Why Does My Cat Have Tear Stains?
📝 Summary
In earlier years, tearful cats were rare. Most families, limited by finances, rarely bought purebred cats and instead kept native Chinese domestic cats; the few that did tear were mostly cases of blepharitis or feline rhinotracheitis carriers. Blepharitis was easily handled with a few-yuan tube of erythromycin eye ointment, while rhinotracheitis carriers often recovered on their own as immunity improved.
1 Overview
In recent years, purebred cats have taken over most Chinese households. Along with the display of wealth, however, has come a rise in genetic disease, and tearful eyes have become a ‘popular trend.’
By breed, the English Sheepdog (the canine ‘tear king’), Persian, Exotic Shorthair (Garfield), Siamese, and Himalayan have become the main culprits for tearing—any time, any place, no restraint. You clean them at night before sleep, and by morning the face is black again. Many owners are anxious but bewildered, not knowing what the problem really is.
Medically, this is called ‘brachycephalic syndrome,’ which affects the tongue, eyes, teeth, skin, and ears. The nasal passages are narrow, the soft palate elongated, and lifespan notably shortened. The condition has a strong breed-linked genetic trait, and the nasolacrimal ducts usually do not function, causing epiphora (tear overflow) that leaves the face damp.
A cat’s cornea covers about 30% of the eyeball, and brachycephalic deformity causes the eye to protrude like a beak, exposing more cornea to the environment. This leads to recurrent or chronic keratitis, corneal ulcers, and corneal scarring, with continuous tearing.
Besides the black, waxy debris on the face caused by tearing, inflammatory changes and itching occur, sometimes with secondary bacterial infection and Malassezia dermatitis, and even otitis externa. Even with successful treatment, the facial structure is hard to change, so recurrence is permanent and repeated treatment is needed.
We recommend a professional medicated eye drop for eye disease—after about two days of use, symptoms noticeably improve, sparing you the daily struggle of wiping with warm water to little relief.
Although it cannot fundamentally fix the facial structure, it greatly relieves inflamed eyelids or corneal ulcers.
For tearing caused by feline rhinotracheitis, treat the rhinotracheitis first. Once it is largely cured, tearing lessens considerably; during treatment you can also use eye drops to prevent blepharitis from worsening into entropion or ulceration.
Whether your cat was bought, found, or adopted, we hope you stay committed to the end. Disease is not frightening—many conditions can be managed or even cured. Do not abandon a cat over a little tearing. To treat life kindly is to treat yourself kindly.
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