Hello everyone, snail noodles When I was shopping at Xbao to buy things for my master recently, I came across a confusion:
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snail noodles use "cat I did some rough statistics on keywords such as "tear mark" and found that products that solve this problem can have a market share of 60-70 million a year.
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It turns out that the problem of tear stains is so common.
However, the situation in foreign markets shows that tear stain removal products are a high incidence area of antibiotic abuse. In 2014 alone, 5 brands were warned by FDA and required to make rectifications.
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So, as consumers, what should we do when encountering the tear stain problem? Can erythromycin eye ointment really cure everything ?
Today, please join Luosifen to take a look at the cat’s tear stain problem.
1. What are tear stains that need attention?
Regarding the tear stain problem, we must first know what is normal and what is abnormal.
Normal situation
Under normal circumstances, the eye area of a healthy kitten is relatively clean.
Please refer to Mr. Che’s handsome side face
Picture from: Cat Research Institute/Crazy Che Che
A small amount of dry brown secretion as shown below is not tear stains and is normal.
Picture from: "Cat Family Medicine Encyclopedia"
In this case, just wipe it clean with a paper towel or cotton pad dipped in a little water. Be careful not to dig directly with your nails, as it can easily scratch the owner.
Abnormal eye conditions
So what are the abnormal conditions?
These are the "tear stains" that need to be paid attention to
➤ There is long-term dirt around the eyes Large areas of dirt
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➤ There are obvious tear marks
tear marks
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➤ Yellow or green yellow or green discharge around the eyesMucus or watery discharge
Brown eye discharge
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➤ Redness and swelling around the eyes, with or without watery discharge
Causes of tear stains
Tear stains in cats are mostly caused by abnormal tears or other secretions accumulating on the hair around the eyes, leading to the proliferation of bacteria around the eyes, resulting in inflammation and coloration.
Kittens will not cry because of emotions. The accumulation of tears is usually divided into the following two situations:
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Excess secretion of lacrimal glands is mostly caused by reflex tears caused by pain and stimulation.
If any section of the tear duct is blocked (such as a cat's tear point, tear canaliculus is blocked due to herpes infection), it will also cause tears to accumulate in the tear trough and cause tear stains.
Picture from: konekono-heya/Daniel Guimaraes
So, how to deal with the problem of tear stains?
2. What should I do if I encounter tear stain problem?
When Luosifeng was surfing the Internet, I saw on a certain platform that whenever someone encounters a problem with tear stains, they will blindly ask the owner to use erythromycin eye ointment.
But let’s talk about some popular knowledge. Erythromycin is also an antibiotic . Antibiotics cannot be used indiscriminately, let alone used to treat tear stains for a long time.
Then, what should you do if you encounter the tear stain problem?
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The first step: eliminate foreign matter
For the tear stain problem, the shit shovel officer can start with the simplest foreign matter problem at home:
➤ Are there foreign objects in the kitten’s eyes, canthus and sclera? Such as dust, hair, gravel, grass blades, soot, etc.
If there is foreign matter, it can be flushed out with normal saline or artificial tear drops.
The second step: rule out diseases
This step requires parents to take the kitten to pet hospital to complete.
➤ The doctor will use eye examinations such as slit lamp, Schirmer tear secretion test (put test paper under the cat's eyes to see if the amount of tears is normal), fluorescent staining (to see the type of eye bacterial infection, see if there are ulcers in the eyes, and whether the nasolacrimal duct is unobstructed) to confirm whether the kitten has eye diseases and eye structural abnormalities.
➤ In addition to eye diseases, other diseases that may cause tear stains need to be ruled out in the hospital (such as herpes, food allergies, and eye structural abnormalities such as inverted eyelashes and entropion of the eye and face).
Diagnosis process of eye diseases
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Only when foreign bodies and diseases are eliminated first, daily maintenance will not be in vain.
The third step: daily maintenance
has ruled out the influence of disease and foreign matter, and there are still some issues that need to be paid attention to in daily maintenance.
➤ If the copper content in the food is too high, or there are food allergies or food intolerances, it can also cause tear stains in kittens. If you cry every time you eat, you may want to consider changing your food.
➤ For some kittens with brachycephalic and flat faces, the natural facial bone structure results in a small space for the nasolacrimal duct, which is very easy to be blocked.
But no matter what the reason is, the tear stain problem can never escape the issue of cleaning.
Step 4: Daily cleaning
If the tear stains are not cleaned for a long time, it may lead to further infection of the kitten's eyes or more serious skin diseases around the eyes.
So what do we need to pay attention to when cleaning kittens on a daily basis?
A little digression
Before writing this part of daily processing, Luosifeng went to intensively search for commonly used tear stain products, and then came back with the expression of an old man looking at his mobile phone on the subway with regret.
I don’t think it is very reliable.
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Picture from: google
In 2017, the FDA once again warned a certain best-selling brand for illegally adding tylosin tartrate. The original text was quite funny (citation 1). The FDA said that you wrote in the advertisement that "tear stains completely disappear in just a few weeks." However, the result was that you used an antibiotic that we have repeatedly warned not to use. Your product does not comply with the following act balabala.
This problem of adding antibiotics to tear stain removal products has been repeatedly banned.Overuse of antibiotics may lead to resistance in kittens. There is really no need to harm kittens just for aesthetic reasons.
Based on the principle of "not for the sake of appearance, choose products that may harm kittens", Luosifeng recommends that during daily cleaning:
is not particularly recommended
➤ Luosifeng looks like some bloggers will teach you to clean with boric acid. Although boric acid is also used in professional cleaning products, and the effect is indeed very good, you should also note that boric acid is irritating, and you should pay attention to safety when using it around the eyes.
➤ does not recommend that you buy pet wipes that comply with the implementation standard of GB/T 27728.
➤ If it is not absolutely necessary, it is not recommended that you choose various pet tear stain removal products for internal and external use.
It is recommended to use
➤ Snail powder is more recommended to directly use cotton dipped in light salt water (0.9% and below normal saline) or a small amount of pet shower gel to scrub back and forth, and finally use a dry paper towel to absorb the water.
➤ If you are a lazy scrapper, you can buy baby wipes that comply with the GB 15979 disposable sanitary products hygiene standard .
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Well, the problem of small and big tear stains ends here. All you poop removers can share your experience in treating tear stains on cats in the comment area to help more friends who are troubled by tear stains.
[Director interaction in this issue]
Does your cat have tear stains?
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Reference:
[1]https://www.fda.gov/inspe ctions-compliance-enforcement-and-criminal-investigations/warning-letters/ocubright-tear-stain-remover-inc-523344-05162017
[2]Spiess, Bernhard M. "Ophthalmic diagnostic & therapeutic guidelines for the veterinary practitioner. Part 1." VETMED 21.3 (2008): 7-9.
[3]Hartley, Claudia. "Nasolacrimal Disease in Dogs and Cats: Causes and Diagnosis." Vet Times (2013).
[4] National Standard of the People's Republic of China GB/T 27728-2011 Wet wipes
[5]National Standard of the People's Republic of China GB 15979-2002 Hygienic standards for disposable sanitary products
[6] https://allaboutcats.com/erythromycin-for-cats
Editor in charge: LNS
This article is original by the Cat Research Institute, and any reprint is prohibited
