Eye problems - excessive tearing

[Carmeow]

I also kinda wanna try angel eyes. Luma has ALWAYS had horrible eye gunk, on 3 different foods so not sure if it is due to her diet. May just be in her genes. We are using tear stain pads I got from petsmart but not noticing a difference except that it was turning her hairs by her eyes rust-colored and the pads did help with the discoloration. Gonna try gerber water, but I never see it at target or walmart!! Ugh! It would be in the baby section right? Or in the grocery section?

We use the pads and soak it into her hairs, then use a flea comb gently around her eye area. She needs her baby canines pulled so maybe they can do something about it then. I just don't know.

[yorkiemini]

At my Walmart Gerber water is in the grocery section with the other bottled water. Have never found it at Target in my area.

[LuvTaycieGirl]

Originally Posted by Carmeow

I also kinda wanna try angel eyes. Luma has ALWAYS had horrible eye gunk, on 3 different foods so not sure if it is due to her diet. May just be in her genes. We are using tear stain pads I got from petsmart but not noticing a difference except that it was turning her hairs by her eyes rust-colored and the pads did help with the discoloration. Gonna try gerber water, but I never see it at target or walmart!! Ugh! It would be in the baby section right? Or in the grocery section?

We use the pads and soak it into her hairs, then use a flea comb gently around her eye area. She needs her baby canines pulled so maybe they can do something about it then. I just don't know.

Taycie also was a mess with her eyes until I finally got her food allergies under control. Her staining was awful and her poor face would run and run.... She was a mess! I tried SO many foods. Not until I got to the root of her problem and put her on a RX food did I FINALLY see a difference.

Taycie also drinks Gerber Baby Water and she has been tear stain free for over a year and her eyes have stopped running completely. You can find the Gerber Water usually in the water section at Walmart and in grocery stores they usually have it in the baby isle.

I was very hesitant to try Angel Eyes because it is a low grade antibiotic. I just never felt comfortable putting her on it... Once I finally got her food allergies under control... I started seeing results in 24 hours. I was amazed.

[linz06]

Well Layla is now at the vet. We took her in this morning and after having a look and discussing with other doctors, they decided they'd like to sedate her and try to flush out her ducts from her eyes to her nostrils and see if there might be a blockage somewhere. At least we know they are not thinking the goopy eye stuff is normal like the other vets thought. I haven't cleaned it in a couple of days so they could see just how horrible and crusty it is all over her face. My fingers are crossed that they will actually find something and be able to fix it!

[msyorktown]

here's hoping they can find out what's wrong, and praying as well. keep us posted please.

[gracielove]

Gracie has never had a lot of tearing but some. I switched her to distilled water and saw the tearing disappear within a little over a week. I get the distilled water for 89 cents a gallon at Walmart. On occasion when I have not been able to get to the store and have given her regular water I see the tearing start up within a day.

I suppose it depends on what kind of water you have. I think it is the water sources with a lot of mineral deposits that tend to bother the eyes. I know others say changing the food has helped. I do think that some of the unnecessary things they put in some foods could cause enough stress on the body to cause tearing. Of course there can be other reasons for the problem so seeing a specialist may help. I do know that seeing her pretty eyes without tears in them makes me feel a lot better.

[Micah my love]

My babies had lots of eye goop & tearing we switched to Fromm's food and Gerber water and it is all gone...

[valkyrie]

I also believe eye gunk in many dogs is caused by food allergies. Baci had daily eye gunk before switching to grain free. Now no more eye gunk.

[linz06]

Well we didn't get any results yet!!! The vet tried flushing her ducts but the smallest catheter they had was still too big for Layla's little tear ducts. She tried to just flush and flush and flush (of course without much pressure because of the catheter not fitting) and she got a tiny little trickle of water from one nostril, and nothing at all from the other. So there may be a blockage or there may not be a blockage, but she is referring us to an opthalmologist for a more thorough exam. The good news is there was no ulcer or any other eye problems that she said can also cause the gooping.

The woman in opthalmology is on holidays tihs week (we know her, she is friends with my husband!) so we will make an appointment next week sometime.

As for food and water... she never had any issues with tearing before her surgery (she was 4 years old at that time) and nothing has changed in her diet at all, so I think it must be something else. She does have food allergies and for the first two years of her life it took me ages to find a food that would work for her! Even when she did have symptoms in those first years, it was just chewing at her feet and tons of ear infections.

My fingers are crossed that the opthalmology team can get to the bottom of the issue!

[linz06]

Well we went to the opthalmologist last week. After two hours of testing, everything came up NORMAL! Her eyes are not at all irritated, her ducts are clear, her tear production and tear quality is completely normal - there are no issues. It's a good thing and a bad thing! I'm glad she has nothing major wrong, but there's nothing that can fix it. The opthalmologist just suggested we keep her nose shaved really close, and clean the tears a couple of times a day so they don't build up and get uncomfortable on her face. So that's what we'll do! She did say it is a LOT of gunk on her face, but she couldn't find anything that would cause it.

[gracielove]

Originally Posted by linz06

Well we went to the opthalmologist last week. After two hours of testing, everything came up NORMAL! Her eyes are not at all irritated, her ducts are clear, her tear production and tear quality is completely normal - there are no issues. It's a good thing and a bad thing! I'm glad she has nothing major wrong, but there's nothing that can fix it. The opthalmologist just suggested we keep her nose shaved really close, and clean the tears a couple of times a day so they don't build up and get uncomfortable on her face. So that's what we'll do! She did say it is a LOT of gunk on her face, but she couldn't find anything that would cause it.

One thing to consider is that a human or an animal can develop an allergy to a substance at any time in life. If the immune system decides it is opposed to something the body will start reacting to it by sending out histamine or other responses that can become very uncomfortable for the person/pet. Although she did not have a reaction to food or water before, something in her system could have changed after her surgery. Sometimes something one body can take easily, like surgery, will be a sort of trauma to another body, upsetting the natural balance of things.

It is good that her physical eyes are fine. It may be that something else is causing the excessive tearing.

[linz06]

I asked about this too, because we did move just a few weeks before her surgery so maybe there was something she was allergic to that just coincided with the surgery and it looked so much worse when we got her home again. But the vet said there is nothing that shows it would be any sort of irritant because there is no inflammation or irritation around her eyes, which would be the case if it were an allergy. Basically, after two hours of tests, the specialist was stumped and so was I!

[Nancy1999]

We did a food switch to Blue Wilderness, and Joey developed horribly gunky eyes. Brown sludge was more like it, he was wet all the time and this was much worse than the tearing he had as a puppy. We switched back to Royal Canine and his eyes cleared up. Never did figure out what it was that bothered him about the food, but don't forget they can develop allergies overnight, food that never gave them a problem can start giving them a problem. I think I would try one of those limited ingredient foods and keep a food dairy.

[gracielove]

Originally Posted by linz06

I asked about this too, because we did move just a few weeks before her surgery so maybe there was something she was allergic to that just coincided with the surgery and it looked so much worse when we got her home again. But the vet said there is nothing that shows it would be any sort of irritant because there is no inflammation or irritation around her eyes, which would be the case if it were an allergy. Basically, after two hours of tests, the specialist was stumped and so was I!

I'm sure you have very good doctors. The fluid coming from her eyes is developed by the body for some reason. Since the eye specialist cannot find a physical reason for the tearing there has to be something in the body producing it. Just as there are eye specialists there are also allergy specialists. It is kind of a complicated process to pinpoint one particular thing that is upsetting the natural balance of the body. Allergists do it with a series of tests but they also do trial and error. When the body is being stressed by a substance it will sometimes release histamine which causes the body to over produce the kind of fluid you are seeing. Changing to a limited ingredient food for dog's with sensitivities may help. You may be able to find the cause by trial and error as many owners do.

[Micah my love]

Originally Posted by jeane

hope you get something figured out / i was wondering if angel eyes would help not sure

The Gerber water has worked for me their little faces would be soaking wet all of the time and boogers in eyes...after a short time of drinking Gerbers they are not wet faced anymore