The tear marks of dogs are a headache for some owners who are obsessed with appearance, especially for white-haired dogs, there are often rust-like marks at the corners of their eyes, which greatly affects the dog's appearance. Most pet owners believe that tear marks are caused by the dog eating too salty food, so they think that tear marks are caused by salty food. However, this is not entirely correct, because the reasons for dog's tear marks are not only caused by salty food, but also many other common reasons.

Let's first take a look at the principle of tear mark formation

Dogs' eyes and noses are connected, and the connection between them is the nasolacrimal duct. When there is more tear or secretion in the dog's eyes, it will flow through the nasolacrimal duct to the nasal cavity and then into the mouth. However, for some reason, the nasolacrimal duct is blocked, so the excess secretions and tears in the eyes will flow out from the inner corners of the eyes, and long-term such will form a noticeable tear mark.

What are the common causes of tear marks in dogs?

Wetting the dog's food:

Many people may feel puzzled when they see these three words. What is the relationship between wetting the dog's food and the tear glands? 6 months before the dog develops tear marks, most dogs develop tear marks because the puppies' nasolacrimal ducts are very narrow. However, even when the dog is an adult, the nasolacrimal duct is not big, so when the puppy has tear and secretion in its eyes, it cannot flow directly into the nasolacrimal duct, butIt needs to be contracted through the muscles near the upper lip to the nasal cavity, so that the tear and secretion in the corner of the eye can enter the nasolacrimal duct, and then flow into the nasal cavity.

But now most owners feed puppies with wet food, they don't need to contract muscles much when eating wet food, so the muscle contraction is not strong, at this time the nasolacrimal duct is not open, the puppy's tears and secretions cannot flow through the nasolacrimal duct normally, so the puppy forms tear marks.

Parasites:

When dogs have parasites, they will also have tear marks. This logic is not often heard by people, but tear marks in dogs are related to parasites,Especially when dogs have roundworm parasitesdogs' tear marks will be more obvious, we know that roundworm parasites have a migratory ability, it may not necessarily live in the intestine, it can migrate to many organs, when it migrates to the dog's eyes, it will block the nasolacrimal duct, so the tear and secretion in the eyes cannot flow out normally, so tear marks are formed.Parasites cause a series of allergic reactions in dogsWhen this allergic reaction is obvious

the dog's tears and secretions increasebecause the tear fluid can't be quickly discharged, it flows out from the inner corner of the eye, and slowly forms tear marks.Ear infections:

What is the relationship between ear infections and tear marks in dogs? Now many breeds of dogs have ear hair, which is prone to otitis media, and many pet owners don't bathe new dogs, which easily causes water to enter the dog's ears, so the dog's ears will become inflamed and infected with bacteria. We know that the seven orifices of dogs are connected, so when the dog's ears have problems, if the owner doesn't treat it in time, bacteria will continue to cause inflammation of the nasal cavity or eye nasolacrimal duct. When the nasolacrimal duct is inflamed, swelling or adhesion will occur, at this time the tear fluid and secretion in the eyes cannot flow through the nasolacrimal duct normally, so tear marks are formed.

Food is not appropriate:

This reason causes tear marks in dogs, and it's something that most dog owners are familiar with. When dogs eat a large amount of leftover food or salty food, they will cause tear marks in dogs. Because dogs eat a lot of leftovers, they will get angry, so the tear glands of dogs increase, and when dogs eat salty food

it stimulates the tear glands to secrete excessive tear fluid, so the nasolacrimal duct can't quickly discharge the tear fluid, it flows out from the inner corner of the eye, and slowly forms tear marks.Other reasons:Some dogs have

congenital nasolacrimal duct blockage, congenital excessive tear secretion

or the dog has eye surrounding disease, these reasons will cause the nasolacrimal duct to be blocked or damage the dog's normal tear secretion, but these reasons are relatively rare.What harm do tear marks cause to dogs?After dogs have tear marks, they will first affect the dog's appearance. The hair at the corners of the eyes will be wet for a long time, and it will smell very smelly. The dog will also scratch its eyes frequently because of discomfort, which easily damages the eyes around.

Because of the severity of tear marks, it causes diseases in dogs:

Wet skin eczema

and bacterialpurulentconjunctivitis, keratitisetc.After dogs have tear marks, how should we treat them?After finding the cause, we first change the external factors,

for example

change the diet, don't let the dog eat salty food and leftovers, and regularly treat for parasites and ear canal cleaning. If it's a puppy, we should replace wet food with dry food at a suitable time.After changing the external factors, we should combine drug treatment for tear marks. Currently, there are oral drugs and eye drops to treat tear marks in dogs. According to the owner's preference, we can choose them. At the same time, we shouldtrim the wet hair at the corners of the eyes

to keep this area dry, if necessary, we can useanti-inflammatory and anti-itch spraysIf the tear marks are caused by some diseases, we need to perform surgery, such as the nasolacrimal duct is congenital blockage, we need to perform nasolacrimal ductotomy; if the tear marks are caused by excessive membrane proliferation, we need to perform membrane excision; if the tear marks are caused by eyelashes, we need to perform eyelash repair.After dogs have tear marks, we can't simply think that it's because the dog is eating too salty, but we should find out the real cause of tear marks in dogs, and then make a targeted treatment plan.

Finally, the pet doctor reminds everyone that no matter whether the tear marks are caused by eating too salty, we shouldn't give dogs leftovers and salty food, because it not only causes tear marks in dogs but also causes other diseases. Scientific raising of dogs can make dogs healthier.

Listen to the pet doctor's words, use easy-to-understand language to introduce professional pet disease knowledge, like it, remember to pay attention!

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