Persian tear stain question

[Chold]

Hi! I’m new here and a new cat mom to a Persian.
He’s 5 months old and we’ve had him for about 3 weeks. Since bringing him home, I’ve been using eye envy liquid and powder on his tear stains 1-2 times per day. Some days I just use warm water.

However, his left eye in the seems like it never comes clean. It looks black under there? I’ve used qtips in the crease to pinpoint the cleaning but it doesn’t seem to help.

He hates cleaning his eyes, so it’s hard for me to get a really good look.

I guess my question is- does this look like tear build up and not just irritation? Is it normal to have dark creases like this, even after daily cleaning?

Thanks for your help!

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi, welcome!
What a handsome boy I looked at your photo, and honestly he looks remarkably clean. His fur around his eyes isn't gunked up or oily, and hardly wet. There's a little dark coloring that's part of the two stripes on his face, but otherwise I really don't think it's something to be concerned about - especially since he doesn't like the process.

Anyway, just a note to be sure to let him have as much as he wants to eat until he's at least a year old, to help him fuel all the growth that's going on

 

[Chold]

Hi, welcome!
What a handsome boy I looked at your photo, and honestly he looks remarkably clean. His fur around his eyes isn't gunked up or oily, or wet. There's a little dark coloring, but I really don't think it's something to be concerned about - especially since he doesn't like the process.

Thank you so much for your input!

 

[neely]

Hi new cat mom and welcome to TCS! This is our third Persian and, yes, tear stains are normal. Your boy is extremely handsome and reminds me of my present guy, Carleton, who is now a senior. I would not recommend using Q-tips to clean around his eyes. Our vet suggested a cotton round or warm washcloth. She told us not to use Eye Envy but I know others use it with success. IMO, unless you are showing your cat I wouldn't worry too much about the tear stains. He looks stunning!

 

[Chold]

Hi new cat mom and welcome to TCS! This is our third Persian and, yes, tear stains are normal. Your boy is extremely handsome and reminds me of my present guy, Carleton, who is now a senior. I would not recommend using Q-tips to clean around his eyes. Our vet suggested a cotton round or warm washcloth. She told us not to use Eye Envy but I know others use it with success. IMO, unless you are showing your cat I wouldn't worry too much about the tear stains. He looks stunning!

thank you so much!

 

[iPappy]

I agree with the others C Chold , he is gorgeous!
What are you feeding this kitten, and what did the breeder feed the queen and kittens? If you met the kittens parents, did they have any tear stains?
At his age, he could be teething which can do all sorts of stuff. I have a little Papillon dog who had some tearing as a puppy during her baby years and teething especially. She grew into an adult, and the tear stains went away. I did change her diet a little bit.
I've found giving them filtered water vs. tap water can help tear stains in some individual pets, but not all.
I've had a 50/50 success rate in adding a probiotic to their food. For some, it helps and for others it does nothing.

It could be structural, but as others said, his eyes look very clean to me and I see no cause for concern. Just keep the area clean, and remember to follow up with a dry soft cloth to keep any moisture out of the area. And enjoy him!!!

 

[Chold]

Hi, welcome!
What a handsome boy I looked at your photo, and honestly he looks remarkably clean. His fur around his eyes isn't gunked up or oily, and hardly wet. There's a little dark coloring that's part of the two stripes on his face, but otherwise I really don't think it's something to be concerned about - especially since he doesn't like the process.

Anyway, just a note to be sure to let him have as much as he wants to eat until he's at least a year old, to help him fuel all the growth that's going on

I agree with the others C Chold , he is gorgeous!
What are you feeding this kitten, and what did the breeder feed the queen and kittens? If you met the kittens parents, did they have any tear stains?
At his age, he could be teething which can do all sorts of stuff. I have a little Papillon dog who had some tearing as a puppy during her baby years and teething especially. She grew into an adult, and the tear stains went away. I did change her diet a little bit.
I've found giving them filtered water vs. tap water can help tear stains in some individual pets, but not all.
I've had a 50/50 success rate in adding a probiotic to their food. For some, it helps and for others it does nothing.

It could be structural, but as others said, his eyes look very clean to me and I see no cause for concern. Just keep the area clean, and remember to follow up with a dry soft cloth to keep any moisture out of the area. And enjoy him!!!

Hello! The breeder was feeding him Royal Canin mother and kitten dry food. We started him on RC dry kitten food since the packaging advised it based on his age. He’s definitely been eating more than the first couple days of brining him home. Serving suggestion is 3/4 cup for his age/weight and I’d say he eats just under that each day now.
Funny enough, we do provide filtered water for him to drink!

I didn’t meet the parents but the breeder did say she cleans all the cats eyes everyday.

great point about the teething. Hadn’t thought of that! I will ask the vet for recommendations on a probiotic at our next visit as well. Thank you!

 

[Furballsmom]

You might consider adding RC canned food for kittens for him. I'm actually giving that, along with other brands to my adult orange marmalade boy

Filtered water is great

 

[posiepurrs]

“Our vet suggested a cotton round or warm washcloth. She told us not to use Eye Envy but I know others use it with success.” Did your vet give a reason not to use Eye Envy? I have used the refrigerated type for years and had no problems.
Original poster: Your boy looks fine. Please use a make up pad or cotton wash cloth to clean though- less chance of fiber getting in those beautiful eyes.

 

[Chold]

“Our vet suggested a cotton round or warm washcloth. She told us not to use Eye Envy but I know others use it with success.” Did your vet give a reason not to use Eye Envy? I have used the refrigerated type for years and had no problems.
Original poster: Your boy looks fine. Please use a make up pad or cotton wash cloth to clean though- less chance of fiber getting in those beautiful eyes.

thanks for everyone’s input. It still looks like there’s junk under the fur in that crease, but we have a vet appointment next week and plan to have her look.

in the meantime, I’m struggling with removing these firm but gooey spots around his top inner eyelid. I’ve tried wetting it using a cloth and a lint free makeup pad to no avail.
I finally was able to use my finger nail to gently roll it out but it was so difficult and it did pull some of his fur out. All of the videos I’ve seen make it look like everything just comes off easily.


What am I doing wrong? Are my expectations too high? Should I am for 80% clean? Maybe I need to clean 3x a day?

 

[Chold]

Photo of the gooey but firm gunk that keeps accumulating on his top eyelid

 

[Furballsmom]

Hang on to that, I'd talk to the vet about it, actually.

 

[iPappy]

thanks for everyone’s input. It still looks like there’s junk under the fur in that crease, but we have a vet appointment next week and plan to have her look.

in the meantime, I’m struggling with removing these firm but gooey spots around his top inner eyelid. I’ve tried wetting it using a cloth and a lint free makeup pad to no avail.
I finally was able to use my finger nail to gently roll it out but it was so difficult and it did pull some of his fur out. All of the videos I’ve seen make it look like everything just comes off easily.


What am I doing wrong? Are my expectations too high? Should I am for 80% clean? Maybe I need to clean 3x a day?

Have you talked to the breeder in depth about this? They might have some tips for you.
Right now I'd keep it as clean as possible. Is it all in the actual crease? If not, you could use a flea comb to gently work the gunkiness away.

 

[Chold]

Hang on to that, I'd talk to the vet about it, actually.

Great idea! Luckily, I was able to somehow fish it out of the garbage can!

 

[Chold]

Have you talked to the breeder in depth about this? They might have some tips for you.
Right now I'd keep it as clean as possible. Is it all in the actual crease? If not, you could use a flea comb to gently work the gunkiness away.

I just wanted to thank you times a million! I have a super close fine tooth comb (but I ordered a flea comb) and used it in his crease. It took the gunk right out and it looks SOO much better!
I’m sure the flea comb will deliver even better results.

Thank you to everyone in this group for sharing their knowledge with a newbie!

 

[iPappy]

I just wanted to thank you times a million! I have a super close fine tooth comb (but I ordered a flea comb) and used it in his crease. It took the gunk right out and it looks SOO much better!
I’m sure the flea comb will deliver even better results.

Thank you to everyone in this group for sharing their knowledge with a newbie!

You are so welcome! I'm glad the fine tooth comb helped

 

[Furballsmom]

It took the gunk right out and it looks SOO much better!

He likely feels better for it - good for you! (I don't think I was looking at the right area, honestly lol)

 

[neely]

Did your vet give a reason not to use Eye Envy?

Sorry, I hadn't come back to this thread so forgot to reply to your question. Honestly, it was our first Persian which was approx. 30 years ago so I don't even recall if she gave me a reason. I just remember her telling me not to use it. I'm sure a lot has changed since then and I'll be curious to ask our present vet or groomer the next time I go.

 

[posiepurrs]

Sorry, I hadn't come back to this thread so forgot to reply to your question. Honestly, it was our first Persian which was approx. 30 years ago so I don't even recall if she gave me a reason. I just remember her telling me not to use it. I'm sure a lot has changed since then and I'll be curious to ask our present vet or groomer the next time I go.

It could have been because years ago both Eye Envy and other stain products contained an antibiotic (tylosin in if I recall). No sense in using an antibiotic unless it is needed. It has been removed from the formula.

 

[iPappy]

It could have been because years ago both Eye Envy and other stain products contained an antibiotic (tylosin in if I recall). No sense in using an antibiotic unless it is needed. It has been removed from the formula.

There was a product called Angel's Eyes for dogs that had the same problem. The antibiotics were removed from the product as well.