Animals as well as people can suffer from a wide variety of ailments. Dog warts (papillomas) are a fairly common problem that you should not close your eyes to. Only timely treatment will help your pet get rid of an unpleasant ailment. However, in order to understand how to cope with the disease, it is necessary to determine the causes of the appearance of papillomas. It will also be useful to familiarize yourself with helpful recommendations.
Papillomas
Warts in dogs, the photo of which is shown above, most often appear in the oral cavity. This is due to the fact that animals constantly lick themselves, which is why a huge amount of pathogenic bacteria gets into their mouth. Warts can also occur on the body of pets. Most often, elderly animals suffer from this ailment.
A dog usually has a wart on its lip, cheek, tongue, or gums. Outwardly, they resemble small cone-shaped, friable swelling. In their dimensions, warts can reach quite large sizes, sometimes there are papillomas the size of a bean.
In these neoplasms, as well as in standard tissues, blood vessels are contained, so they bleed quite often.
Causes of Warts
Papilloma virus has been discovered for a very long time. Every year, experts expand the family list of this disease and come up with new names for subgroups of the viral disease. There is a theory that 80% of all living things on the planet are carriers of wart bacteria. However, not every dog can be struck by this unpleasant surprise, the whole thing is immunity. If the animal is in good health and rarely gets sick, then most likely it will not suffer from neoplasms. At the same time, the most weakened organisms are an excellent medium for the appearance of papillomas.
Externally, warts in dogs are not so easy to detect, because they can be very different. There are several types of papillomas :
- Nodules. They are red, brown, pink or even black formations on the skin of an animal. At the same time, over time, the papilloma can change its color, become darker or lighter.
- Sharp mounds. In this case, the base of the wart in dogs can be quite vague, or vice versa has clearly defined boundaries.
- Flat. Such papillomas belong to the category of mobile warts. The thing is that they can move from one place to another.
- Spines. Such papillomas resemble the touch of a hedgehog. Most often, they grow and ultimately is a kind of brush.
Diagnostics
It’s easy for a specialist to find dog warts on the face or body. To do this, it is enough for him to examine the pet and carefully examine its oral cavity. However, in some situations it is rather difficult to determine an unpleasant illness. For example, a lesion could have formed on the vulva, which not every owner of domestic animals can notice.
If you go with the animal for a standard veterinary examination, then there is a high probability that the specialist will quickly pay attention to a suspicious neoplasm. There are also special methods for diagnosing papillomatosis in dogs. For this, PRC, and in some cases even electron microscopy, is used. After such an examination, the specialist will be able to say with absolute probability whether the animal suffers from this ailment.
Today there are several varieties of papillomas. Let's consider them in more detail.
In the oral cavity
In this case, warts can form on the lips, nose, resemble conjunctivitis, and they are often located on the part of the muzzle that is covered with hair.
As a rule, first of all, smooth flat plaques begin to appear on the tissues, after which they begin to noticeably stretch. Such warts in dogs most often resemble cauliflower inflorescences. If the animals are distinguished by a fairly strong immunity, then after a few months the unpleasant formations disappear on their own. However, if this does not happen, you need to contact a specialist as soon as possible.
Skin papillomas
There are 2 types of such warts exophytic and inverted. The first type can most often be found on the legs, head and even eyelids of an animal. At the same time, such warts can be equipped with a leg or look like cauliflower inflorescences. They can also be soft or hard, however, in size, they usually do not exceed one and a half centimeters. As a rule, wool is not formed on them. Exophytic papillomas are most often found in Cocker Spaniels and Kerry Blue Terriers, as well as in elderly mustaches.
Inverted warts very often appear in young representatives of four-legged pets aged from 8 months to 3 years. Such papillomas can appear on the stomach of a young animal. Warts can be either single or grow into large groups. As a rule, externally inverted skin papillomas are rounded elevations, in the center of which there is a small depression.
Multiple Pigmented Plaques
This type of wart appears extremely rarely in animals. As a rule, the reason for this is the genetic predisposition of animals. Most often, such papillomas can be found in schnauzers and pugs. At the same time, both young and adult animals get sick.
Most often, such plaques appear on the abdomen and in the inguinal region of a pet.
On the fingertips
If the wart on the dog’s legs, or rather on the fingertips, this indicates an extremely rare form of papillomas. In this case, the animal appears small thickenings. Between the fingers they are extremely rare. Because of this ailment, the animal may begin to limp.
In addition, when such papillomas occur, a secondary infection occurs, which also provokes a greater spread of warts on the surface of the paws. In this case, experts recommend purchasing special shoes for the animal in which it can walk along the street without fear of additional infection.
Genital papillomas in dogs
This type of wart is least likely to occur. In this case, this ailment is a sexually transmitted disease. As a rule, small plaques and swelling appear on the genitals of the animal.
Dog Warts: Treatment
In order to rid the animal of an unpleasant illness, it is necessary to consult a veterinarian. Only he can determine if the pet really suffers from papillomas or if everything is much worse. Sometimes such formations are symptoms of a cancerous tumor, therefore, first of all, it is necessary to carry out all diagnostic measures.
If the animal is not treated for the disease from which it suffers, then it is possible to cause enormous damage to the body of the pet. Most often, warts in dogs pass on their own if the animal’s immune system produces an appropriate amount of antibody. However, sometimes additional specialist intervention is required.
Surgical removal of papillomas
If warts interfere with the animal (for example, it becomes difficult for him to eat or walk), then most often veterinarians recommend removing them as soon as possible. For this, modern laser therapy is used today. However, after such a procedure, a repeat visit to a specialist may be required.
In some cases, it is much more rational to start giving the animal Interferon. The course of taking the drug is at least 2 months.
Vaccination
Dog warts, what to do to get rid of them? Today, there are special vaccinations that give a fairly lasting effect. The drugs that make up their composition provoke the production of immunity antibodies, so the neoplasms disappear pretty quickly.
As a rule, dog warts are benign formations that should not cause great concern. However, they also require attention. The fact is that papillomas in the mouth can bring an animal great discomfort while eating. In this case, the animal will swallow food, and not chew it, so as not to injure the affected areas of the mucosa once again. Because of this, problems with the digestive system of a beloved pet can occur, salivation will increase, and bad breath can also appear.
In addition, animals very often try to get rid of neoplasms on their own, so they begin to chew on warts, which leads to bleeding. Therefore, it is best to take care of the pet in a timely manner and rid it of such an unpleasant ailment.