How To Deal With Warts In Dogs

Author Mark Stimpson
Published January 31, 2009
Word count 497

Warts in dogs are infectious in nature and can spread to other dogs through physical contact. Warts in dogs are epidermis tumors that are caused by many different types of viral infections. Asking pet health questions form an important part of dealing with warts in dogs. Warts in dogs come in two broad categories. Warts infecting older dogs are the most common ones. By nature, warts are benign and only threaten pet health if they get infected or become larger in size. However, warts can damage pet health in younger dogs as they are infectious in nature.

Medically warts are known as Canine viral papilloma. Spread by physical contact with other dogs, your dog can contract this infection rather easily. Small and shaped like cauliflowers these warts populate the muzzle, tongue, eyelids, and lips in dogs, but they can also invade the skin around the rectum or vulva in some others. Warts take about 1-2 months to grow from the time of the contact.

In general, warts are harmless if few in number. They tend to stay on the skin of older dogs, while disappear in younger dogs on their own as the immune system can fight the virus properly. In some dogs, warts can create havoc with pet health and lead to problems in breathing and eating.

Symptoms of Warts in Dogs

Halitosis (bad breath)
Excessive drooling/ salivating
Oral bleeding

Diagnosis of Warts in Dogs

Since papillomas are distinct and pathognomonic in nature, they don’t require diagnostic testing. Nevertheless, in some cases, diagnosis may be necessary to ascertain the extent and depth of the infection as it would reveal the damage done to pet health. Two of the more important diagnostic tests that require to be done are:

F A complete blood count or CBC test, urinalysis, and biochemical profile is necessary for dogs that have lost appetite and have poor pet health as well as prolonged discomfort due to difficultly in food intake.

F In some cases, the dog may be subjected to surgical biopsy for a proper confirmation. However, it may be required in most cases.

Treatment of Warts in Dogs

Warts don’t require any particular treatment as the viral papillomas disappear on their own. However, in come cases, especially when the warts are located in an area that causes discomfort, or when pet owners demand removal of the warts to restore pet health, treatments can be initiated.

These treatments include:

Surgery: cryosurgery, electrocautery are the two main surgical procedure implemented for removal. The former involves destruction of the damaged tissue by liquid nitrogen, while the later is the use of laser to kill the papilloma.
Another treatment involves crushing the papilloma physically to stimulate an immune response from the body of the pet as this helps restore pet health and expedites the disappearance of the warts.
If the dog has failed to relapse after more than 5-6 months, then systemic chemotherapy can help in varying degrees to successfully restore pet health.

If your dog has warts and your worried this is effecting pet health . Why not join a pet health forum and post a pet health question about it. you may get the answers you need.

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Article comments

Adi · 14 years ago

After taking my 1 year old dog Bella to see vet COPV was diagnosed. COPV is Canine Oral Papilloma Virus (aka Warts). An article was published (Turkey 2008) about the use of Azithromycin in dogs with the Papilloma virus. Azithromycin is not an antiviral drug and COPV is a virus so I was hesitant in using it to treat COPV, but after reading the study it seems that the drug may attack a bacterial infection that causes the virus to run rampant or it may actually have an effect on COPV. I decided to get a prescription filled and take that course. The dosage was as follows: - 5mg per pound in a suspension (suspension is water based formula the vet can explain this to you) - Bella is 3lbs so her dosage was 15mg per day orally using a syringe plunger (without the needle) I gave her the Azithromycin every morning at around 9am with food. The study I read indicated they gave the dogs 10 days of medicine but I extended the run to 14 days because the virus hit her hard as a smaller dog. As you can see by the pictures by the 10th day I saw possible improvement and by the 12th day the Papillomas inside her mouth were gone and the larger one outside her mouth crusted up and I gave them a little tug and they ripped off. It was like pulling a loose tooth. It didn’t seem painful to Bella. Pictures can be found here: http://adihed.com/bella.html I wrote this article because a lot of people are dealing with this issue of COPV for months with their dogs and this is a great way to heal your dog quickly. I actually had my vet pull the study that I based this treatment so I could read it and I found that ALL the dogs were cured within 15 days as Bella was. They also did the study using 17 breeds of dog so a wide spectrum was cured. The ones that were not on Azithromycin still had Papillomas after 2-3 months of follow up. As far as I can tell there is no reason not to use Azithromycin to cure your dog. I have read articles about the drug doing harm to the liver but in this short term I don’t see that being an issue. I also read that it does a little havoc to the stomach. Bella being a 3lb dog did fine. On day 4 I noticed she didn’t want to eat in the morning but that could have been for other reasons. So she was not affected negatively by the drug. I also gave it to her in the morning so she would eat and drink right after to rid herself of the taste of the drug and digest it as well. I also got her daily vitamins to take along with the drug every morning for the 14 days and I extended the run to 30 days. I did this to give a little boost to her immune system. The Vitamins were Pet Naturals Daily Best Soft Chews Dog Vitamins from PETCO. I hope this article helps anybody out there who is dealing with COPV. I did my research and I am glad I found the study that cured my dog and I wanted to share it with anyone out there is search of answers. Don’t bother with the holistic stuff they are peddling on the internet. Just talk to your vet and get a prescription filled so you can have a healthy happy dog! If you have any questions feel free to email me at adihed@hotmail.com.