Are there any safe home methods of removing the tear stains from my maltese's face?

My puppy gets tear stains around his eyes. If I don't wash his face every day they turn orange and form black stuff that smells. I dont' know what to do.
Answers:
Orange tear stains are often a red yeast (Ptyrosporin) growing in damp areas under your dog's eyes. Feeding a dry kibble that is natural with no additives, preservatives or food color in it seems to maintain stain free faces. Many commercial dog foods contain beep pulp which can cause red staining of the face and beard. Allergies can also cause excessive eye watering.

Prevention may be as simple as adding calcium carbonate - a Tums tablet - to your pup's diet. Tums is an antacid formulated as 500 mg Calcium Carbonate. Giving your pup 1/2 of the Fruit flavored variety twice a day will help change the pH of the tears. This will change the tears' acidity and can help make it hostile for the continued growth of yeast and bacteria.

Another method (don't do both!) is a teaspoon of white cider vinegar added to your dogs drinking water to control new tear stains. Because this flavors the water it may take a while for your dog to drink this water so start out with less vinegar and gradually increase the amount in the water. The vinegar works like the TUMS does in that it changes the pH of the drinking water.

Good luck - hopefully you'll be able to stop the problem and not need to remove the stains any more. :)

---

let them have some coconut drink, i know someone who does that to his dogs, and he doesn't have any problem.

---

My mother had a Maltese and she always used baby shampoo on him. It cleaned him up nicely, smells good and wont burn his eyes. Also, constant eye watering is not normal. If it seems frequent or if his eyes look red and/or irritated, take him to see the vet. He may have an infection.

---

u need to buy this stuff at the pet store for eye cleaning. it works and yeah those eyes can get pretty nasty clena em once every 2-3 days with that stuff and ur good to go :)

---

My grandmother has a Bichon Frise who has this problem. I know she washes the area regularly with a toothbrush, but I am not sure what type of shampoo she uses. Check with your vet.

---

You need to restore your dog's PH balance. Try adding a little apple cider vinegar to it's water (how much you use depends on the size of your dog). Soon the acid from the ACV will balance the pooches PH and the stains will go away.

Look up Apple Cider Vinegar online, it works for a number of doggie issues and it's natural.