The Dreaded Tear Stains.

[laurendoodler]

I've been battling problems with Delilah's wrinkles and tear stains lately.

I think the wrinkles are infected, for one. I clean them out everyday with Malacetic wipes..it's a prescription wipe I get from the vet. After reading around here I've realized I need to start drying immediately afterward, which I plan on starting today. I've noticed she has been getting increasingly more gunky stuff in her wrinkles..especially in the "nose rope." It's disgusting and there's so much of it. I don't know why she's getting this bad..she's inside almost all of the time and she sleeps more than anything else! They look sore and infected and are really red.

Also, the tear stains. When she was younger, they were really bad, despite me cleaning them daily. Then a couple months ago, they just went away completely. Now, they're coming back. I don't know if it was due to the food or what?? I'm not even sure which food she was on when they went away. (see my picky eating thread..) Has anyone else had anything like this happen? Food relating to tear stains?

I'm looking for ways to help reduce the irritation in her wrinkles and to get rid of those dreaded tear stains. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd appreciate them!

 

[Luvin My Bullie]

I haven't had much of a problem yet as Chaos is still a puppy. I have read numerous posts on her about yeast being the cause of the infected wrinkles. Use some desitin or gold bond after you clean the wrinkles. And yes mam, food can be the cause of the tear stains! You may want to try Fromm food, its a popular choice on here and helps tremendously with skin, coats, and tear stains. Also alot of people have said Avoderm helps with tear stains as well. I switched to Fromm and love it so far Good luck

 

[bullmama]

Sounds like you need some panalog ointment from your vet for the nose rope wrinkle. Also check out this article I wrote on tear stains.

English Bulldog News Forums ~ Information, Advice, Friendships, Fun - Ugggh!!! How do I get rid of these tear stains on my English Bulldog?!

 

[Biogirl71]

Frank had horrible tear stains with the first 3 foods he was on and when we finally switched to Fromm, they went away for the most part and haven't come back. We also think he had a mild allergy to a detergent we used to wash his bedding, so we switched to a hypoallergenic detergent.

 

[laurendoodler]

I will check out that article, thanks!

I've never heard of Fromm food. Ever. Do they sell it at Petsmart and Petco?? I get Delilah's food there.

 

[GatorRay]

It could very well be the food. But, I received another tip from a different forum that is helping with Gator's. They recommended using distilled or filtered water for drinking instead of tap and believe it or not, it is has been at least a week and a half, maybe closer to two weeks since I switched and I see a huge difference. It won't help if there is a yeast problem I have also read that when a dog is teething, it can cause the stain problem to be worse. That is normally between 4 and 12 months for a bulldog pup.

As far as the yeast, do they smell? Usually a yeast problem is a stinky problem. I also know that drying completely after cleaning is very important. The yeasty beasties love to grow in a damp environment. I would also dry them a couple of times a day until it is under control. I have a basset as well and so I am very familiar with yeast problems. Especially in the ears.

I am new to bulldogs myself but the people here have wonderful insight and I hope some of their suggestions help!

 

[GatorRay]

Oh, and can I add a question? Someone mentioned panalog cream (did I spell that right?? LOL). Would it be as effective to use an athelete's foot anti-fungal cream? Something like lamisil? This might sound weird but when my son was a baby he had a yeast infection on his bottom and the pediatrician recommended that we put a little bit of that on it and it worked like a charm.

 

[bullmama]

Oh, and can I add a question? Someone mentioned panalog cream (did I spell that right?? LOL). Would it be as effective to use an athelete's foot anti-fungal cream? Something like lamisil? This might sound weird but when my son was a baby he had a yeast infection on his bottom and the pediatrician recommended that we put a little bit of that on it and it worked like a charm.

Excellent question. You could ask your vet if it is safe. Even 'ladies' anti yeast creams work, but with panalog it is made for dogs, so there is always the added security that if they lick it , it won't hurt them.

[MENTION=1909]Lauren Pohl[/MENTION] Fromm is not sold at retailers because they simply don't want to take up shelf space on a food they don't make a ton off of. You can find fromm at some feed stores, and grooming boutiques, but the best place to get it is where we found petflow.

We even got a coupon code with petflow, for free shipping over $59. Use code ENGLISHBULLDOG at checkout. You can set up auto ship too. I love it. I save about $9 a bag and it is delivered right to my door. I cannot remember who found it first, maybe kazzy or gatorfan, but man we are sure glad they did!!!!

 

[laurendoodler]

I will have to look into that website, thanks! Not sure how I feel about ordering food. I've always went and picked it up. But I will look into it, for sure.

As for her wrinkles..they don't really smell, no. Not that I've noticed. She recently had an ear infection in both ears that was yeast related that she's currently getting medication for directly into the ear canal. But even that doesn't smell?

We have one of those Brita filter pitchers. I can try filtering her water!

 

[sheila]

MEN: DO NOT READ!!!
Yeast doesn't always smell, that's the case with female humans too. that's the quickest way to tell between bacterial vaginosis (STINKS) and just a yeast infection. Until you can get panalog cream from your vet i would clean d's nose rope with a 50/50 mix of apple cider vinegar and water. then dry the rope immediately.

don't be weirded out by ordering food online! it is the best decision you will make!!!! i promise. you will save $$$, d will be healthier, and you won't have to go to the store for food ever! it is awesome!

fromm is incredible and a lot of us here feed it to our bullies. like desertsky said, chain animal stores will not sell it because they can't make enough money off of it to make it worth the shelf space it takes up. the best dog food i was able to buy from petco was solid gold, but if you check the dog food ratings, you'll see that solid gold is only like a 4 star food. the better food you give d, the healthier and happier you both will be.

 

[laurendoodler]

I'm looking at Fromm online right now..what formula would you guys recommend for Delilah? There's the Gold Holistic, Four Star Nutritional Salmon, Four Star Nutrionals Surf n Turf, Chicken and Veggies, Fish...and the list goes on and on. I was thinking just the Gold Holistic? But I'd like your input!

 

[kazzy220]

[MENTION=1909]Lauren Pohl[/MENTION] I feed them the Fromm 4* range and I believe a lot of people on here do the same. Within the 4* range you can change between the different proteins .. so maybe salmon one month, then the next bag get pork & apple etc.

Also, I would definitely consider petflow - I could only find one supplier near me that carried Fromm and they only had the 5lb bag which they were charging over $20 for - on top of that it was the opposite way to my work so I was always drive 26 miles round trip to stock up. That's why I did a bit of digging and found that petflow was the best and cheapest company to order online from. I beleive Petflow got so many orders from the EBN members that they offered us the code for free shipping which is excellent for all of us and our bullys!!

 

[dontshop--adopt]

I have found that the artificial coloring used in off-the-shelf foods is what caused tear stains in Otis. I use Halo for him and William, and Otis no longer has tear stains. William has been on Halo since the day I got him and he has never had tear stains. Beets and blueberries are ingredients in a lot of dog foods, and they cause tear stains.