If you own a maltese dog you may have found that with the Maltese breed it is common for them to have tear stains. You may also be searching for the best way of cleaning maltese tear stains to keep their faces white and clean. Cleaning maltese tear stains can be very frustrating if you are using a method that does not work or if you are trying a method that may possibly harm your precious pet.

When I got my first maltese puppy I was constantly looking for ways to clean up or prevent the Maltese eye stain. I had heard that there were many different eye stain treatments available to help prevent tear staining, however there were many treatments that were harmful to my dog and I wanted to be sure I was using an effective and safe method on my precious pet.

In this article I will share with you 5 treatments that are commonly discussed as solutions to cleaning maltese tear stains.

The first 4 treatments are ones that I DO NOT recommend.

The 5th and last treatment I discuss is the one that I have found to be the safest, easiest and most effective treatment and it is the one I use on my own maltese dogs.

4 maltese eye stain treatments to avoid:

Treatment 1 - Tetracycline is a ten day course of treatment that your veterinarian will prescribe and may well need to be repeated a second time to be effective. If used on puppies it can cause their teeth to be stained yellow permanently before they have even grown.

Treatment 2 - Delta AlbaPlex is an antibiotic similar to tetracycline but contains very low amounts of steroid in it as well. This will only be prescribed by a veterinarian eye specialist. The steroid within the product helps to reduce and remove inflammation which may be result in the excessive tearing which is causing the staining. This treatment will need to be used for some time before the benefits show.

Treatment 3 - Ak-Trol is an eye drop medication which is prescribed for people to use and contains neomycin, polymyxin B and dexamethasone.

Treatment 4 - Flagyl is an anti diarrhea medication that the vet will prescribe for treating yeast or giradia infections in a dog. However the metronidazole that it contains has also found to be effective in helping to treat tear stains, especially if the problem has because there has been an excessive growth of red yeast in the animal. This particular medication takes around a two week period for the desired results to be achieved.

My favorite solution (after trying numerous options for removing tear stains):

Treatment 5 - A special powder that is sprinkled on my dog's food. This is an internal treatment that works from the inside out. I don't have to apply ointments or solutions and this makes it easy to do. It is an all natural powder that I simply add to my dog's food. For my maltese it helped to cure the problem of maltese eye stain very quickly and has continued to work over the long term. I liked that it was safe for puppies and pregnant dogs. It contains only natural ingredients so it is unlikely to cause any unwanted side effects in your dog compared to some of the other treatments I mentioned above.

What do I like about this method? I saw results very quickly. I did not need to get a prescription from the veterinarian - however he does approve of this product. It is so easy to use. I don't have to apply any solutions or ointments to my dog. This treatment works from the inside out so it stops the problem from where it is starting. The ingredients are all natural and my Maltese love the taste. Bottom Line? This powder really works for my maltese. It just might help you battle your dog tears stains too.