My Boston Terrier pup has light brown tear stains on the white fur beneath her eyes. Prob allergies according to vet. We live in a rural area. Giving her some allergy meds. Any idea how to clean light brown tear stains from white fur?

We tried a hydogen peroxide solution with no results.

Thanks!

I had a honey-colored Cocker Spaniel that used to have that problem. I would wipe off the build-up with a wash cloth and warm water. Eventually the staining went away but it never crossed my mind to try something else that may have worked better or quicker.

Have you asked your vet?

I just used warm water on a paper towel for the bulldog in my avatar. I cleaned her face twice daily, after meals, anyway, so it wasn't a problem. Eventually the stains went away/grew out.

I'd be very leery of experimenting with anything but water or known-dog-safe solutions around a dog's eyes. My vet told me to not even use straight hydrogen peroxide on a dog's wounds - it needed to be diluted, she said.

We used Eyeclense pads on our Golden Retriever (the pads were/are branded as Drs. Foster & Smith, but are now available at Petco) Worked pretty well.

It takes awhile to get the stains away, and in my experience most white / light colored dogs have stains near their eyes, mouth, and rump from secretions.

You have to keep them clean, so wiping the eyes / mouth after they eat, wake up, etc is needed.

If you google it, there’s a ton of products out there for this.

quote:

Originally posted by RHINOWSO:
It takes awhile to get the stains away, and in my experience most white / light colored dogs have stains near their eyes, mouth, and rump from secretions.

You have to keep them clean, so wiping the eyes / mouth after they eat, wake up, etc is needed.

Agreed. In addition to wiping my dog's face and eyes after each meal, I usually wipe the eyes first thing in the morning, to get rid of eye boogers, and any other time it seems needed. Often a single square of toilet paper is all that's needed, in our case.

Vet sold us some wipes. Not very effective. Vet asked us to let her know if we find something better.

Lots of pollen in the air.

Both our dogs had them when we got them and we were told to try bottled water and surprisingly it cleared up.

Unfortunately the stain is going to always be there, and any product you use will temporarily wash it away or kinda wash it away. Vets have no great tricks. Doxycycline may help with it, but who wants their pet on doxy 24/7? Angel Eyes may be the best of the mediocre, seems a few groomers I know have thought it worked ok. Good luck with it!

I was told that the dis coloring is actually caused by a reaction of bacteria & red yeast in the tears to the sunlight. That is why Angel Eyes works from the inside out, you feed it to them & it types up the red yeast & kills bacteria.

Some dogs (not just breeds) are more predisposed to it, it seems. I show a few of my dogs and see a lot of these products in the show world- luckily for me the show boys don’t have the issue, my pet girl does, but I just pretty much ignore it, since she’s always into something and we have red clay where I live (yes, her legs and paws were white, too)..
Good luck. I tried some diamond product at one point and hated the way it made her smell. I want my dog to smell like a dog, I guess.

Use filtered drinking water. Iron = bad.

Just leave it alone?

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
Just leave it alone?

That's my preferred treatment. Unfortunately, some of these porphyrin tear stains are accompanied by a nasty smell, and many people just can't take it.

Try 100% liver treats. They contain an enzyme that helps some dogs with this issue.