dog warts

Question
I have a 10 year old bichon. Lately, I have noticed warts appearing on various parts of his body including around his mouth. What causes this? What can I do to get rid of them? Thanks. I appreciate you.

Answer
Warts in people are viral, so I suppose they could be in dogs, too. Things like this certainly do start showing up as a dog ages, and they should be watched for changes in case one might prove cancerous.

If these are similar to a skin tag... something sticking out beyond the skin... you can take a piece of sewing thread and tie it really, really tightly around the growth as close to the base as you can get it. This will choke off its blood suppy and it will dry up and drop off within a couple days. I have done this numerous times, including on myself. You will probably need to have someone to hold the dog while you do this as it does sting a bit initially... not bad, but....

Your other option is to find a veterinary dermatologist with a laser. When one of our old gals got old, we had about six growths removed via laser. He did not use any anesthesia, but I think he did use a bit of sedative. We would have had her done much earlier if we had known about this technique.