How to Clean Up Those Pesky Morkie Dog Tear Stains

Morkie Eye Tear Stains and Discharge

If you’re worried about those tear stains beneath your Morkie’s eyes, it’s understandable. It’s noticeable when little bits of goo stick to their soft fur and make a rust-colored stain. Morkies and other pups often experience eye boogers. So, where does the eye discharge come from? What are those stains?

A lot of different things can cause those tear stains. You shouldn’t worry right away if your dog struggles with eye drainage. Some things are very simple and stress-free. For example, sometimes a dog may have shallow eye sockets, and that may be the reason tear stains appear. Shallow eye sockets don’t cause any risk or harm to your dog. However, dog eye infections, which can be more serious, can also be the cause of excessive eye drainage. Small dog breeds with smaller bodies and faces like Morkies are prone to this. Occasionally, a dog‘s eyelids can flip inward, and their eyelashes will irritate their eyes, possibly even scratching their cornea. If your dog has issues with their eyelids, it’s a more serious situation and not an extraordinary circumstance, but thankfully there is a way to help them.

This article will cover why eye tear stains happen and how serious this health condition is. You should have a fuller understanding of dog allergies and cleaning methods to care for your Morkie with tear stains.

Morkie Eye Tear Stains and Discharge Explained

For a dog breed like the Morkie, eye discharge causing tear stains is common. In fact, some dogs genetically have smaller eye sockets, and the Maltese are one of those breeds. Since the Morkie breed is a mix of the Maltese and another small breed, the Yorkie, it’s understandable that Morkies often experience this trait as well.

Maltese are more likely to have tear drainage issues because they genetically have smaller eye sockets. Any mixed breed or Maltese will have the possibility of inheriting this issue. Thus, Morkies will be subject to the same fate.

The eye discharge in Morkies is often because of smaller eye sockets. You can’t do anything to really correct small eye sockets. You can’t get surgery to change eye sockets or prevent eye tear stains from happening. You can absolutely try your best to clean them, though! Some people use supplements of homemade mixtures to help clean the area around the eye where the discharge is, but we’ll get more into that detail later.

Eye tear stains and discharge is related to a lot of other health conditions, too. Shallow eye sockets, excess hair growth around the eyes, blocked tear ducts (also called puncta), and a displaced eye lens can all be health conditions that cause excessive tear drainage. These excess tears leave stains on a dog‘s face that are referred to as ‘poodle eyes.’

The other causes of tear stains can be eyelids that are turned inwards, conjunctivitis, glaucoma, allergens, or an irritated cornea.

As you can see, some of the health conditions causing excessive eye discharge can be pretty severe to a dog‘s health. It’s essential to understand the cause of your dog‘s tear stains problems before trying to fix them.

Causes of Dog Tear Stains and Discharge in Morkies

Morkie pups are predisposed to eye stains because of their relation to the Maltese breed. Maltese genetically have smaller eye sockets, often leading to excessive tears and drainage as well as discolored and hardened fur.

The lighter a dog‘s fur, the easier it is for the pigment in tears to dye a dog‘s coat. Also, dog breeds that often have longer hair, especially around the eyes, are more likely to have eye drainage issues because of constant irritation to their eyes. Many dog breeds that have short noses are more likely to have shallow eye sockets, which also makes them more susceptible to having eye tear stains. Morkies tend to have long fur, short noses, and shallow eye sockets. That’s why this breed suffers from tear stains more than other breeds.

Eye diseases and other disorders could also be the cause of the excess of tears. If eyelashes are growing abnormally, this may cause irritation. Some eyelids can be flipped inward, causing eyelashes to irritate the inside of the eyelid. When the eyelid is flipped inward, it’s called entropion. In contrast, some eyelids can be very droopy and expose much more of the eye than they should. An eyelid that is droopy is called ectropion. During ectropion, debris can get stuck in the eyelid, causing a lot of discomfort and drainage.

If there is an abnormal amount of pressure in the eye, glaucoma may be present. The lens in the eye may also be displaced, which also causes overly watery eyes. Glaucoma can lead to vision abnormalities. If you think glaucoma is what’s wrong with your Morkies eyes, talk to your vet for treatment option.

A lot of variables can be present that make Morkies predisposed to having eye health deficiencies. Other variables include their environment and overall health. Environmental factors contributing to tear stains would be anything that may cause irritation to the eyes. This includes smoke, dust, and other allergens present in the air. Some other environmental factors that contribute to tear stains can be things like allergies to their diets. Breeds predisposed to cornea ulcers are also more likely to have this issue. Smaller dog breeds are also more likely to get infections or sicknesses from a variety of foods.

As stated earlier, if hair grows too close to a dog‘s eye, they are going to have drainage issues as well. Dog‘s eyes are similar to human eyes because when something gets stuck in their eye, the body reacts by producing tears. The goal is to remove whatever irritation is present in the eye by flooding it out. However, when a dog‘s issue is its own fur, the flooding out theory doesn’t really work.

How Dog Eye Tear Stains and Discharge Affect Your Morkie

A Morkie’s life will be impacted differently depending on the cause of their eye tear stains. For causes such as shallow tear ducks, allergies, or long hair irritating the eyes, a dog‘s life is not severely impacted. It can be quite easy to groom a dog, remove certain allergens, or simply wash a dog‘s face more often in an attempt to remove the tear stains from a dog‘s face. No other action is really needed.

In more serious cases like glaucoma, conjunctivitis, and scratched corneas, dogs may become blind. Some vets can help provide relief through medication, treatment, or surgery, but if situations like these are left untreated dogs can have severely limited sight or become blind.

Because of the wide range of prognoses for dogs with eye drainage issues, it’s very important to get your dog checked regularly with its vet to make sure you are aware of its eye health.

If left without treatment and diagnosis, a dog can lose part of its sight if not all of it. While people and vets do still try to treat dogs with glaucoma, there is no true cure for it. If a dog has a flipped eyelid with its eyelashes irritating its eyeball, this could also lead to scratched corneas or blindness. Ulcers may appear if a dog’s eye health is not kept checked up. However, surgery and a variety of treatment options are available for dogs with eyelid and cornea issues.

Life Expectancy of a Morkie With Eye Tear Stains and Discharge

Morkies on average live about 11 years. A morkie’s life expectancy will not be limited because of optic health issues. Also, because dogs have such strong senses of smell and hearing, limited vision does not greatly affect a dog‘s life.

Things will absolutely change for a dog losing its vision, but it will likely be able to adapt and function to loss of vision. A dog‘s life expectancy will not be limited at all because of eye tear stain issues.

Signs Your Morkie Might Have Eye Tear Stains and Discharge

If your Morkie continually has liquid running out of its eye and excessive tears, this is a sign it has eye discharge issues. Simply look at your dog‘s face and check the fur around the eye for discoloration. If you have a light-colored Morkie, a change in the color of fur will be more noticeable. If you have a dark-colored Morkie, it will not be so easy to tell. Also, a vet may tell you your dog have drainage issues based on evidence on their face or genetic predisposition.

Watch out for fur discoloration, a dog who often itches his eyes, or if the fur on a dog‘s face is constantly in its eyes. If red or brown stains lie right under your dog‘s eyes it is likely they have eye discharge.

In order to understand the severity of the health condition, dog owners should be watchful. If your Morkie ever has eye discharge that is green, yellow, or discolored in a concerning way, call your vet and set up an appointment as soon as possible.

The progression of this health condition all depends on the severity of the issue causing eye stains. Eye stains from lesser issues can be cleaned more often and made to disappear. If the condition is from an allergy, removing that allergy should calm the eye discharge.

As stated earlier, if the dog has serious occipital health issues, this condition may progress into loss of sight or complete blindness. The best way to understand the progression of your dog‘s eye discharge is by going to the vet. Understand the cause behind the eye tear stains and you will have a more complete understanding of the progression of the condition.

How to Care For and Treat Morkies with Eye Tear Stains and Discharge

With smaller dogs, a lot of things can affect their overall health. Some say even something as minute as tap water may affect tear stains in Morkies. Tap water quality varies across the United States which means different minerals and chemicals may be present. High mineral counts in tap water can lead to eye drainage.

In some food, artificial coloring, flavoring, and preservatives may cause dog breeds like the Morkie to have stomach issues as well as skin and eye issues. This makes them more at risk of having eye stain problems.

Thankfully, for issues such as these, changes in their diets may rid them of their eye stains altogether.

While it is not scientifically proven that any ingredients may cure dogs of their vision issues, some foods are thought to help make eyes stronger and healthier.

Some foods like salmon oil, white fish, peas, and potatoes are known to be good for dogs and their overall eye health. Ingredients like omega-6 fatty acids, vitamin E, and pumpkin are also known to be beneficial. Some dog foods target ingredients like this to provide optimum health benefits.

It is important to note that if your dog suffers from a more severe disease, such as conjunctivitis or glaucoma, food will not be able to affect the symptoms or progression of these eye tear stains.

Always go to regular vet check-ups to make sure a dog‘s eye health is up to date. Vets will be able to notice conditions like glaucoma, conjunctivitis, or puncta much better than owners will.

At home, you can help your dog reduce the likelihood of tear stains by washing your pup’s face more often and keeping up with a dog‘s grooming.

There are a few special cleaning products some owners use to help dogs with eye tear stains and drainage issues. Some are homemade mixtures of household products. You can also try to minimize skin irritation around the face and eyes. Some commercial cleaners make products for eye tear stains that are antibiotic-free. A lot of tear stain cleaning products vary in reviews. They differentiate from being successful in removing the tear stains to not affecting the dog in any way.

Depending on the severity of eye issues, multiple treatment options may be available.

For treatments concerning small eye sockets, your best bet is to apply ointment to the affected areas or to clean your dog‘s face more often. If your dog‘s eye tear stains are caused by irritation or allergens, consider getting eye drops specifically for your dog. Sometimes changing a dog‘s diet may help make sure no allergens are affecting their overall health.

If your dog has an inward-turned eyelid or an affected cornea, it’s important to ask your vet about care and treatment options available for your pup. Surgery may be an option to help permanently fix your dog‘s eye issues.

Sadly, for issues concerning glaucoma, there are no official cures.

How to Help Your Morkie Live a Fulfilling Life with Eye Tear Stains and Discharge

In order to help your dog with eye tear stains live its best possible life, make sure you know any allergies or irritations your dog may be experiencing. Always take your dog to its regular vet appointments and make sure nothing serious has developed in their eyes. If you’re having trouble figuring out the cause of your Morkies eye discharge, consult your vet. They can help you understand the causes and the next steps you can take.

If you want to know how to better clean these tear stains away, there are a few different ways you can try. Some owners make cleaning soaps at home. They occasionally use things like apple cider vinegar and hydrogen peroxide in a mix that helps clean the eye stain. By making their at-home mixtures, they carefully use a cotton ball to clean the ocular discharge of its excess tears.

Hydrogen peroxide is great for cleaning dog eye discharge as it cleans the stains while getting rid of any bacteria. When this mixture is used it is in a controlled manner in a water-peroxide mix. The ratio is 10 parts water to 1 part hydrogen peroxide. Using a cotton ball to carefully clean the eye is advised but extreme caution must be exercised as these are harsh chemicals that may cause the eyes to burn if contact is made. If you ever try this and are nervous about harsh contact, keep a bowl of clean water nearby and be careful to rinse your dogs eyes.

The apple cider vinegar mixture uses a similar method. This liquid is also a natural bacteria killer and can help to remove any stains. Take one teaspoon of apple cider vinegar and use a cotton ball to carefully dab the affected area. Clean a dog‘s face regularly in an attempt to lighten the dog‘s eye discharge to keep up with maintenance.

Feed your dog food it loves while simultaneously making sure you are providing health supplements and treats your pup loves. Also, make sure you exercise your dog regularly; a dog with eye issues still has the same amount of energy, and they would love nothing more than to spend that energy running around with their best friend.