Tear stains disappeared after eye discharge.

Hello. I have a 5-year-old, male, Maltese. He has had tear stains his entire life until last month when he had a white eye discharge that would harden. I brought him to the vet, and they said it was the usual eye gunk. His tear stains have recently disappeared, and I'm afraid he's producing enough tears. I brought him to a different vet, and they said it was because his hair was irritating his eyes, so they shaved the hair off his face. His tear marks have not returned since then. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks. Images:

Hello!   It sounds as though there was an ocular discharge that stained your wee boy's fur brown.  This is not unusual and saliva has a similar effect, in those white dogs who persistently lick their feet, for example.  However, in this case it sounds as thought you know that it was coming from the eye.  Indeed,  in some cases curly hairs do grow into the eyes and tickle the surface of the eyeball, which unsurprisingly can make them uncomfortable and run and even predispose to infection at times.  It sounds as though cutting the hairs has helped to stop this - but beware of the hairs growing back and tickling the eyeball again, because that is quite common.  You mentioned that you were worried that your little one wasn't producing enough tears - your vet can check this using something called a schirmer tear-test.  Tears are not meant to continually overflow and the previous overflow may have an ongoing effect of the hairs tickling the eyeballs.  However, eyes do need to be comfortable and well protected by a good film which will help to prevent a dog from getting ulcers, for example.   Usually vets ask to see patients again for a follow-up, and we would always recommend a check-up and discussion if it has been advised.

Looking at the pictures, it is possible that your wee one is also a foot-licker and this is something else to have a chat with your vet about.  We recommend having just one vet and revisiting them if things aren't going as expected;  a prescribing vet can't investigate treatment that isn't going as expected  (e.g. by changing the treatment, updating possible diagnosis list), if there is no follow-up.

My dog has the same problem and I didn't know how to solve, thank you Liz