Orijen Removed Tear Stains. O_O

[MorkieMomma]

I know Brussels Sprout isn't a Yorkie, he has absolutely zero Yorkie in him at all. However, I wanted to share this picture and I WISH I had other pictures of him before switching to Orijen. I do have pictures, but no scanner. lol

Anyway, this is a picture of Brussels after 2 weeks on Orijen. His tear stains cleared up??? I had no idea the food would do that, but it has to be the food.
He's never had tap water, we've always used bottled water for him. He's not on any 'new' supplements, and nothing else has changed other than the food.

Is anyone else here using Orijen and had this effect? Brussels eyes were constantly tear stained at the base and above his eyes. Nothing's wrong with his tear ducts, either, just a very 'stainy' eye area that had to be wiped down every day. Now I wipe it once a week because there's nothing there.

What's the dealio? I'm happy, don't get me wrong, just didn't know a dog food could do that.

There is still some extremely light-colored staining above his eyes (sort of seen in the picture), but if I can find a "before" shot and have it scanned at Kinko's or something, I will. The difference is extraordinary.

[kjc]

Wow, that's impressive. I looked at the pic blown up to about 400%... his eyes look a bit dry (could just be the photo too!) I use Natural Tears on my crew.

Maybe he had mild allergies to the other food? IDK.

[MorkieMomma]

I'm not sure exactly. His eyes aren't dry though, I mean he still tears up on a daily basis just like he did before, but for whatever reason it's not staining his fur anymore. It's the strangest thing.

...he's eating, pottying, playing, sleeping just like normal, nothing about his behavior has changed. I've been keeping an eye on his doodees and they're well formed and don't smell...his urine flow is normal, etc.

Should I take him to the vet to make sure it's not something negative? I tend to be a vet freak and take them there for the stupidest reasons. They always giggle, but are glad to see us. They even started charging us ten bucks for a vet visit instead of the normal 15-20. When I asked why, they said "call it a family discount" LOL I'm a pet-a-chondriac and we have at least one of our pets in there once every 2 weeks.

Unless something abnormal begins to occur in his daily routine, I'm tending to lean toward this being a positive thing. It's just so STRANGE that after almost 12 years of tear stains, he eats a different food for 2 weeks and all of a sudden his eye area is gorgeous? Very strange....

I will take your advice I think though, as I've never given him eyedrops or tear drops or what have you. I'll research it a bit and see if maybe Brussels and Bella would benefit.

Allergies are a possibility I suppose. I mean, his stools are more well formed than they've ever been. However, he never displayed (or tested positive for) any allergic reactions or symptoms.

Odd, odd odd.

[kjc]

You know, there's probably nothing going on, but whenever any of mine have noticable changes anywhere, I usually bring it to my vet's attention. As he's an older dog, with a bit of a bug eyed appearance, I'd suggest having your vet take a peek at him... especially since your vet is so familiar with him....

[kjc]

Is the new food lower in protein than the old food?

[MorkieMomma]

LOLing at the bug-eyed appearance. His mommy is a purebred Brussels Griffon, that's where he gets the bug-eyes He's had them since birth, it's normal for the breed. I wuv them!

As far as protein is concerned, Orijen is high in the healthy proteins. He's on puppy food, not dog food. The vet actually is the one who urged us to have him on a high protein puppy food (but he gets his liver enzymes tested once every 3 months). He's done absolutely wonderfully on puppy food for his entire life, and his enzymes always come back normal. We've been really blessed with him, with only 1 serious sickness about 7 years ago. It was brief.

These are the ingredients for Orijen puppy:

Fresh boneless chicken*, chicken meal, fresh boneless salmon*, turkey meal, herring meal, russet potato, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), sweet potato, peas, fresh boneless turkey*, fresh whole eggs*, fresh chicken liver*, fresh boneless lake whitefish*, fresh boneless walleye*, sun-cured alfalfa, pea fiber, fresh boneless herring*, organic kelp, pumpkin, chicory root, carrots, spinach, turnip greens, apples, cranberries, blueberries, licorice root, angelica root, fenugreek, marigold flowers, sweet fennel, peppermint leaf, chamomile, dandelion, summer savory, rosemary, vitamin A, vitamin D3, vitamin E, niacin, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine, folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12, zinc proteinate, iron proteinate, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate, selenium yeast, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Enterococcus faecium.
* DELIVERED FRESH, preservative-free and never frozen.


It's 4am here, and the vet opens at 7. We'll probably just take him in at 8. Phone calls are hard for them, because without seeing the actual pet itself, it's almost impossible to give a valid reason for any changes.


Hopefully they'll just say "yup it's the food, this is why, etc" and we'll be on our way back home. :]

[MorkieMomma]

I neglected to mention something that (might be) important?

Previously, his 'tears' were slimey, and he'd get 'eye boogers' in the corners of his eyes, hence why I was wiping them every day. This is also the reason I wanted his tear ducts examined. Not one, but two different vets told me that his tear ducts were fine. I also read that it could be an eye infection, but they said it wasn't. It's just 'been there' his whole life.

The Orijen doesn't have any grains in it, and his other food did. Maybe that's it, I have no idea.

Now, his 'tears' are just clear looking like human tears. They're not slimey at all, and there haven't been any eyeboogers at all since he started this food.

I'll mention that to the vet later this morning, too.

For now I need some sleep. Bella will be up and at 'em in 2 hours and I should be ready for her energetics. lol

[Danirenae]

Originally Posted by kjc

Wow, that's impressive. I looked at the pic blown up to about 400%... his eyes look a bit dry (could just be the photo too!) I use Natural Tears on my crew.

Maybe he had mild allergies to the other food? IDK.

What is Natural Tears??? Bella's tears and stains are so bad and I have tried everything. I wipe them twice a day....give bottled water. When I took her to the groomer The trimmed all that hair away. Within an hour the stains and tears were back. I brought it to my vets attention and he didn't help at all

[kjc]

Check out this thread:

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...-eye-gunk.html


Natural Tears is a human product. Never use Visine (just saying). I get which ever has the least ingredients and preservatives in it so as to avoid reactions. Or I use Sterile Saline Solution, to clean in and around the eyes.

[Danirenae]

Originally Posted by kjc

Check out this thread:

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...-eye-gunk.html


Natural Tears is a human product. Never use Visine (just saying). I get which ever has the least ingredients and preservatives in it so as to avoid reactions. Or I use Sterile Saline Solution, to clean in and around the eyes.

So I just put the Natural Tears in her eyes?? and then use it to clean around them?

Thank you for the link!!!

[kjc]

Originally Posted by MorkieMomma

LOLing at the bug-eyed appearance. His mommy is a purebred Brussels Griffon, that's where he gets the bug-eyes He's had them since birth, it's normal for the breed. I wuv them!

As far as protein is concerned, Orijen is high in the healthy proteins. He's on puppy food, not dog food. The vet actually is the one who urged us to have him on a high protein puppy food (but he gets his liver enzymes tested once every 3 months). He's done absolutely wonderfully on puppy food for his entire life, and his enzymes always come back normal. We've been really blessed with him, with only 1 serious sickness about 7 years ago. It was brief.

These are the ingredients for Orijen puppy:

Fresh boneless chicken*, chicken meal, fresh boneless salmon*, turkey meal, herring meal, russet potato, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), sweet potato, peas, fresh boneless turkey*, fresh whole eggs*, fresh chicken liver*, fresh boneless lake whitefish*, fresh boneless walleye*, sun-cured alfalfa, pea fiber, fresh boneless herring*, organic kelp, pumpkin, chicory root, carrots, spinach, turnip greens, apples, cranberries, blueberries, licorice root, angelica root, fenugreek, marigold flowers, sweet fennel, peppermint leaf, chamomile, dandelion, summer savory, rosemary, vitamin A, vitamin D3, vitamin E, niacin, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine, folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12, zinc proteinate, iron proteinate, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate, selenium yeast, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Enterococcus faecium.
* DELIVERED FRESH, preservative-free and never frozen.


It's 4am here, and the vet opens at 7. We'll probably just take him in at 8. Phone calls are hard for them, because without seeing the actual pet itself, it's almost impossible to give a valid reason for any changes.


Hopefully they'll just say "yup it's the food, this is why, etc" and we'll be on our way back home. :]

I was hoping you wouldn't take offense at my description, lol, as he is very cute. But it's a fact that dogs with those type eyes tend to develop eye problems moreso than dogs with normal-set eyes. I may have used the wrong word, lol.

They say with feeding, put junk in, get junk out!

Red staining is usually bacterial in nature.

[MorkieMomma]

Hi,

We're just getting ready to head out the door. Since Bella has an appointment in a few days we're taking her with us (maybe he can have both of them at once). They don't 'require' appointments, they take walk-ins too, but we prefer appointments because they get us in faster, lol.

I'm almost 100% positive that this eye thing is no big deal, but I would like to know what about Orijen caused it to all just clear up like that. Today we'll hopefully get that answer.

Bella had playtime with Daddy this morning. He works long hours and is only home in the evening, so despite my urge to say 'no she's my puppy' roflll...I let him.

I'll update when we get back!

[MorkieMomma]

Hi,

Well, we're back already, and as I suspected it's nothing, lol. He chuckled at me again, but said the same thing he always says, that there is NO ROOM for error with tiny dogs, and he wants us to bring them in whenever we have the slightest doubt.

He did say that he doesn't think it is Orijen in and of itself, but rather the stopping of the Nutro. Our Brussels is looking healthy as ever, and the vet was quite impressed at the change in his facial fur

Since Orijen is high in protein he does want to do the liver enzyme testing 2 weeks from today. It will be a month earlier than the regularly scheduled appointment but he wants to make sure it doesn't have any ill effects. He also said that he wants us to keep feeding the Orijen puppy to both of them.

He said what a lot of people aren't aware of is the fact that a lot of canine allergies aren't due to certain ingredients or foods, but the combination of ingredients or foods or both, which makes allergy testing far less accurate or dependable than a lot of vets let on. He made an analogy how humans may not be allergic to bananas, or apples, or strawberries, but could be allergic to a banana-apple-strawberry puree, because when things are combined, it changes the elements, etc. He said the same happens in dogs, only it's more difficult to distinguish exactly what combination they're allergic to, and hence why our Brussels was showing that he was NOT allergic to anything, when in fact the vet suspects he had an allergy to a combination, and that particular combination isn't in Orijen, hence why his facial fur is clear and clearing of stains, and why his tears are running clear now instead of slimey with boogers.

Interesting...

In any case, he said Brussels looks healthy as ever and everything looks great.

He wouldn't give Bella the last of her shots because he said it's very important (to him) that she be a bit heavier first. That and she is not of age yet for the last one. She weighed 1.14 lbs last week and today she was exactly 2 lbs, 1 ounce. Yay, Bella, good girl.

[Edit] Bella's asleep (Again)! :grumble grumble: lol I asked him briefly about that while we were there and he said she's actually still not sleeping as much as she should be, and that I shouldn't pet and play with her fur when she's in rest mode; it disturbs her. I'm trying my best!! He said due to her size and breeds, she should be sleeping 12 to 13 hours out of a 24 hour period. She sleeps about 10, and I thought that was a lot!

[MorkieMomma]

I'm not sure if double/triple posting is allowed here but it wouldn't let me edit.

He also said to make sure that I take the toys *out* of her playpen when she sleeps. When I asked why, he said that puppies are a lot like human babies and are easily distracted by their playthings when their bodies should be sleeping. I found that .. odd, but I listened and took them out. He said her sleeping periods should be brief, but frequent, and they're not. She sleeps forever, and then she's up forever, and gets cranky and sassy until she's had another long sleep.

It would explain why her 'naps' last forever, because usually she falls asleep, I put her in there (which stirs her) and she begins gnawing on a toy or fooling around with her teddy bear or her squeaker...whereas before I put her in there she was fast asleep.

I'm definitely listening to him on this one.

I LOVE OUR VET!

[kjc]

Originally Posted by Danirenae

So I just put the Natural Tears in her eyes?? and then use it to clean around them?

Thank you for the link!!!

Yes, just 2-3 drops per eye. You're welcome!

Originally Posted by MorkieMomma

I'm not sure if double/triple posting is allowed here but it wouldn't let me edit.

He also said to make sure that I take the toys *out* of her playpen when she sleeps. When I asked why, he said that puppies are a lot like human babies and are easily distracted by their playthings when their bodies should be sleeping. I found that .. odd, but I listened and took them out. He said her sleeping periods should be brief, but frequent, and they're not. She sleeps forever, and then she's up forever, and gets cranky and sassy until she's had another long sleep.

It would explain why her 'naps' last forever, because usually she falls asleep, I put her in there (which stirs her) and she begins gnawing on a toy or fooling around with her teddy bear or her squeaker...whereas before I put her in there she was fast asleep.

I'm definitely listening to him on this one.

I LOVE OUR VET!

I love him too! What state do you live in? Lol!

I put PJ's on my Tink when she needs calming down. I think they warm her up a bit and make her sleepy. Or I'll cuddle with her on the floor... body heat does the same thing. Then she's good for a 40 minute nap.

With some hyper pups, one really needs to have the upper hand with scheduling... they will never stop playing on their own til they're exhausted. Some forget to stop and eat too! Maybe a little snack before a nap would help.

PS: Sometimes longer posts get lost... okay to break them up into smaller posts... as far as I know!