Dog Warts

Is You Pet Plagued By It?

There are times when you would observe that your pet has a few funny looking skin growths in the mouth – which look like warts. These could be flesh colored (whatever color is the dog or it could be highly pigmented) which would regress in due time. In most cases your pet would have no problem with these warts from beginning of their appearance in their mouth to the end.

What are these dog warts?

Dog warts are the result of a viral infection. The virus that is responsible for this condition in your pet is known as the papillomavirus or PV. There is a human counterpart of this virus, known as the human papillomavirus – and this strain causes formation of warts in humans as well.

In most cases the PV (dog warts) does not create any real harm to the pet. These dog warts would appear in the mouth and then withdraw on their own after a while – time in which the body would overcome the virus and fight its effects. However, in some rare cases, the dog would manifest the following symptoms:

1. excess salivation for no reason
2. difficulty in breathing
3. difficulty in swallowing – trying to eat but not being able to do so
4. sudden swelling around the mouth or head (tumor growth)
5. overall dullness in the animal

If you observe any of these symptoms or a combination of more, rush your pet to the vet as this could be life threatening. In some rare cases the PV causes cancerous growths and an early diagnosis would be able to save the life of your pet.

What needs to be done when you find your pet infected with dog warts?

Basically, you need to do nothing. Most of the time, the PV would bring forth a number of warts in and (sometimes) around the mouth of the dog; however, these would definitely regress without any medical (or any other type) intervention. At the most, you would need to keep an eye on the development of the warts. You would observe that they appear to grow for sometime, then stabilize and then start regressing.

The maximum size of the wart should be of an average mole (a few millimeters) like a little projection of skin. In case these dog warts seem to grow out of proportion, you would need to intimate your vet about it. The vet would normally run the wart for biopsy after removing it and you would be able to learn whether the growth is cancerous or not.

What is the treatment for dog warts?

No treatment is normally required as the virus would regress by itself. However, in some extreme cases, when the growth is too much and the pet is unable to eat normally, these could be surgically removed and cauterized to prevent further infection. The vet would also suggest vaccinating the animal when the attack is bad. The vaccine is usually obtained from the particular strain of PV that infects the animal at that time (there are hundred of different stains existing).