My elderly dog has warts

Hi there. I’d really appreciate some advice please. My 12 yo labradoodle has several of these warts. Some have broken skin/bleed where she scratches. Our vet suggested leaving them be. I try to keep them clean and have applied udder cream but wondered if there’s anything I can get over the counter to treat them or just leave them be? I’m uk based.

Hello!  In general, it's always a good idea to be sure that warts are, in fact, warts - as other possibilities include cancers, benign or otherwise,'skin tags,' scales, inflamed follicles eg d/t demodex and so on.  Your vet will help you to diagnose lesions on your dog - it cannot be done by us, online, at this time.  However, so long as your vet is as happy as they can be that these are viral warts, then they may decide to leave them alone.  This is because a lot of warts tend to be caused by the Canine Papilloma Virus, which is non-transmissable to humans and they often disappear again on their own.  However, when they are in a sensitive place, such as under a foot or stopping an eyelid from closing, they may cause pain and need to be removed.  Furthermore, a sudden onset of warts may reflect a drop in a dogs' immunity, which might have some other underlying cause eg illness, that's worth being aware of.  A good questions for your vet is therefore 'is there any reason that the warts have proliferated now?  Do we need to do any tests?'  and another would be. 'How are warts passed on?  Should we be taking any steps?'   I dont know of any cream that treats viral warts at this time.

Hello!  In general, it's always a good idea to be sure that warts are, in fact, warts - as other possibilities include cancers, benign or otherwise,'skin tags,' scales, inflamed follicles eg d/t demodex and so on.  Your vet will help you to diagnose lesions on your dog - it cannot be done by us, online, at this time.  However, so long as your vet is as happy as they can be that these are viral warts, then they may decide to leave them alone.  This is because a lot of warts tend to be caused by the Canine Papilloma Virus, which is non-transmissable to humans and they often disappear again on their own.  However, when they are in a sensitive place, such as under a foot or stopping an eyelid from closing, they may cause pain and need to be removed.  Furthermore, a sudden onset of warts may reflect a drop in a dogs' immunity, which might have some other underlying cause eg illness, that's worth being aware of.  A good questions for your vet is therefore 'is there any reason that the warts have proliferated now?  Do we need to do any tests?'  and another would be. 'How are warts passed on?  Should we be taking any steps?'   I dont know of any cream that treats viral warts at this time.

Ps if you type 'warts' or 'oral papilloma' into our blog, you will find an excellent article about them.