Okay, so maybe it wasn't so huuuuuuge but any wart is nasty and I was mainly just startled to see it when I wasn't expecting to. At all. Anyway, it was at this point that we were pretty sure a trip to the vet was inevitable.
I did not share with you the events that took place on our most recent vet visit and that is because they led to a wicked shame spiral that Robert and I barely pulled ourselves out of in time to take Funk back to the vet. Let me just say that the visit started with the vet refusing to see Garfunkel and sending us out the door with a bottle of sedatives and a pamphlet for Bark Busters. (We did wind up going back, with Garfunkel sedated, a few days later to have things taken care of.) Robert and I are pretty sure there's a photo of Garfunkel in the vet's office somewhere, warning employees of the Least Wanted Patient in America.
I say we were "pretty sure" we had to go to the vet (as opposed to "absolutely sure") because after I saw Garfunkel's hideous mouth barnacle I remembered reading something about oral warts on Pawcurious just a couple weeks prior. That post had a link to this page which described (with photos!) canine viral papillomas - and, to me, that's exactly what it looked like the Funk had. Should you not be as interested in CVPs as I was, let me summarize: They are basically just what I described, oral warts that develop in younger (up to 2 years) dogs, most commonly on the lips and/or muzzle. Dogs can develop any number of papillomas and the reason they are most common in younger dogs is because once a dog's immune system is exposed to the virus, it typically prevents recurrence. The papillomas can only be passed from dog to dog and usually go away on their own, once the dog's immune system builds up a resistance to the virus. Unfortunately, it can take 1-2 months for the papillomas to self-treat, as it were, so that's a definite bummer. The Pawcurious puppy picked the virus up from doggy daycare; Garfunkel most likely contracted it from the dog park.
Since I was pretty convinced Garfunkel had CVP and that it would go away of its own accord (eventually), I was still a little reluctant to drag him to the vet. So, I thought I'd give'em a call and see what they recommended. I don't know why I wasted my time - I know they can't diagnose over the phone. I think I thought that they'd want to avoid seeing Funk as much as we wanted to avoided bringing him in so they'd say "Yeah! Great diagnosis! We'll set aside a pack of XXX to help with the healing! You can pick it up anytime!" Alas, that is not was transpired and I ended up making Garfunkel an appointment. Sigh.
Cutting to the chase, because I knew that, even sedated, Funk wouldn't let anybody NEAR his mouth (and that he'd most likely have to wear a muzzle, anyway) I took and printed out some photos of the growths. It was much appreciated. :o) The vet said that while the growth inside Funk's mouth would most likely go away by itself, the one outside his mouth most likely would not. As such, he was going to have to freeze off the outside tumor. And since he was going to have to anesthetize Funk for that, he may as well burn off the other tumor while he was at it. And clip Funk's nails. And clean his teeth. I pointed out another little bump Garfunkel had on his back so they said they'd take care of that, too. Luckily, I hadn't fed Funk that morning (just in case something like this came up) so they were able to take him right then. I held Garfunkel while he got the first shot to knock him out and man was it FAST!!! Within 30 seconds the Funk was down for the count. It's a good thing Robert didn't take him because he would have been just beside himself seeing Garfunkel unable to walk, fall down and then not be able to get his tongue back in his mouth. I definitely felt bad, don't get me wrong, but there was a teensy part of me that was kind of fascinated by the whole process...
Anyhoodle, 5 hours and hundreds of dollars later, I brought home a bump-free Funk with super short claws and sparkling teeth. (I was forced to walk to the rear of the office and retrieve Funk from the kennel, as no one on staff was willing to risk the potential loss of arm or face epidermis. Funk was just sitting there quietly, waiting for me to get him. No whining. No barking. No thrashing. Success!) I have to mention that the teeth were, I kid you not, half of the entire bill. Nuts!!!!! He'll most likely never get a professional teeth cleaning again so I'm not sorry we did it but yowza. It hurt the pocketbook for sure. The following day the vet called with the biopsy results and the two mouth growths were indeed viral papillomas. (The back bump turned out to be a cyst and wasn't biopsied.)
This is how Garfunkel looked for the first two hours after I brought him home. See how his nails are yellow? That's all the styptic powder from the vet tech 'quicking' his nails. They were SHORT. But nice.
Later, Garfunkel decided to wander out and hang with me in the living room. He spent the entire afternoon lying on me in one formation or another. Poor guy.
And he did the same to Robert when he got home.
Here's a good shot of the staples in Funk's back where the cyst was removed.
And here are the before and after shots, just for comparison.
Here's his back after he got the staples removed two weeks post-procedure. He only got play dates with Quigley while the staples were in and Garfunkel definitely went through dog park withdrawal. When Robert finally took Funk back to the park last week or so, he made sure he told everyone about the virus when they asked about Funk's scar. The vet said Funk most likely came in contact with the virus not so much from dog-on-dog contact but from the shared water source at the park. Blech.
Check out those pearly whites! I'm almost blind here!
It's now been almost a month since the surgeries and Funk is looking better than ever. We all survived the multiple vet visits with nary a scrape nor scratch. (Well, except for Funk, of course, but you know what I mean.) I just really, really, really hope what they say is true and Garfunkel doesn't develop any papillomas again. Exhausting!
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