Plugged tear ducts - Time to switch food?

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

Oscar had his neuter surgery today and while he was under anesthesia the vet also flushed his tear ducts. Later the vet told me his ducts had been completely plugged as it took quite an effort to unplug them. He's put Oscar on special eye drops (Neo/Poly/Dex Opthalmic Solution). He didn't indicate a possible cause, and the flushing may only be a temporary fix (actually, I see new runs below Oscar's eyes now, so it doesn't appear to have remedied it in the short term, either). Oscar has had a very profuse and ongoing problem with eye seepage since we first brought him home at 7-1/2 weeks. Vet has always told me it isn't an eye infection. The breeder had him on Taste of the Wild, (the bison formula... not sure of the name). I transitioned him to Fromm's Game Bird, with about 1/4 Chicken a la Veg mixed in. No change in his eyes with the change. The research I've done online indicates his plugged tear ducts could be an allergy (or heredity or an infection). Do you think switching Oscar to a different protein source would be a good idea? I've ordered Acana's lamb formula (single protein) and figure it won't hurt to switch him over and see if things improve. I've also ordered an Eyebright eyewash formula that gets rave reviews all over the net (its made by Halo).... another thing to try that can't hurt. Any ideas about this plan?

[Ronna, Murphy & Wilson]

Hi Debb, just saw this discussion. Murphy has same issues. I do not think it is food related at all. If unplugging them didn't help it is most likely an environmental allergy (if it is allergy at all ). Out vet suggested we try Claritin and see if it helped. It did not. Murphy's eyes are very round, not oval, and I can see his tears spill over his bottom lid. The vet flushed his eyes once and did not believe they were plugged. The vet had never indicated this could be food related .

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I've read just about everything I could find on allergies in dogs, and have never seen anything about plugged tear ducts being related to allergies. But even if it was related to allergies, it wouldn't be related to food. I know that people relate allergies to food, but in fact, 90% of all allergies have nothing to do with food. And Oscar is probably too young to have developed an allergy to anything, food or otherwise. Certainly, at 7.5 weeks, it would not have been possible for him to have any kind of allergy, so the tear duct problem sounds genetic to me, or at least, not related to food or allergies. If his digestive tract is in good shaope and there are no stomach or stool issues, I suppose it doesn;t hurt to switch his food, although I'm not a fan of a lot of food changes for puppies.

I would try the eyedrops the vet prescribed and give them a chance to work. I would absolutely not use any other kind of eye wash or drops while he is on the NeoPolyDEx drops, so I would wait to order anything until you see if these drops help.

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

Definitely, I'll wait before using anything else on Oscar's eyes. Vet said Oscar may grow out of it eventually, and I'm hopeful that's what happens (if  the drops don't work). Oscar has been sneezing a lot since the procedure yesterday (usually when he goes outside for potty, he'll be sneezing like crazy). Before I call the vet about it I'll give it a day or 2. Maybe with having had his ducts flushed the drainage into the nose is new to him or bothersome. Or maybe its the drops causing him to sneeze. It does start up around about the time the drops go in. Someone posted recently in the Puppy Madness group that their puppy's eyes cleared up after switching to Orijen. Since Oscar has always had perfect poos (unlike a certain big sis of his) and has NEVER said 'no' to ANYTHING edible, (or inedible, for that matter!) I figured it wouldn't hurt to try changing his food. Thanks.

[Ronna, Murphy & Wilson]

The eye bright will only clean the year stains, it will fix the problem.

[Ronna, Murphy & Wilson]

Damn phone. Tear stains. Not fix problem. Sorry.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I am not an expert on this at all, but I thought the tear duct/ runny eye problem was a genetic poodle trait that some of our doodles inherited?