When my golden mix rescue was very sick, I took him to Colorado State University Veterinary School for evaluation. They diagnosed his bloody stools and chronic diarrhea to be a result of clostridium bacteria (and giardia protozoa). They put him on tylosin powder and he was on it for the rest of his life (12 years). There were no ill-effects, and he remained healthy and diarrhea free.I would never use it for a cosmetic issue, but it certainly helped us.

My pup came to me with an ear infection and a bronchial  infection, not to mention TEAR STAINS.  I did try everything I could find including Angel Eyes.  The Angel Eyes was the only thing that worked.  My pup was on it for two months.  She is completely stain free and has had no reoccurrance of stains.  She is no longer on Angel Eyes either, which counters the claim that pets have to be on it for the rest of their lives.

In helping her stay that way, she eats a raw diet with high quality grain free kibble., no additives, dyes or by products.  Her food and water dishes are ceramic. She gets filtered water. Her facial hair gets trimmed regularly to prevent eye poking, and her ears are cleaned every week as well.

Wow... We carry Angel Eyes at my shop... This is concerning. I will recommend other things now! Thanks for the article!

Wow, I just got my new precious baby (he's a white pomeranian named Arthur) and was wondering about the tear stains. I just wipe his eyes with a natural baby wipe. I was wondering about the tear stains and saw something about Angel Eyes... Thank you for posting this now I know to steer clear! I was going to ask my vet about it when I see them tomorrow but forget that, I just won't buy. :)

I use Eye Envy as it is a topical and it seems to work okay without any side effects or antibiotics. I have used their products on my blue eye white cats for a while and seems okay and works effectively.

Wow.  I would never consider giving my cats ANYTHING supplemental without consulting my vet.  I just wouldn't.  I have some white cats, and they get the staining.  I just wipe their faces and check with the vet if it seems excessive.

This is kind of scary to me.

From my personal experience, I did not have to keep our dog on Angels' Eyes forever. A small amount daily over a two-week period and the tear stains were gone. It's been more than a year since I used Angels' Eyes. As with anything, use with moderation, monitor, follow directions. Did you have an experience with a patient who had a bad reaction to the product? What prompted the rant on this product? 

Wow, this is great stuff. We don't carry Angel Eyes in our assortment at work. Now I can educate my customers about it, telling them how it works. They may or may not like what I'm telling them, but at least I'll know I've done my part. It's good to know about Iams too, I wonder if my rep would know this? (I'm guessing not), but it also helps to recommend a food that MAY help the staining.

Thanks Dr. K.

(PS: Saw you BARK, it was about Knees. Is the next issue going to have the Bloat information on it. I started a huge debate about raised feeding bowls at work and need to back it up now, LOL)

Thanks

Do you think they choose tylosin because it doesn't SOUND like an antibiotic?  I mean, it's not a "cillin" or a "mycin," which most alert people might ID as an antibiotic.  If I didn't know of it because of agricultural use, I would not know.

Or is the tylosin just the one that is effective?

I've never had occasion to use such a thing, and I don't expect I ever will, but thanks for the heads-up.  I'll remember to ask clients who have little white dogs, etc., about "supplements."

I've never heard of that product before however after one bad experience with a tear stain remover I'm leery of any of them now.

My oldest cat (now passed away) used to have horrible tear stains and of course her white markings were right where the staining was. 

Her vet said it was a tear duct problem and since he didn't have the tools to do surgery on such a small animal I'd have to be refered to a specialist. 

Since I didn't have that kind of money for a specialist for a basically cosmetic problem I declined. 

Instead I found a tear stain remover from the catalogue of Dr's Foster & Smith.  My vet wasn't familiar with that particular product but said it was probably ok to try it once he read the ingredients.

Well after only 1 1/2 weeks on the tear stain remover my cat got a horrible eye infection in both eyes.  Something that had never happened before and she was about 13 years old at the time. 

The vet gave her antibiotics and some ointment for her eyes, and concluded that it was the tear stain remover that caused the infection, although he didn't specify how.

I threw the bottle away and have since warned people away from using those things.

For the remainder of the life of my cat (she died at 17) I just used a saline solution to rinse out her eyes and she never had an eye infection again, although the staining never did go away either.

I'd rather have my pets healthy than pretty if given the choice.

Huh.  Thanks for this.  I have a chronically crusty-eyed cat (dark reddish buildup).  It doesn't seem to bother her in the least and the vet gave her a clean bill of health.  My daily removal of the schmutz seems to bother her more than its presence.  I think it's just how her eyes are set (slightly flatter than her littermate, with a more triangular face shape).  I was considering Angel Eyes on the basis of "well she doesn't seem bothered... but she might be... it's not like she can tell me, right?"  But up to this point everything I've read just left me a little uncomfortable.  I was always left with the question "Yes, but WHY does it work?"  I'll definitely just let it be.

double checked the ingredients on the stuff i have  -

cranberry extract, marshmallow root, grape root and calcium ascorbate - no antibiotics.

Do you have to continuously use Angels Eyes to keep the stains away? the stuff i have is just a temporary supplement

It is not legal in the UK apparently.  The reasoning behind this is set out here:  http://www.bichonhotel.co.uk/cms/angelseyes

How does this compare to using hand soaps/sanitizers containing Triclosan?

I've yet to have a case of staining that did not clear with a tweek or shift in diet. Even if there's no tear staining, light colored dogs wil stain their chins or even feet if they tend to lick or lay their heads on their legs after drinking or panting.

Eyes that tear or drain excessively mean a trip to the vet. 

BTW, I know the dog in your lead in picture, he's now 13, healthy if a little deaf but still fit and sound although he has a much longer stretch and warm up than when that picture was taken.  Koit Cleaners still uses his picture in a carpet cleaning ad oiut here. A bit of a grumpy old man but he's earned that. :) I saw him last over the Fourth of July weekend, he came over demanded a scratch, then gave me a snort when no cookies were in the offing and moved on to the next mark.

I had no idea this product had antibiotics in it.  Yikes!  Thanks for this post!

I mostly advise clients to keep the tear tracks greased with vaseline or other bland hydrophobic material. Of course, the grease should not touch the eye itself.  I make an analogy to the gutters and downspouts on a house which allow water to drain away without accumulating.  I really don't know how many people follow my advice, but nobody has complained. 

Always figured the tears/stains were a symptom and I don't like masking those.  No beef, more spinach, less crud in food generally; tears and stains nearly gone.  Some tears and stains when the air quality goes down and Ms. Shiba starts sneezing though.

Generally, I disagree on the over restriction of antibiotics but just dosing on a regular basis for something like this?  That's absurd even in my book.  I wouldn't have known tylosin was an antibiotic but, these days, I'd have looked it up before giving/using it.

This stuff could really add to the potential of an OD, couldn't it?

Enjoyed your rant. Most people today are seeking quick fixes for just about everything. It is a shame when it affects the behavior, health, and longivity of an animal--just wondering how we can facilitate change so that people will take the time to educate themselves and put a little work into providing a better life for their pets...they clearly want to but many fail when it comes to the follow through.

Thank you Dr. Khuly,

One of our local natural pet stores in SF won't carry Angel Eyes because of the ingredients and tries to educate people about it. A long overdue evaluation that will hopefully get more notice now!

Scary -- there's even a MSDS on tylosin tartrate -- http://www.sciencelab.com/xMSDS-Tylosin_Tartrate-9925378.

Interesting, I always have clients asking me where they can purchase this product because they have heard of it through a breeder/friend/internet.  I've never had any luck finding it- I guess it's not available in Canada.  Now I know to tell people that it's a bad idea anyway!  I had no idea it is just Tylosin!

I had no idea that angels eyes was an antibiotic - i currently am giving my frenchie a supplement for tear stains (not Angels Eyes and i got it free with a coupon when i bought ear cleaner). I'll have to take a closer look at the ingrediants.

The vet has checked her out and she's fine (as fine as a puppymill rescue can be) and she's on a great food , and the only reason i decided to try the free supplement was because sometimes her tear stains cause her a bit of itching.

Thanks for this post doc!

I wonder about the above food related issues. Years ago, I noted certain foods would cause reddish-brown coat in my black dogs & switching made that go away.

I stuck with certain canned foods to keep my Sealys' beards white, lots of people asked me about their diet.

I had a Scot with one life-time blocked tear duct, but never stained on the black beard.

My real concern is when the eyes stop tearing, as that means trouble ahead, with the elderlys' eyes. Blepharitis is not uncommon in both canines & humans late in life. My Dottie went from high Schirmer tear test to horribly low , and needed Optimmune for her last year.

Dr. K, are tear stains mainly a food issue? I have a white dog who had bad stains as a pup until we put her on a raw diet, no more stains.

Its entirely freaky that this product is an antibiotic!!!

I've always considered the minor tear staining my white cat gets and the slightly worse tear staining my white dog gets to be a cosmetic issue. The idea of giving a daily dose of antibiotic for a cosmetic issue just struck me as obviously wrong.

But if people don't realize that Angel Eyes contains an antibiotic, they can't have that cautionary thought on their own. :(

More recently, as I've been home cooking for my dog, I started using spinach in some of her meals. I was just trying to increase the variety in her food with an eye toward ever-better nutrition. Completely to my surprise, I've found that when she has spinach in her meals for a few days running, the tear stains disappear. Other people have found that the tear stains vanish when they make sure there's no beet juice in any of the dogs' food. How much of tear staining is diet-related?

Hi Dr Patty

It's do refreshing to see an article that blows the lid of the myths and lies surrounding the sale of these tylosin based products.

I would like to point out that Angels Eyes is illegal to self administer and purchase.

Tylosin is only licenced for dog use in the injectable form, all other forms may only be prescribed off label.

Regardless of the packaging, tylosin is a prescription only medicine. The ONLY exception is the sub-therapeutic use of tylosin as a growth promoter in livestock.

It is therefore only legal to buy tylosin without a prescription if you are adding it to the food of cattle/swine and poultry.

Angels Eyes breaks the law on a number of marketing levels- there is no indication of side effects, it does not explicitly state that tylosin is an antibiotic, it does not explain that it is an POM, it does not mention that the form of tylosin used does hold a Marketing Authority, the dosage instructions are inadequate, there is no mention of the levels of active ingredients.

All of the above is true of every single variant, eg Pets Sparks, Clear Tears and so forth, the only exception is the most worrying variant- Optimex Tear stain remover- made by a firm owned by CEVA- they do list the amount of tylosin.

Why a large firm like CEVA is engaged in this type of legal activity is beyond me!!!! Shame on them...

IMO all of these firms are complicit in promoting bacterial resistance for the reasons outlined above- additionally there are the risks associated with of sub-optimal dosing.

Whilst the FDA have declared these products as illegal it would be nice if they enforced the law- perhaps the public could write to them and ask why they seem to be moving so slowly..