Tear Staining can be frustrating.. Just ask Phil.

Phil's tearing is a combination of a few issues. First he has hairs at the corner of his eyes that are wicking tears onto the face. Secondly due to his conformation he has tight medial canthal ligaments which allow for the puncta (openings to the nasolacrimal system) to be tucked down and result in less tears going where they should and instead falling over the eyelid.

We need to address the cause of the tearing FIRST and then once this resolves, the tear staining will ALSO resolve. Antibiotics can improve the look of tear staining but long term antibiotics is not recommended for this. The tearing alone for Phil right now is not causing an issue such as dermatitis on the skin (but for some pet's it may).

Phil and his family have a few options:

1. Flush nasolacrimal ducts alone and see the value of this alone (does tearing immediately improve?)

2. Surgically address Phil's tearing by improving location of the puncta, freeze hairs at the medial caruncle, and flush the nasolacrimal ducts. Great prognosis!

3. Ignore and tolerate the tearing/tear staining due to the mild affect on Phil. (It’s me, not you)

If you want to know what’s best for YOUR pets tear staining, please contact our office!