Hi. I had to get Pippin, my Shih Tzu to the vet last week. After having great progress with his Tear staining, his eyes were a little congested. The vet diagnose a blocked tear duct. Anyhow she used a liquid on his eyes that's very similar to iodine in colour, but never explained what is was to me. However, she did say it wouldn't harm or stain his face. It has and now he has yellow streaks down his cheeks. the vet said it would wash off quickly. A week later its still there!

I feel so sorry for the little fella with the eye trouble hes having, so need a quick solution to get rid of this colouring on him.

Is there anything that maybe i have in the cupboard at home i could use, like bi carb or something? I really don't want to put any more solutions, creams or shampoos on him that may discolour him further.

Thanks for reading

Janette

Because of the location and the fact that the dog already has an issue with his eyes, I would leave well alone and just let nature take it's course. If the Vet says it will not stain permanently, then you need to trust that they know what they are talking about and that it will wear off in due course. If it doesn't then it will grow out eventually but I would not be risking putting anything on it, just in case I made the eye problem worse

This is a dye that is to check that there are no ulcers on the surface of the eye. It will disappear eventually -I have had it used many, many times on my cats, several of which are pale coated.

Thank you so much for your reply and advice. The hair on  his face does grow rapidly so, im sure it wont be long before new growth comes through quickly, after his next cut.
I do trust the vet in what she advises, but when she said it only lasts a couple of hours and ends up being nearly a week, i was worried it may be permanent.

Thanks again , Janette

Thank you for that. The vet didn't mention ulcers , only conjunctavitis ( spell check needed on that i think ) and blocked tear ducts. However i'm happy to take all the advice given here on this and leave it alone, let it go naturally :-)

Janette

Does it smell?
If its red yeast caused by overspill of tears ....then careful washing the area..not the eye....with ready prepared SALINE solution 1TEAspoon of table salt to a pint of boiled COOLED water ( or buy ready made from pharmacy..contact lens section ) then patting dry regularly with paper towel...not cotton wool will help considerably.

Some say changing the diet to a product that doesn't contain beet helps.

Tear staining is common in many dogs but only seen as a nuisance in light coloured faces, personally I can't stand the smell.

Not iodine stuff but some years ago took a Rott to vets, they needed to check her tear ducts were draining ok and used a bright green dye, you could not see it on her coat but when you get this Rott with bright green eyes staring at you it is weird - and also looks a bit scary
Her eyes were back to normal the next day :-)

I have something similar when I go to eye clinic. I often have a bit of yellow staining but it does tend to wash off quickly. Maybe her coat is absorbing it more. Best one was when nthey put dye in my blood stream and I had a nice orange tinge  ALL OVER!!

My pug has an eye ulcer at the moment and she's had the dye put in her eyes, it did take a couple of days for the staining to go.
So I wouldn't worry it will wear off in time.
Hope your little shih Tzu is feeling better soon.

Both mine recently have had issues with their eyes and one of the (many!) tests was done with the dye - the vet did say it would stain for a couple of days and she did her best to wipe off the hair as fast as possible to minimise it - it was gone within a couple of days - FYI it may look like iodeine on dogs with coloured hair and look green in the eyes but on westies white hair .......... it's fluorescent highlighter pen yellow. Don't worry too much - it will wear off in the end - it did with mine & I didn't wash the hair at all to get it off it just faded away (I was trying to avoid doing much around the eyes so loathed to wash it - so just waited it out).

It was probably flouresceine does no harm and will fade in a while. Shows up in UV light

Thanks to all who have replied to this. It is a highlighter shade of yellow if that makes sense . It is gradually coming out now, i gave him a little facial wash last night with Tropiclean and that seems to be helping it along nicely.

Re: His tear stain problem. Yes it was getting to have an odour to it, that was the reason for the visit to the vets. However, i was chatting to a lady who has kept Shih Tzus for years and had used all that is going on the market to help. She advised that the vinegar in water helps more, because its from within and not just cosmetic.
Also has used mentioned, the saline solution too. Has anyone used Saline solution? If so how good were the results and is it 100% safe to use on such a delicate area as the face?

Once again thank you so much for the advice everyone. i feel like i am becoming a pain with this lil fella. He's my first pedigree dog and i want to make sure i am doing everything  right for him and his health. He is a little bit more high maintenance than my first dog, he was a Jack Russell, tough little dog and much easier to care for. But saying that i am enjoying caring for Pippin, but want to get it right ,So i do apologise for all the posts regarding his eyes and such.

>Also has used mentioned, the saline solution too. Has anyone used Saline solution? If so how good were the results and is it 100% safe to use on such a delicate area as the face?

Saline,made as per recipe given, is Isotonic which means at exactly the same make up as the electrolytes in the body.
Pre made saline is for putting IN the eye via lenses so couldn't be safer.

Some breeds have tear spilling problems and the best you can do is to hope to minimise the effects, unlikely you will cure it.

Has your vet suggested or have you considered having his tear ducts stretched?  My youngster developed a tear-overspill-and-red-staining problem at 7 months, and we had the highlighter dye test (we called it the green-snot test ).  The vet slightly enlarged his tear ducts under local anaesthetic - this solved the problem for a few months; when it recurred The Pup saw the local eye specialist, the procedure was repeated and he has been stain-free ever since, he is coming up three now.  He had no pain or trauma from the procedure, which was very straightforward, and he relished the extra attention and cuddles from the vets and nurses.

Hi. I never thought of ' surgery' on him. The tear stain is only cosmetic, the vet advised me to wait and see it the watering eyes and tear stain clear once he has finished  'teething'. I never knew dogs 'teethed' so to speak.
I  have changed his diet and his type of water ( not tap ). So i suppose its a matter of waiting now to see more improvement, with these little changes.
I am going to give it another couple of months and if he has not improved, will take him back to the vets and see if there is any underlined reason for it.
I know this breed has small tear ducts and breathing issues, so may have to accept his watery eyes and stains along with him. He's a big personality and loving and that's more important than a few face stains. hopefully his yellow glow will vanish with time ! lol :-)

"Wait and see" is always a good plan, at least in the short term . Mine is not the same breed as yours, so there may be different characteristics at play.  Good luck, I hope the changes you have made to Pippin's diet and water will solve the problem.   He sounds a lovely lad.

The Yellow Glow will vanish - with mine it was usually gone within 24 hours (bathed a couple of times with cooled boiled water and nostrils gently wiped externally with the same), but your vet must be using stronger stuff .

saline solution is just salt water. Its my stock item for allsorts of things , sore eyes, cuts, scratches ,stings on humans and dogs other sore things
Itdoesn't sting at all fine for eyes and just about anywhere else