Our Final Verdict
We give PawTree Tear & Saliva Stain Remover Chews a rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars.
Ingredients: 4.9/5
Effectiveness: 4.7/5
Value: 4.5/5
Just about every owner of a light-colored dog or cat knows the struggle with tear stains is real. Often, switching to a higher-quality diet can do wonders to stop tear stains in their tracks. But for some pets, even the highest quality food isn’t enough to put an end to those unsightly reddish-brown stains.
For those pets, pawTree developed a powerful Tear & Saliva Stain Remover chew. This supplement contains eight scientifically backed ingredients to help support eye and tear duct health while fighting common causes of tear stains. And like all pawTree’s products, this one is made with quality ingredients that you and your pet will love. I had the chance to try pawTree’s Tear & Saliva Stain Remover on my white-furred cat, Makoa. He has struggled with discolored tears since recovering from a bad respiratory infection as a kitten. After a month on this product, I’ve seen a consistent improvement in his tear and eye health.
Keep reading to find out more about this product, how it helped, and where there’s room for improvement in my full pawTree Tear & Saliva Stain Remover review.
About pawTree
Roger Morgan spent decades in the pet industry watching pets suffer due to a lack of quality nutrition in commercial diets. He set out to change that by starting pawTree. The company’s line of nutritionally balanced, high-quality pet food was just the beginning. Morgan wanted to do more to help pets overcome common health issues. That’s when he developed the company’s extensive line of natural, scientifically-backed health supplements. Today, pawTree offers a solution for just about every common ailment dogs and cats suffer from. From gassiness to bad teeth to anxiety, this company has a solution for it all.
Where are pawTree Products Produced?
All pawTree products are produced in the USA with ingredients sourced from here and around the globe. Every ingredient they use meets their high standards for purity and quality.
Which Types of Cats Are pawTree Supplements Best Suited For?
PawTree has a long, long list of supplement products. This means there is likely to be something to benefit just about every kitty out there. For nervous kitties, they offer CBD chews and calming treats with thirteen active herbal ingredients. For internal problems, they have supplements focused on bladder health, immunity, the digestive system, hairball control, and more.
They also have a whole slew of supplements focused on skin and coat health. These include fish oil, topical treatments, allergy support, and, of course, tear stain treatments. Their Tear & Saliva Stain Remover is perfect for cats and dogs who suffer from discolored tears, stained paws, and stained fur around the mouth. They also carry a topical tear stain removed to help get rid of stains that have already set in.
Tear & Saliva Stain Remover Overview
Here is an overview of pawTree’s Tear & Saliva Stain Remover chews. We’ll look at the ingredients, the dosage, what to expect, and options for purchasing.
Ingredients
One thing I love about pawTree is how their products combine multiple proven active ingredients to maximize their effectiveness. This is certainly the case with their tear stain chews, which contain eight powerful active ingredients, including:
Cranberry Extract – Cranberry is often prescribed for bladder health because it helps prevent bacteria from sticking to mucus membranes. In this way, it can also be very helpful to prevent bacteria buildup in tear ducts and underneath eyelids.
Oregon Grape Root – This natural antibiotic helps prevent bacteria buildup in the body, as well.
Eyebright Herb Extract – This aptly named herb helps reduce inflammation of the eye and dry up excess secretions to promote eye health.
Marshmallow Root – Another herb that helps soothe the mucus membranes of the eyes to reduce tear production.
Lutein – This powerful antioxidant has been shown to help lubricate mucus membranes, strengthen the immune system, and support eye health and aging.
This supplement also contains omega-3s, omega-6s, and vitamin C—nutrients that have all been proven to support a healthy immune system to ward off bacterial and yeast infections. All of these ingredients work together to reduce inflammation in the eye which can cause excess tear production. They also reduce the number of bacteria in the eye and body to reduce how much porphyrin (red pigment) gets into tears. And they help fight yeast overgrowth, which can cause brown staining in moist areas, such as under the eyes.
In addition to these active ingredients, this supplement also contains natural inactive ingredients that help achieve the chewy texture and tasty flavor dogs and cats love. These include things like brewer’s yeast, flaxseed, natural flavors, and rosemary extract.
Dosage
Each bottle of Tear & Saliva Stain Remover contains 90 adorable heart-shaped chews. For cats under 15 pounds, the dose is one heart chew per day.
These chews have a soft, dry texture that makes them easy to crumble into food. This can be helpful for picky eaters. For cats that are less discerning, you can feed this supplement as a treat. My cat absolutely loves these and will pick the chew out of his food bowl and gobble it up before eating the rest of his breakfast.
This tear supplement does not contain Tylosin, an antibiotic that some companies sneak into their tear stain treatments despite the risks it poses. This means that pawTree’s tear stain formula is safe to use daily or as needed, depending on your cat’s specific tear stain-fighting needs.
What to Expect
What results to expect and when you can expect to see them will vary depending on what is causing your cat’s tear stains.
For cats with bacterial overgrowth in the eyes or yeast problems below the eyes, you should see results rather quickly. Many users report seeing an improvement within just a couple of weeks. This improvement is typically most noticeable when you pair this oral treatment with pawTree’s topical Tear & Saliva Stain Solution.
If your cat’s tear stains are a matter of irritated eyes, inflammation, and/or structural issues, it may take longer to see improvement. For my cat, who has structural damage, scar tissue, and inflammation in his eyes due to multiple bad infections he suffered as a kitten, it took about three weeks before I noticed any changes. Since then, his tear stains have slowly continued to improve.
Purchasing Options
While pawTree offers multiple ordering options for many of their supplements, this one is only available in one size chew and one size bottle.
They do have two ordering options: a one-time purchase or a subscription option.
If you choose to subscribe with their EZ-Ship selection, a new bottle will automatically be shipped out every 20 to 120 days, depending on your needs.
Pros & Cons
Pros
8 Scientifically-backed ingredients
Highly palatable
Soft and chewy
Can be given daily
Effective for all causes of tear stains
Cons
Take some time to have an effect
Fairly expensive
Key Features
Multiple Effective Ingredients
Some tear stain supplements focus on supporting eye health, while others only target bacteria. This one contains eight powerful ingredients that work together to support healthy eye function, reduce bacterial load, and prevent yeast buildup that can lead to additional fur staining issues.
Easy to Feed
Whether you have a picky kitty or a fatty catty, this supplement is easy to feed. For the former, the soft, crumbly texture makes it easy to break apart the chew and hide it in your cat’s food. For less picky cats, the chewiness and yummy flavor make for a great treat that can be fed by itself.
Safe for Daily Use
For cats who have struggled all their life with tear stain issues, it’s unlikely any supplement will completely clear up the problem. Luckily, this product can safely be given every day to keep tear stains at bay. And because all the ingredients are natural, you can feel good about making it part of their daily routine.
Is Tear & Saliva Stain Remover a Good Value?
Compared to many tear-stain supplements on the market, this one is a bit higher in price. But when you consider how many active ingredients this one has compared to those lower-priced brands, the cost difference makes more sense. Like other PawTree products, you will pay a little more for the quality you get with these supplements.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
How Often Should I Give Tear & Saliva Stain Remover Chews?
These chews should be given daily until results are seen and then continued for at least a month after the issue begins to resolve. For many cats, you can stop giving the chews at this point and resume only if the issue starts again. For other cats, giving these daily will be necessary to control tear stains caused by structural issues.
What Causes Tear Stains?
Tear stains are caused by a red pigment called porphyrin. This substance is a natural byproduct of the breakdown of red blood cells and is also produced by certain types of bacteria. When tear ducts are damaged due to structural problems or inflammation, the concentration of porphyrin can increase and cause staining. Excess bacteria in the body or eyes can also lead to red-tinted tears.
Our Experience With PawTree Tear & Saliva Stain Remover Chews
I found my little Makoa as a feral kitten when he was just five weeks old. He was walking down the middle of the street completely blind thanks to a horrific respiratory infection that left his eyes swollen and crusted shut. It took weeks just to get his left eye to open wide enough to get topical antibiotics into it. And it took months before the infection was cleared. A year later, both of his eyes still show signs of this damage. His left one is scarred and blurry, and has veins growing over the cornea. His right one looks normal but suffers from the near-constant overproduction of discolored tears. Having white fur below this eye does nothing to help things.
I have tried other tear stain chews in the past with unimpressive results. That’s why I was so excited to give this supplement from pawTree a try. I have used some of their other supplements on my dogs in the past and have always been impressed. I love how they combine different medicinal herbs, extracts, nutrients, and compounds to achieve better results than other products.
The first test, of course, was how easy (or not) this supplement would be to administer. After all, with cats, you never can tell how they’ll react to edible items. Luckily, Makoa had no problem eating these adorable heart-shaped chews. I toss one in the bowl with his dry food each morning and it’s always the first thing he eats. It took about three weeks before I noticed any substantial results in terms of tear volume or color. But once it happened, the improvement in his right eye continued every day. His left eye is still cloudy and scarred, but even the discolored discharge from that eye has improved.
I was sure to pack this supplement with him when he boarded for a week this summer. With feline herpes, which is one of the many eye-attacking viruses he had as a kitten, he can get flare-ups anytime his immune system gets compromised. When I dropped him off to board I was displeased to see the ancient Siamese in the cage next to him was sneezing green snot. I thought for sure Makoa was going to be sick when I picked him up. Somehow—and I give pawTree’s Tear & Saliva Stain Remover chews much of the credit here—he was completely fine! He hasn’t had any respiratory issues or eye virus relapses since he got home two weeks ago.
Since Makoa has structural issues on top of chronic inflammation and immune problems, I plan to use this supplement daily for most, if not all of his life. Given the results I’ve seen so far, I’m happy to do so even if this option does carry a higher price tag than the other tear-stain supplements I’ve tried.
Conclusion
If your cat has red staining on their fur from licking, tear stains under their eyes, or any kind of eye inflammation issues, I recommend checking out pawTree’s Tear & Saliva Stain Remover. These chews attack tear and saliva stains from all sides to reduce eye inflammation and irritation while also reducing bacterial and yeast loads. The eight powerful ingredients are highly effective in reducing tear overproduction and discoloration.
They have done wonders for my cat’s eye health. I love how easy they are to feed and that they are made with only quality, natural ingredients that I don’t mind giving my kitty every day.
