Why do cats have tear stains? How to properly treat and prevent tear stains?

A, the formation of tear marks in cats

Tear stains caused by diet.

It can be said that food has less influence on the formation of tear marks in cats, but if cats are fed heavy flavored, high starch, high added low quality cat food for a long time, they will still have metabolic problems. Cats whose ancestors are desert animals are not water lovers themselves, and feeding them food with too heavy a taste may (note that it is possible) make the cat, which is prone to dehydration, develop tear marks and lose more water.

Tear stains caused by ill health.

1. Eye diseases

2. Eyelid entropion (inverted eyelashes)

3. Blockage of nasolacrimal duct (this is caused by inflammation and swelling of the nasolacrimal duct due to infection, which can cause complete or incomplete blockage of the entire duct, tears can not be discharged normally through the nasolacrimal duct, naturally overflowing a lot of tears, resulting in tear stains.)

4. Ear canal infection (When the ears are swollen, scratchy or painful, or when the ear canal is infected by bacteria, germs, fungi, molds or parasites, it can cause the cat to scratch its ears frequently with its hind feet. Once the pain persists, a constant stream of tears will be produced and too many tears will not be discharged from the nasolacrimal duct, but will flow out from the corner of the eye near the nose side. (Over time, brownish-red tear stains may form and turn into visible tear stains, which may also lead to eye diseases if left untreated for a long time.)

Breeds and causes of genetic diseases in cats.

The flatter the face of special breeds of cats, such as Persian, Garfield (Iso-short), Silver Gradient, Fold, Chinchilla, British Short, etc., the flatter the face the more likely it is to produce tear marks (the so-called short-nosed cats). This is because breed cats with this shape have a larger nasolacrimal duct curvature and a limited amount of tears discharged, which can easily lead to an imbalance in the rate of tear production and discharge. Even with a normal amount of tear production, such a cat's face sometimes cannot be loaded, and over a long period of time will result in pastey tear marks on the cat's face. In addition, there is a congenital genetic disorder called primary tear excess, which can make cats overproduce tears and can also cause tear stains.

Other：

However, kittens with tear stains can slowly heal themselves as they grow older and develop physically, so you can not worry too much and pay attention to distinguish them from tear stains caused by diseases. In addition, some dusty, low-quality cat litter may also lead to excessive secretion of tears or even cause infection, which is also something that needs attention.

Second, tear marks treatment methods.

Method 1: Wipe with water

If your cat has just started to develop tear stains and the symptoms are mild, it is recommended to wipe the tear stain area with a wet wipe moistened with water every day and observe the changes in the tear stain symptoms, as long as they do not get worse, you can remove the mild tear stains in 1~2 weeks.

Method 2: Use special wipes for tear stains

There are now many tear stain wipes for cats on the market, which are a "lifesaver" for cats with frequent tear stains. For example, Garfield, Chinchilla and Persian cats are prone to tear stains for a long time and cannot be cured, so they have to be wiped with tear stain wipes regularly.

Method 3: Toothbrush cleaning

Squeeze Vaseline onto a toothbrush and gently brush the area of your cat's tear stains. Vaseline is useful because it allows the tears to evaporate on their own before they contaminate the fur. However, if the tear stains are particularly severe it will take a long time.

Method 4: Dressing cleaning

If the tear marks are more serious, very firm, and there are signs of yellowing, you can prepare starch and boric acid powder, 1 add the right amount of water, 1:1 mixed into a paste, put on the cat tear marks area, natural drying can be removed after the tear marks

Third, tear marks prevention methods.

1. Pay attention to the daily diet, reduce the use of cat food with high starch content and use grain-free cat food.

2, do a good job every day in the cat's health care. Cat eyes will have new secretions every day, do not pay attention to will slowly accumulate and become tear stains, so the owner should often clean eye dirt, while often check whether the cat's ears are clean. Regularly clean the eye eye dirt, you can use petzzle eye and ear cleaning wipes.

3, pay attention to diligent cleaning hygiene. Environmental health also needs the owner's attention, after all, some dust, bacteria, etc. will also affect the cat's eyes, the owner usually pay attention to diligent cleaning, pay attention to wipe the place where the cat often goes, and cat items should also be regularly cleaned and replaced, choose high-quality cat litter, such as petzzle tofu cat litter, clean the cat litter box on time, etc.

4. Full vaccination, pay attention to the observation of the eye state, check the cat's body lesions caused by tear marks is more troublesome, send to the doctor for examination is the first choice, the follow-up treatment should follow the medical advice.