For many dog breeds, tear stains are inevitable. You probably recognize the all-too-familiar reddish, brown spots on the inner corners of a Bichon Frise’s fluffy white fur. Or the seemingly permanent tear stains on a boxer’s eyes.
For many dog breeds, tear stains are inevitable. You probably recognize the all-too-familiar reddish, brown spots on the inner corners of a Bichon Frise’s fluffy white fur. Or the seemingly permanent tear stains on a boxer’s eyes.
Combating these tear stains around the eye area is typically more of an aesthetic choice—rather than a medical one. If you see dog tear stains, you generally don’t need to worry about pain or discomfort. It’s much like a stain on a t-shirt—it’s not serious, but you’d rather the dog eye discharge and tear marks not be there.
To that end, let’s uncover everything you need to know about tear staining, reviewing:
Dog tear stains are a result of excessive tearing in your dog’s tear ducts leaving traces of iron on the fur. When that iron is exposed to air and dries, the resulting color is a reddish-brown (like rust). Over time, the tear stain accumulates a larger and larger surface area and the tear stains become more unsightly around the dog’s eye.
To be clear, dog tears are not caused by the same things as human tears. Just because there are your dog has tear stains on your dog’s face doesn’t mean they’ve been staying up all night long crying! Dog tear stains can be the result of perfectly natural causes (like allergies).
Let’s take a look at some of the most common tear stain causes.
There are many causes of tear staining. The trick is isolating one factor at a time to see what helps reduce the amount of tears your dog’s tear ducts produce. Let’s take a look:
Less common, but more serious underlying conditions for excessive tear stains include:
There are two parts to dog tear stain treatment. First is the cleaning and removing of the tear stains from your dog’s fur. The second step is to prevent the tear stains from returning. To that end, here are ways to remedy your dog’s tear stains:
With Vetericyn’s safe and plant-based shampoos and eye washes, your dog’s tear stains can be safely removed and prevented with ease. Not only will your furry friend enjoy their routine of TLC, but they’ll be ready to strut their stuff and show off their best self—tear-stain free.
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