Why Some Pets Have or Show More Tear Staining Tearstains are typically the result of porphyrins. Porphyrins are naturally occurring molecules containing iron – waste products from the breakdown of red blood cells -- and are mostly removed from the body in the usual way (in poop). However, in dogs and cats, porphyrin can also be excreted through tears, saliva, and urine. When tears and saliva containing porphyrins sit on light-colored fur for any period of time, staining will occur. And if it seems your pet’s tearstains are worse after he’s been outside, you’re not imagining things. The iron-containing stains do indeed darken when exposed to sunlight. Now, if the stains are more of a brown color than rust colored, it’s likely your pet has developed a yeast infection on her face because the fur under her eyes is constantly wet with tears. Brown stains from a yeast infection are different from red staining caused by porphyrins. This can be important to know if you’re trying to resolve brown stains with a product intended for red stains, or vice versa. Yeast infections are also odiferous, so if your pet’s face smells, think yeast. Pets can also have both a porphyrin stained face and a secondary yeast infection from the constantly moist skin. To confuse matters further, currently, we can only guess at why some dogs make more porphyrin than others (and therefore have more tear staining). We can assume genetics and innate bacterial levels are involved, because certain breeds and lineages can be more prone to staining. But I have seen excessive porphyrin production in incredibly healthy animals eating a clean diet of organic, fresh food with no environmental toxin exposure (including vaccines). And I have seen the same amount of porphyrins in very unhealthy animals that I know are eating toxic food and living in toxic environments.
Posted on: Fri, 19 Dec 2014 18:31:55 +0000
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