Eye Crusties - Weather or Food?

My lab, Niko, 1 year old, used to get a lot of eye crusties/buggers.  I used to clean him at least three times a day.  He didn't get just the dry types but also the wet ones.  It was nasty.....

Now I know it was food/supplement related.  I can't tell you the exact cause but ever since I supplement his meals with Omega 3 (fish oil) and Vitamin E and rotate his dry kibble with Nature's Logic dry food, his eye bugger problem went away (and his dry coat is now soft and shiny...his itching problem also went away).  Now, his eye crusties/buggers are vey minimal.  Nowadays, I hardly have to wipe his eyes.

P.S. - Remember, every dog is different.  I can only tell you about my lab.   The fish oil (1000mg per liquid gel) and vitamin e (200 iu per liquid gel) I give him are the ones my husband and I take on a regular basis.  I buy them in bulk (cheaper that way) from either Costco or Walmart.  What works for my lab (who is almost 70 lbs) = 2000 mg of fish oil and 400 iu of vitamin e per day. 

Pauline

I feed a good and holistic kibble with meats, fish, eggs, cottage cheese and other good things......imo, once you find a good kibble I would not play around with it that much.......

If you just put a heater on, the dryness may also be aggravating the eyes. My dog gets crusties whenever there is a spell of dry weather,  whether outdoors or "indoors" (ie running a heating unit) especially now in the late fall with all the dead leaves and dirt and junk everywhere.

 In winter when I have the heat on, I always also have a humidifier running - if I don't, my skin gets terribly dry and even *my* eyes start to get bad. Maybe you could try a small unit near the crate?

My dog has a little bit of eye crusties lately, which she's never had before, and there is no change in diet.  I think with the fall the air being SO dry inside and outside all the leaves, which I would imagine have mold or other irritants underneath. 

I think this was probably a mixture of moldy leaves and dryness from the heater. I had dh go out saturday and get rid of all the leaves and Sunday and today we haven't had eye crusties. I've been breathing easier as well (I have asthma). I would have never thought the leaves would be such an irritant.

Thanks everyone.

I've been experiencing the same problem ever since the weather has cooled off and I had to turn the heater on. Now he develops crusty particles and slimy "boogers" in  the corner of his eyes  and I've also noticed his coat is getting a wee bit flaky. I'm going to add some sort of supplement to his meals and I'm wondering if I should add a small egg (either raw or boiled), or maybe fish oil? If I should do the fish oil, how much per day shoud I use for my 32lbs. boy? Thanks for any input!

RaceProfessor

I've been experiencing the same problem ever since the weather has cooled off and I had to turn the heater on. Now he develops crusty particles and slimy "boogers" in  the corner of his eyes  and I've also noticed his coat is getting a wee bit flaky. I'm going to add some sort of supplement to his meals and I'm wondering if I should add a small egg (either raw or boiled), or maybe fish oil? If I should do the fish oil, how much per day shoud I use for my 32lbs. boy? Thanks for any input!

If you are going to go with fish oil, the standard dosage is about 1000 mg fish oil (contains about 300 mg of dha/...I can't remember the exact terms) for every 25 lbs of body weight.  For vitamin E, 200 iu of vitamin e for every 25 lbs of body weight.  I don't give my 70lb lab the exact dosage.... he gets 2000 mg of fish oil and 400 iu of vitamin e.