# Does this look like papillomavirus?



## paula bedard (Feb 5, 2008)

Nope, never had to deal with pv before. I hope it heals quickly so he can play at daycare again soon. Is is easily transmitted? Will Luke need prophylactic treatment too?


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## Merlins mom (Jun 20, 2007)

paula bedard said:


> Nope, never had to deal with pv before. I hope it heals quickly so he can play at daycare again soon. Is is easily transmitted? Will Luke need prophylactic treatment too?


I had to look that up (prophylactic treatment)! LOL! 

It seems to spread through contact, and the only contact they have is the water bowl and toys. I change and wash the bowls several times throughout the day cause Luke is a slobby drinker and merlin won't drink after him. :doh: I guess this is a good thing after all!

I also washed all the toys yesterday. Not sure what else I can do. From what I've read it seems to mostly affect younger dogs, though Merlin is 4.


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## momtoMax (Apr 21, 2009)

I think so - Max got a bump like that a long time ago but it's gone now. It turned dark like the rest of him too so it might do that and not be too noticable after a while.


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## Blondie (Oct 10, 2009)

How does this get treated? Sending healing thoughts your way.


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## IowaGold (Nov 3, 2009)

It does look like a viral wart. I'd contact your daycare and see if anyone else has it. And until you know for sure, Merlin should not go to daycare as this is very contagious. It does usually affect young dogs, but if a dog has never been exposed before it can happen in older dogs. Dogs theorhetically can only get this one time. But that's not saying they can only get one wart! Until the immune system mounts an effective response, more wart can and usually do pop up. They can be around any mucous membranes-most commonly around the mouth and eyes.

The most common treatment is time. You can take the warts off surgically, but more usually pop up. There is a "vaccine" that can be made from one of the warts to stimulate the immune system into recognizing that the warts are "foreign".


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

This went around Maine like wildfire, and I was so paranoid I took a two week break from all classes. I do think that looks like "doggy HPV".


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## turtle66 (Feb 19, 2010)

Lilly had papilloma virus as a puppy and in daycare quite a bit; it looked the same but was even bigger - and same location. It went away without any treatment...


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## Merlins mom (Jun 20, 2007)

IowaGold said:


> It does look like a viral wart. I'd contact your daycare and see if anyone else has it. And until you know for sure, Merlin should not go to daycare as this is very contagious. It does usually affect young dogs, but if a dog has never been exposed before it can happen in older dogs. Dogs theorhetically can only get this one time. But that's not saying they can only get one wart! Until the immune system mounts an effective response, more wart can and usually do pop up. They can be around any mucous membranes-most commonly around the mouth and eyes.
> 
> The most common treatment is time. You can take the warts off surgically, but more usually pop up. There is a "vaccine" that can be made from one of the warts to stimulate the immune system into recognizing that the warts are "foreign".


Thanks Sarah! I work at the doggie daycare and we haven't had anyone ask about this or say their dog has them. But I won't be bringing him with me until it's gone. 

I haven't found any other warts yet. Hopefully it'll be just the one.


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## PB&J (Jun 19, 2009)

That's what it looks like to us! Lily had them and now she's thoughtfully passed them onto Lexi. Lily only had the one but it got pretty big. The vet took it off when she was having her ACL surgery and was under anaesthetic anyway. Lexi now has them and if you look at her it only looks like she has one on each side...until you look into her mouth and there are about 20 on the inside of her mouth! It's not the prettiest she's ever been, but they're not bothering her at all. They will go away on their own, though, just like Merlin's will. Just don't be surprised if more of them pop up. We've been recommended to feed Lexi tripe to help boost her immune system to help fight them off. Oh and the warts have about a 3 month incubation period, so it's possible he picked it up 3 months ago. (Lily had her wart about 3 months ago, hence Lexi getting it now!)


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## HudsensMama9 (Dec 17, 2009)

Yep, definitely looks like a papilloma to me. Hudsen got a really big one on his tongue last Nov. (I'm thinking from the dogpark or daycare.). It still hadn't gone away by Feb. So the vet removed it and said by cauterizing it, the immune system will be stimulated. However, within three weeks of his surgery a bunch popped up- maybe 10 or so on his lips and one even started coming back right in the same spot on his tongue. Miraculously, they began disappearing by mid-April and are now completely gone!! It takes a while; however, they are harmless! (Not very pretty though!).


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## sbjays (Mar 21, 2010)

My tucker (now 18 months) had this when he was 10 months or so...best course of action was to let it take its course...took about 3 wks to completely go away - no dog park or interaction with other dogs as it is highly contaigous!
what seemed so devastating then, turned out to be a minor bump in the road


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## Merlins mom (Jun 20, 2007)

sbjays said:


> My tucker (now 18 months) had this when he was 10 months or so...best course of action was to let it take its course...took about 3 wks to completely go away - no dog park or interaction with other dogs as it is highly contaigous!
> what seemed so devastating then, turned out to be a minor bump in the road



DH took Merlin to the vet on Saturday and he said that he didn't think it was PV. They clipped it off and sent him on his way. I wish I'd have been the one to take him because I'd like to know why they thought it wasn't PV. I'm going to wait a while longer to see if anymore pop up before I take him to work with me.


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