Oral Papillomatosis (Warts)

[Rott'n'lab Mom]

Hi Everyone,

About a week ago my husband spotted a growth of some sort in Bella's mouth. He took her in to the vet yesterday (I had to be at work instead) and the vet is almost certain she has oral papillomatosis, viral warts.

He told my husband that we could either wait a few weeks and they usually go away or we could have them surgically removed. He said they are infectious to other dogs and we can't allow her to play with other dogs while she has this.

Our vet said if this was his dog he'd choose to surgically remove them since there is a slight chance they can turn into something less benign if left alone.

Has anyone had a dog with this condition? What did you decide to do and how did it work out?

Thanks,

[CarolineS]

Dresden never had them in her mouth, but she had five or six on her muzzle when she was just over a year old. I just left them alone, kept her away from other dogs and each wart disappeared in a couple of weeks. My older dog never caught them even though they play together. I guess she probably had immunity at her age. I believe these warts are quite common in young dogs and I've never heard of anyone suggesting surgery for them.

[Rott'n'lab Mom]

Originally posted by CarolineS
Dresden never had them in her mouth, but she had five or six on her muzzle when she was just over a year old. I just left them alone, kept her away from other dogs and each wart disappeared in a couple of weeks. My older dog never caught them even though they play together. I guess she probably had immunity at her age. I believe these warts are quite common in young dogs and I've never heard of anyone suggesting surgery for them.

I wanted to report that less than a week ago we noticed one of Bella's warts had fallen off. Within a couple more days all of them had fallen off and the spots where they all had been are a little red, but they look like they are healing nicely. Ironically we were talking to the vet about a different medical issue she has and he asked if the warts were falling off yet. At that time they hadn't started yet, but within a few hours of our conversation with the vet the first one fell off!!

CarolineS, thanks for your suggestion to do nothing. We are fortunate that her warts vanished in just a few weeks and now we can allow her to play with other doggies again :)