http://www.malteseonly.com/tear.html It has all sorts of questions and answers in general about Maltese, pretty good for general information, including answers about the type of food affecting it, etc.

 

THANKS!!!! I am going to that sight now.... I really have no problem with the maintenance, I love my babies and anything I have to do for them is a treat for me, not a chore. I thought maybe if there was something I was feeding them or doing could be causing it to be worse than it should be.

Thanks so much you two for some very big help!!!!!

 

Hi,

I just wanted to chime in with my own observations. My Peke has food allergies, so I've switched foods quite a bit. (However, I would assume that diet might not make much difference if your poodle isn't an allergy dog....?) I'm not sure if it's obvious from the pictures, but I've definitely noticed a difference.




On Science Diet (Sensitive Stomach, Senior), he tended to have somewhat watery eyes and was more prone to minor skin infections near his eyes despite my efforts to keep his muzzle wrinkles clean.On Wellness (Lamb) and Natural Balance (Duck/Potato), he still had some tearing but no incidences of skin infection/irritation around his eyes. On Cal Natural (Lamb/Rice, his eye area was consistently clean/dry and no infection. Unfortunately, Cal Natural was great for his eyes, but terrible for his anal glands... :roll:

I hope this helps!