# Muzzle discoloration?



## ShanniBella (Jul 1, 2011)

Hi all! I have been feeding my pit bull raw for almost 4 months and she has a white muzzle. I notice she has that reddish/brownish discoloration around her mouth but once I give her a bath it usually washes off and is less noticeable. Its the same color like when a white dog has tear stains near the eyes. Anyone else have this issue? Any way to prevent it?


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## meganr66 (Mar 2, 2012)

Ozai has a white muzzle too and so far I've got nothing lol! Ozai is constantly getting his face scratched up so that doesn't help- he looks like a dork oh well lol!


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## Maxy24 (Mar 5, 2011)

Have you tried washing her face with a wet face cloth shortly after meals? I'd say it's either directly stained from the blood/juices of the meats or it is exactly the same as a tear stain. Tear staining is simply bacteria and red yeast that grows in the moist environment caused by eyes leaking onto the fur, or in your case moisture caused by eating food that is wet and getting it all over the muzzle. If the face is washed and dried after meals the bacteria would not grow there.


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## ShanniBella (Jul 1, 2011)

Yes, I just started washing her face off shortly after eating to see if it helps. Guess I'll just keep on it and hope for the best! Thanks


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## Ziggersmom (Jul 4, 2012)

I've actually noticed the same thing with Ziggy a couple times after eating. I figured it was just staining from the blood in his meals, so I didn't do anything about it and it washed off in a couple days. Now that he's becoming more competitive in fly ball and agility, I don't want him looking anything less than awesome so I started stealing some of my babies' wipes to use on him after he eats. That seems to get his muzzle clean enough to not stain. I use Huggies brand wipes as they are the strongest that I have found. I don't know if that will help your situation or not, but I thought I'd throw it out there just in case. Good luck!


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

How are you feeding your food? My all white boy hasn't had a discolored mouth yet in 4 years but maybe he is just a dainty eater. I also don't feed chicken quarters if that is common link here.


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## Ziggersmom (Jul 4, 2012)

whiteleo said:


> How are you feeding your food? My all white boy hasn't had a discolored mouth yet in 4 years but maybe he is just a dainty eater. I also don't feed chicken quarters if that is common link here.


I usually just dump the meat on the ground, or lately due to the heat, on my kitchen floor. He then goes to town. I will say that he is not a dainty eater when it comes to keeping things off of his face. He basically makes sweet sweet love to his food :embarassed: He is fanatic about not using his paws though, unless that's the only way to get it into his stomach. A lot of his meals include chicken quarters, but he's only been at this a little over a month so I try to not rush the proteins a ton... not always successful at that.


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## ShanniBella (Jul 1, 2011)

My girl eats a lot of chicken quarters and turkey necks and she also never uses her feet/paws to help her hold her food its all mouth! Lol! I feed her outside in the grass and the turkey necks are quite juicy and she is also not a dainty eater!


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## Maxy24 (Mar 5, 2011)

Make sure to dry the muzzle off again after washing if you are not, you don't want any moisture sitting around. There may be things you can put on the muzzle to either clean it or simply bleach it white, I've read things like baking soda, lemon juice, and hydrogen peroxide. I feel like peroxide would damage the hair though.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

I think once you move away from the chicken quarters and chicken in general you might not see any discoloration at all.


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## Kayota (Jul 21, 2012)

I saw a little discoloration on Rox last night and was wondering too, but I just checked and it's not there any more and she just ate! Weird... For her it was directly on her skin it seemed, maybe it was a brief yeast thing that cleared up on its own.


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## ShanniBella (Jul 1, 2011)

whiteleo said:


> I think once you move away from the chicken quarters and chicken in general you might not see any discoloration at all.


Chicken will be a main source of meat in my house as well as the turkey necks. Is chicken known to do this to white dogs or at least white muzzles? She gets beef and pork to but thats boneless. However, she needs the bone in chicken quarters once a day for a meal to keep her stool firm. I feed her twice a day.


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## Kayota (Jul 21, 2012)

Is there any way you can get pork ribs? I got mine on sale for 0.99c/lb!


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

My dogs don't get a lot of chicken just because it causes yeasty ears here, but also when I did feed a lot of it towards the beginning I noticed not so much on his muzzle but he actually had splotches on his body that looked rusty in color. Once I moved away from feeding it for more red meats his color changed back to a brilliant white.


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## Ziggersmom (Jul 4, 2012)

whiteleo said:


> My dogs don't get a lot of chicken just because it causes yeasty ears here, but also when I did feed a lot of it towards the beginning I noticed not so much on his muzzle but he actually had splotches on his body that looked rusty in color. Once I moved away from feeding it for more red meats his color changed back to a brilliant white.


That's very interesting! Do you know why chicken would cause that? I also noticed that Ziggy's once jet black (blue in sunlight) hair had developed a reddish twinge to it and lost it's brilliancy that it had before. I thought it was just because we were new to raw and he needed more fat so I've been giving more eggs and fish. Is it in the protein composition of the chicken itself or perhaps the diet of the chicken when it was alive? I'm genuinely interested to know about this.


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## Kayota (Jul 21, 2012)

I would guess the diet of the chicken itself, their feed is the same stuff we're trying to move away from in our dogs' diets--grain and etc.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

Kayota said:


> I would guess the diet of the chicken itself, their feed is the same stuff we're trying to move away from in our dogs' diets--grain and etc.


Yes, I do believe it is the diet of what the chickens are fed. Pasture raised chickens are very expensive so I just quite feeding a lot of chicken in general, they do get on occasion chicken drumsticks and now I'm having to really look for a good source of duck that is pasture raised for my girl who I believe is having issues because I'm feeding her too hot.


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## Kayota (Jul 21, 2012)

I'd try a craigslist ad, I have six ducks in my freezer right now that I got for $15!


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## RedneckCowgirl (Oct 28, 2011)

Could it be a red yeast issue? I know that Maddie has had problems with red yeast in the past, sometimes on her muzzle (but mostly on her belly and feet) and wiping a couple times daily with ACV seems to help.


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