Hello All!  I am new to the board and and a new proud owner of a 5 month old male Bichon named Jasper.  I am having a big problem with tear staining. I have used one over the counter product called Crystal Eyes.  I have applied the clear stuff to Jasper 5 times a day for about 5 days and still the tear stains have not lightened.  I have noticed there is many web sites that give you many home remedies but all seemed a little harsh, some calling for peroxide, bleach or boric acid.  What is boric acid?  I found the boric acid that kills roaches that can't be the ingredient they are calling for.  Is there another boric acid powder?  Anyway,  is there anyone out there that has any home remedies that work?  Also if this remedy works for the tear stains can you also use this remedy on the mouth & paws? If not, what would you use for these areas?

A bicarbonate of soda solution wiped on works - not a quick fix, but it does work. Have you had the vet check to make sure there's no problem causing so many tears to be made?

He has been to the Vet and they said that Some Bichons just get the tear stains.  He did tell me to make sure I trim around the eyes and wipe his eyes with warm water many times during the day.

Jeangenie,

Where can I purchse bicarbonate of soda?  Thanks for the help.

I get mine from the supermarket - look in the Home Baking section.

Hi Scrapalina,
Nice to hear of another Bichon owner, I think I am the only one that posts on here!  Our Bichon is called Benji and was one on the 23rd March.  He is a fantastic dog and is great with my four year old and is no trouble at all except for the fact he scratches his ears a lot and he is at the vet every couple of months.  He is going tonight to see if his anal glands need emptying again, he only had them done in December but he has been biting his back leg and this is usually a sign that they need doing.

Do all Bichons have to get there anal glands emptied?

No more than any other dog I don't think, its just ours unfortunately is one of the ones that does, quite frequently.  Some dogs never need them emptying at all.  The signs that they do is usually dragging their bottom along the carpet or biting at their back end or back leg for no obvious reason.   I think this will be the fourth time ours has had his emptied.  He was only 17 weeks the first time they were emptied and the vet said they were quite full.

Have you had Bichons before or is he your first?

Yes this is our first Bichon.  Our family normally Adopts from the Humane Society and they are normally mixed breed dogs.  My mother actually gave me Jasper about a week ago.  She had bought 2 puppies Jasper and Boo Boo.  For my 2 sisters.  Sarah one of my sister has been too busy with school and decided that all the grooming and training was going to be too much for her so my mother gave Jasper to me. 

Hi

I have Bichons too and don't post often but still read the boards regularly.

If you are happy that you are not feeding any food which contains beef products (or any other rubbish for that matter) and your Bichon is otherwise healthy (no blocked tear ducts etc) he is probably just one of those Bichons who has tear stains. As Jeangenie said, Bicarb mix is good for clearing stains and maintenance once the stains are cleared but you need to be patient as it takes a while.

I have found nothing available over the counter works and, in fact, some products even make it worse so beware that you aren't throwing money away.

Best Wishes

Andi

Hi Andi,

Just as a matter of interest why is it that Bichons cannot tolerate beef, does it upset their stomachs or something?   I knew someone had told me this before but couldn't remember who.

Thanks

Anna

Someone on here told me about a product to remove tear stains, it called eye envy, I got mine from Hub International, it's the only thing that has worked for my dog, eye envy has got it's own web site, with some fantastic before and after pictures, I started seeing results after 12 to 14 days,

Barbara

Added thing with EE if the staining is very bad you can use it more than once a day & it works with my one cavalier who has staining(he also has syringohydromyelia which is thought to be the cause)

Yes it was you Moonmaiden, thank you, I can now enter her at shows again, I never thought she would go in the show ring again.

Barbara

Nice to here of a success story

Yep i've nothing but great reports about eye envy

Other things that help *prevent* staining is organic apple cider vinegar(health shop,not supermarket) 1 tsp. added to the drinking water daily and VitC,i give my little guys a 500mg tab of esterC daily

The trouble with giving something orally that alters the PH is that you run the risk of kidney stones I think it is best to stick to topical remedies.

VitC is water soluble,the dog piddles out what the body doesnt need,vitC & ACV are 2 of the "must have" supplements imo,helping tear stains is just a side affect,there are different forms of C to suit the individual dog.
Apple cider vinegar is a wonder substance for alot of different ailments,you can not overdose on it! 1 tsp. to a litre of water is all it takes.

I was referring to the vinegar only, whether vit.c can alter tear staining I can't really comment as I can't follow the chemistry of that at all   Whatever other wonderful properties they claim for apple cider vinegar it is in essence ascetic acid.  If the quantity is enough to lower the PH of the tear stains, and it is being used systemically, it is also going to alter the PH of the entire body including the urine.  Why risk it when you can achieve the same thing topically.

I'm also currently using EE for my white Boxer.  I bought a small bottle of solution at Crufts and it lasted about 2 weeks.  I just bought the 'kit' today...the solution, pads and powder to get rid of the final stubborn bit.  It's working like nothing else!! 

Your'e not supposed to get eye envy in the actual eye,are you?? Thats what worries me,what happens if a bit gets in the dogs eye?

I would like to try it as i've heard so many great reports about it but i'm afraid it will be too hard and fiddly and i'll end up stopping using it....

It does not do any harm if it gets into the eyes but if you use it as directed you won't get any in the eye I use a retractable make up brush & that way it is easy to get if where you want it to go

We have a 13 month old Bichon. I have tried all sorts of things. Bicarb didn't work and a solution called Diamond Eye not only didn't work but the smell made Barney run a mile. We use a product called Kleen face from www.dogsstuff.co.uk. This is the only one that has worked. Took about 10 days but the improvement was worth it.

Can I check that website please.  There's also another site called dogstuff.co.uk (the one with two s's in the middle is, I believe in Wales, the other in Surrey).  One does Kleen face the other doesn't.

Hi Wendy
Yes its two s' . www.dogsstuff.co.uk.  I've also tried optrex (recommended by another Bichon owner) no joy and it smelt terrible!! Just received another order of Kleenface. Really quick to deliver and lasts quite a while.

hi all

we had tried all of the lotions and potions but none of them seemed that effective.

We eventually discovered Angels Eyes. This is tylosin based- we were concerned about using an antibiotic to deal with tear stains but after many hours of research we concluded that it is safe for our dogs.

Angels eyes was great it worked as promised but alas it is no longer legal in the UK- red tape!!!

Fortunately our supplier here in the UK has now found a legal alternative to angels eyes. Strangely the product has a very similar name- Angels Delight. Apparantly it works from a slightly different angle. Rather than killing the bacteria in the tears it messes up the the process so that the bacteria cannot lead to the dreaded red yeast. on the up side it (angels delight) is totally natural and (they claim) generaly good for your dog's helath.

We have been using it for a while and fingers crossed it seems to be working so far...

If you have a friend that can get you angels eyes then I recommend it as it really does work- if not then check out the link to Bichon Hotel for angels delight tear stain remover

http://bichonhotel.co.uk/shop/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=13&zenid=5af68b6c44493fb4a1fa0f27095abac5

Angels delight definately works as a tear stain remover for dogs but it does take a little longer than Angels eyes (or angels glow) to work. we found 3.5 weeks rather than 2 weeks for angels eyes.

Well at least we no longer have to worry about customs kindly dissposing of our angels eyes on the way in to the UK anymore.

At a push you could try optrex, it is cheap and works if you remember to use it a couple of times a day, diet change also helps- lots of par cooked green beans