cocker full of warts

[rainingcats&dogs]

how do you all go about grooming cockers that are full of warts,and the mom says dont make the warts bleed,i dont want to take dogs like this but in so slow,i have to,this dog even has huge ones on the face,i dont even want to give it a clean face,and lots on the legs,i felt like telling her,please go get them removed before you take dog to a groomer,she does take excellent care of this dog,i just dont kknow what to do
thanks
trish

[rapuzzled]

Those are the worst. lol. And they always have about 100 warts and ask you not to nick any of them...nearly impossible to do! Normally I just go very slowly and carefully. We actually do an old britanny mix that the owners take a bingo marker and mark all of his warts. It works great on the PC, but after the bath it's all washed away...HOWEVER, by that time the hair is all short and it's much easier to see the warts. They just love that dog so much though, come to think of it I don't think that he has made an appt. in awhile, and he's pretty old, I hope that he's ok...

[DAPER DAWG]

We just tell them we will try but cannot promise and sometimes do them with a #4 instead of a 5 or 7 but it looks like ****. Lots of times the warts are just so dry they bleed from washing them in the tub.

[Doggone]

warts,what to do

So sorry to say,but wart removal only helps for a little while as they always come back! I just go slow,remember the very troublesome spots and just plane deal w/it.Nothing more you can really do as I see it.

[Ruggins]

If it is dark colored, silver nitrate sticks work great for stopping the bleeding on those warts that get to oozing. white dogs, a little too obvious, stains it black.

[milhasavilla]

I really don't like the warts either, but some of these older dogs are sure full of them. I have quite a few poodles that come in loaded with them! Can't say I enjoy grooming over the warts, but I take it in stride. I use a little longer blade and go really slow. After a few grooms, you can judge a little better which spots are more loaded than others and so on. Good luck - we're empathizing with you!

[mustluvdogs1]

Warts, hate them!! Yuck

Someone, not a groomer told me if you nick a wart, be sure to clean blade as it spreads them. Has anyone heard that? It was not a vet or groomer. I can see where you could think that...they seem to get more and more in old age. Helly knows everything..lets see what she says. I would explain that it is nearly impossible to trim dog and not hit a wart. They will heal. Or charge more for extra detail with small detail clipper around face. I hear you or owner can put masking tape on each wart....then detail w/ small clipper around ea. wart. That would be a job, eh? Other than that, I say, some may get hit even with snap on comb. Someone else must have a better idea.

[RevWind]

Weird, I read the title of this post and the first thing I thought of was "pocket full of posies". Kinda sounded like it, right??

Cocker warts are a pain in the patootie. Try as you might, they end up bleeding anyway either from scrubbing in the bath or a graze by the clippers.

[Helly]

Someone, not a groomer told me if you nick a wart, be sure to clean blade as it spreads them. Has anyone heard that? It was not a vet or groomer. I can see where you could think that...they seem to get more and more in old age. Helly knows everything..lets see what she says. I would explain that it is nearly impossible to trim dog and not hit a wart. They will heal. Or charge more for extra detail with small detail clipper around face. I hear you or owner can put masking tape on each wart....then detail w/ small clipper around ea. wart. That would be a job, eh? Other than that, I say, some may get hit even with snap on comb. Someone else must have a better idea.

If the wart is a true wart, and not a cyst, skin tag, or some other type of growth, then yes, nicking it can spread the warts. Even not nicking it can spread warts. Warts (true warts) are caused by a virus.

[RevWind]

wow...

If the wart is a true wart, and not a cyst, skin tag, or some other type of growth, then yes, nicking it can spread the warts. Even not nicking it can spread warts. Warts (true warts) are caused by a virus.

That's interesting. Any shampoo that can help that? So grooming a dog with warts will essentially automatically spread them? What about to other dogs??

[Helly]

That's interesting. Any shampoo that can help that? So grooming a dog with warts will essentially automatically spread them? What about to other dogs??

Warts are caused by a virus that is in the dogs entire system. There is no shampoo that will help that. And seeing as the virus is already in the dog's system, they're very hard to get rid of. Remove one, and the virus will eventually cause another one to grow. That's one reason vets don't usually remove warts unless they're infected. Another reason being that warts, as ugly as they are, are benign growths that don't pose a health risk, but the anesthesia required to remove them does pose a risk.

Grooming isn't exactly causing the warts to spread from one area of the dog to another. But if you nick a wart, you could "seed" the virus into an area that it hasn't popped out yet, causing another wart to grow.

And yes, if you groom a dog with warts, and don't disinfect your blade before you use it on another dog, you could theoretically infect that dog with the virus. Whether the dog actually would develop a wart or not depends on a lot of things, including the dog's immune system.