# Yet another inane dog question: why are dogs' eye boogers black? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 30, 2013, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-inane-dog-question-why-are-dogs-eye-boogers-black/648831 "2013-01-30T19:20:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2013, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-inane-dog-question-why-are-dogs-eye-boogers-black/648831/1 "2013-01-30T19:20:20Z")
See subject. I can’t imagine their tears are. I can’t recall if ours are black. If I had a nickel for every inane question I have asked… ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2013, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-inane-dog-question-why-are-dogs-eye-boogers-black/648831/2 "2013-01-30T20:19:18Z")
You know, I’ve never wondered this but now I must know the answer. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2013, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-inane-dog-question-why-are-dogs-eye-boogers-black/648831/3 "2013-01-30T20:32:29Z")
Ditto cats. Black eye-boogers on every one. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2013, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-inane-dog-question-why-are-dogs-eye-boogers-black/648831/4 "2013-01-30T20:52:17Z")
My dalmatian-mix, 8-month old pup’s are orangish. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2013, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-inane-dog-question-why-are-dogs-eye-boogers-black/648831/5 "2013-01-30T20:56:51Z")
[Porphyrins.](http://www.leospetcare.com/a-veterinary-guide-to-tear-stains/) It’s the leftover gunk from when red blood cells are broken down. It’s excreted through the intestinal tract but in dogs it’s also in the tears, urine and saliva. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2013, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-inane-dog-question-why-are-dogs-eye-boogers-black/648831/6 "2013-01-30T21:07:39Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > [Porphyrins.](http://www.leospetcare.com/a-veterinary-guide-to-tear-stains/) It’s the leftover gunk from when red blood cells are broken down. It’s excreted through the intestinal tract but in dogs it’s also in the tears, urine and saliva. Neat! Never even occurred to me to wonder about this either, but that there is quality trivia :). But on a quick search apparently this is [not the cause in cats](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21923817). ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2013, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-inane-dog-question-why-are-dogs-eye-boogers-black/648831/7 "2013-01-30T23:08:00Z")
Cool. Now I will no longer call them eye boogers but [sequestrae](http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/sequestrum). ETA: But either **silenus** ’s cats are actually not cats or somebody’s fooling somebody. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-inane-dog-question-why-are-dogs-eye-boogers-black/648831/8 "2013-01-31T16:58:14Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Neat! Never even occurred to me to wonder about this either, but that there is quality trivia … Last night I met an orthopedic surgeon walking his dog. Mentioned casually that sequestrae are the bone chips resulting from swelling of the marrow pushing the bone apart in osteomyelitis. Which he knew, but i forced him to acknowledge my utter brilliance for knowing that. then I zapped him by pointing out his dog’s eye boogers. Shock and awe. Yes! Hat’s off GQ! ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-inane-dog-question-why-are-dogs-eye-boogers-black/648831/9 "2013-01-31T19:28:54Z")
My dog’s eye boogers are light colored like my own. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-inane-dog-question-why-are-dogs-eye-boogers-black/648831/10 "2013-01-31T19:34:12Z")
What color is the dog’s fur? Implausible as it seems, could that be related at all? We have two, both predominantly white on their faces, and one has pale yellow eye crud and the other the black mentioned in the op. That dog, however, has black fur elsewhere on her body; the yellow-curd-producing dog is all tan-and-white. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-inane-dog-question-why-are-dogs-eye-boogers-black/648831/11 "2013-01-31T19:45:35Z")
One of my dog’s eye boogers are white. The little one’s are black. They are both black dogs. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-inane-dog-question-why-are-dogs-eye-boogers-black/648831/12 "2013-01-31T21:34:55Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Cool. Now I will no longer call them eye boogers but [sequestrae](http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/sequestrum). I prefer yampee myself, eye booger just sounds childish. And no I don’t know why plant urine ends up in your eye either. > **[yampee](https://waywordradio.org/yampee_1/)** > > yampee n. the crust of mucous that forms in the corner of the eye. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)…