Interferon-alpha treatments are another option for dogs with severe oral papillomas. This releases virus from the papilloma and speeds up the response of the immune system. Some veterinarians recommend crushing a few of the papillomas while the pet is under anesthesia and leaving them in place. A general anesthetic is required and the lesions are removed. If there are a large number of papillomas, or there are a few very large ones, or they are located in a place that causes the dog a lot of distress or discomfort (very rare), surgery may be indicated. Usually the papillomas just fall off once the immune system "rejects" them, and the dog remains immune to further infections. Over this time period the dog's immune system matures and the dog is able to mount a proper immune response to the virus and get rid of the infection. Most papillomas will regress on their own over 1 to 5 months. That is, we know that the papillomas are there, and we keep an eye on them, but unless they are causing problems for the dog we "neglect" to treat them. Treatment of the warts usually consists of "benign neglect". If you get a wart, blame your human friends! This virus is NOT contagious to people or to any other animals except dogs. Oral papillomas occur relatively commonly in dogs, and usually affect dogs in puppyhood and as young adults. The incubation period is 1 to 2 months, so if your dog has oral papillomas he or she got the infection quite some time ago. The virus is present in the papillomas, and the infection is spread by direct contact with the papilloma in an infected dog's mouth. Because they are viral, they are transmissible from dog to dog. Oral papillomas are caused by a virus, just like human skin warts. The papillomas can show up on the lips, tongue, roof of the mouth, or inside the cheeks. A dog may have a solitary papilloma or may have multiple warts in the mouth (hundreds to thousands). Oral papillomas are "warts" that occur in the mouth.
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