Eye problems - excessive tearing
 

I am at the end of the rope with Layla's eyes I think. I am going to make an appointment for another opinion.

Since Layla's spinal surgery 2 years ago, she started getting excessive tearing. It wasn't this bad before, and I know it. She was 4 years old before her surgery so it was very out of the blue when the tearing started afterwards. At that point we did bring it up, but of course there were major issues with her at the time (she is still paraplegic, but at the time was going through therapy to try to get her walking again). We were told to grow out her nose hair (we kept it shaved down) so it wouldn't poke her in the eyes, and the vet also thought it was probably from getting splashed in the face with water from the underwater treadmill and things like that.

We asked our local vet about it a couple of times too, and she said the same thing about the hair on her nose, so we had been growing it out. When that didn't seem to slow anything down, she suggested we try buying Angel Eyes. We bought some (very expensive!) and Layla has had it sprinkled on her breakfast for the past 2 or 3 months at least, and there has been no change in the amount of tearing. A few weeks ago I cut off all the hair right down the side of her muzzle that was so soaked in brown gunk that there was no way to get it out, no matter how often I wash it. She looked great for a few days, we went on vacation and left her with my parents, and when we came home a week later it is the same as before, dark brown streaks down both sides of her face and big black chunks I can pull out at the corners of her eyes daily!

I think we need to ask to be referred to an opthalmologist. I wonder if this could be an issue with tear ducts. Would there be any correlation with that and her having surgery? There is no question that it started then.

If anyone else has gone through this kind of thing, can you tell me what the problem ended up being, and how it was fixed? I have done some research on blocked tear ducts and things like that and it looks like that might require surgery. Did anyone end up doing that? And if so, can you give me an idea of cost? I know it depends on where it is done, but I'm not sure if it's a "hundreds" or "thousands" type of issue :( We were recently gifted some money for our wedding and planned to use it for things we need around the house, but of course would put it towards Layla if we needed to instead.

Sorry you are going through this . We also have problems with excessive tearing on Lottie which is just suddenly got worse. I just try to keep bathing it and keep her nose hair long.
I would be interested in advice offered as it would be great if we could reduce this.

I certainly do wish I could offer you some sage advice....my eye care problems go the other way...NO tears. That is in a male that survived the parvo years ago....the virus settled out in the nerves that control the tear ducts and he makes no tears...so I do eye care on him twice a day.....I know , just as surely as you do, about the recommendation of Gerber drinking water, some have suggested distilled water for drinking...I have not tried that, not applicable to any issues I have....if you have not done that, perhaps give that a try....then I would go see an opthomologist and see what they can offer you. I PERSONALLY have "dry eye", which manefests itself with excessive tearing....maybe that is HER problem???...dont understand THAT oxymoron....but they gave ME Restasis. The active ingredient in Restasis is .....OMG, my mind just went totally blank....anti-rejection drug...CYCLOSPORIN!!! Good luck with this nasty little issue.....keep us posted what the eye doc says.

Just recently Cali started with her left eye always watering. Nothing had changed. After her vet checked it she suggested that when she had her dental that she could flush that tear duct. It was done on the 27th And it is already much better. No watering now except when she puls her hair down into her eyes;). So I would certainly say is has been a success.

That is so good to know it worked for you! So do you know what the flush consisted of? How is it done? Would it need to be under anesthetic?

Well I do think they have to be under some degree of anesthesia since the did it during her dental procedure. It was done 3 days ago and we have no more excessive tearing.

Layla is due for a dental cleaning anyway so maybe we can schedule both at the same time. She was scheduled for one earlier this year but it was cancelled due to some major bladder problems. I swear, taking care of Layla is costing the same as sending a child to college lol! But it is still worth every penny :) Hopefully we can get her in soon and have this issue taken care of! I worry that it must be awfully uncomfortable for her. Because of her rear paralysis, she has trouble scratching her face (she paws with her front sometimes!) and when I scratch it for her she really likes to push her face right into my hand. I'm sure she will feel much better if we can get rid of all the gunk!

I am planning on trying the Gerber distilled water as mine has eye gunk as well. Its nasty! More so in Orion (teapot male) than my little girl. I'm cleaning gunk out of his eyes on a daily basis. Try that, let us know what the eye doctor says.

I use Gerber water too.
When Cali got home from her tear duct flush and dental she acted like nothing had happened - but then her eye was not bothering her just watering constantly.

My (old)Wheaten Terrier has dry eyes that cause tearing and the grossest black gummy stuff- I do leave her eyelashes long to hold the hair away from her eyes (a little different from the yorkies) The vet perscribed Optimmune (a .2% cyclosporine ointment)last time we went in, it did make a difference, was rather expensive for a really small tube. $30?)

Layla's are like black gummy stuff too. They are goober-y in the corners of her eyes and then they just stain black and thick, and accumulate into big chunks that I pull from the inside corners of her eyes. When we rub at them, the whole cloth just turns brown, and if we try to pick at the hair or rub it it between our fingers (the long peices that just get slick with these goobers and dry out), it comes off in tiny black/brown flakes. There is no way to get it all out. No matter how much I wash her face with warm water and even dog shampoo, it just will not come out. I can take the big dry chunks from the corners of her eyes multiple times daily.

I get the shivers when I clean them out of Lucys eyes. She is getting rather ornery on me (she is 12) and has some dementia issues, but when I give her her weekly bath I comb them all out with a smooth metal comb (gently)- It is the only time I can really get her cleaned up.The ointment keeps them less and easier to remove but that is probably just the petroleum base. Her eye is set differently than a yorkies also.

Even just having them loosened up a bit would be great! Our other two dogs (a yorkie cross and a maltese cross) have no tear issues at all. We just adopted them in December and it really made me realize how bad Layla's are!

Well my husband just let me know he made an appointment for August 14th, the earliest we could get in. I'll let you all know what is decided!

Have you tried using a flea comb? Tiny little thing about 2.5 inches long, with about 100 tiny teeth in that small distance! You dampen the eyes with a warm water wash cloth...they love that, it is very relaxing....after those nasty eye boogers have soaked just a tad, take your flea comb and just comb them right out...gets it all! I stand at the sink with the hot water running and my son holds the dog....I do each eye and rinse the gunk off the little comb with that hot water, then go back at the nasties with the warm water that is still on the comb....takes about 1 minute per eye!

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

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.

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

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.

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!

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

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.

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

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.

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!

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.

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!

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.

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.

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