Growth on Nose
Hi, I am taking my cavy to the vet this upcoming Tuesday but it feels far away so I wanted to see if anyone had any input in the meantime on what may be going on. Snickers is a 1 year old male, living with a single other one year old male. I just noticed a fleshy growth on the top of his nose this week, at first glance I had thought it was a piece of his paper bedding that they like to toss around. It's about a 1/4 in in diameter and is soft to the touch. It is not rounded but rather wrinkled. Almost seems like a cluster of skin tags? He is still behaving normally.
Thank you for any insight!
Thank you for any insight!
Thank you for taking a look. I hope the vet will know what is going on with my poor piggy.
- Lynx
- Celebrate!!!
I looked for skin issues in dogs that might be similar:
I ran into this rather dramatic picture of warts (Papillomavirus) on a dog:
http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script= ... 4001200013
Or maybe nasal hyperkeratosis in this picture:
https://naturaldogcompany.com/articles/ ... -in-dozer/
More possibility of warts, also a Papillomavirus :
http://www.vetbook.org/wiki/dog/index.p ... llomavirus
And another here, where they say don't worry, this is a virus and it will fall off in a few weeks:
https://newtownsquarevet.com/your-dog-d ... ss-a-toad/
I ran into this rather dramatic picture of warts (Papillomavirus) on a dog:
http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script= ... 4001200013
Or maybe nasal hyperkeratosis in this picture:
https://naturaldogcompany.com/articles/ ... -in-dozer/
More possibility of warts, also a Papillomavirus :
http://www.vetbook.org/wiki/dog/index.p ... llomavirus
And another here, where they say don't worry, this is a virus and it will fall off in a few weeks:
https://newtownsquarevet.com/your-dog-d ... ss-a-toad/
Not only are these warts benign (good news!) they are also self-limiting (great news!), which means that they require no treatment. Viral papillomas will dry up and fall off on their own, usually after several weeks to a month or two. These warts are not known to cause pain, discomfort or itching at all. Finally, and importantly, these are not contagious to humans, or other animals, but can be considered contagious to other dogs.
... There isn’t a specific test to confirm whether a growth is a viral papilloma, other than surgical excision and biopsy. However, we see enough of these to feel confident in the diagnosis without resorting to biopsies. Only if the wart persists beyond several weeks, if it rapidly grows or becomes ulcerated, or if it causes Fido discomfort, do we recommend removal and biopsy.
Thank you Lynx! Both of these do look quite similar to the growth on Snickers nose and ease my worries a bit. I will update with the vet's opinion after we meet tomorrow.
I have emailed a hopefully clearer image. The vet believes it is most likely hyperkeratosis, as she found a small area of similar appearance on one of his feet. She said she cannot 100% rule out a wart, but the growth did not seem to go deeper than the skin so that made a wart less likely. She had never seen this on a guinea pig before but the diagnosis fits with his behavior of rooting around with his nose. My other pigs never did this, so I guess it is just a Snickers thing. Thank you for the advice and support. I am so glad it is just a cosmetic issue!