Tear staining for our furry friends
A fun-filled night packed with excitement!
Tegan had been waiting a long time to pick up her new puppy, because she had to turn 6 before she was allowed one. She had a smile from ear to ear when she carried little Pepi in to see me for his 8-week check up.
Pepi is a 10 on a scale of 1-10 for cuteness and I’m sure he should have batteries hidden somewhere. Everything checked out fine, but mum and dad were a little disappointed that Pepi had obvious brown staining on his otherwise white face.
This unfortunately is not an uncommon problem in both dogs and cats, but is so much more obvious in a pet with a white coat.
It also occurs more commonly in shortfaced breeds, including boxers, pugs and cat breeds like persians.
With each blink tears lubricate the surface of the eye, then flow out of the eye through two small drainage holes located in the corner nearest the nose. These holes connect to a tubular tear duct that carries the tears down to just inside the corresponding nostril.
The tears also help to keep the nose and nostrils moist to humidify inhaled air.
The brown staining on Pepi’s face is caused by an abnormal overflow of tears down the face from the corner of his eyes.
This overflow can be caused by:
❚ Obstruction and kinking of the tear ducts, possibly due to the facial shortness
❚ Overproduction of tears.
❚ Wicking of the tears along the hairs around the eyes. The over-production of tears can be caused by:
❚ Irritation to the eye from hairs rubbing on the eye, for example, extra tiny eyelashes growing along the lid margin or an eyelid that rolls inwards
❚ Dry irritated surface of the eye, especially in bulgy-eyed breeds like loveable pugs
❚ Sometimes for no detectable reason. So why the brown staining?
Excessive tears on the face result in this brown discolouration of the hairs. This colour is due to pigment-like substances in the tears, but can also be accentuated by skin irritation and bacterial build up.
This is the same cause of the brown staining on white pets’ feet when they lick themselves excessively, as saliva is believed to contain the same substances. So what can we do about it? Sometimes we need to do a few tests to see what the cause is or at least to eliminate the treatable causes.
Treatment: Medication for conjunctivitis or antibiotics for secondary infections, and definitely clipping hair away. But often control is achievable, but not cure.
Management of chronic staining: Daily maintenance is often necessary.
The area around the eyes and nose needs to be washed and dried thoroughly every day. Topical eye drops, which include an antibiotic and antiinflammatory, may be necessary at times, along with occasional oral antibiotics. Often just using artificial tears are enough to get a good improvement.
A lot of people have different potions and concoctions for treating this problem and some of them may help, but be careful, as the eye is a delicate structure.
Pepi’s eyes have improved with every week and daily care, and Tegan’s smile gets bigger every time she brings Pepi in. Children and pets provide classic moments and make everyone smile. Have a great week – we are always on
the other end of the phone to help.