Warts on 14 year old horse-Why?

[Lamma70]

So, a few months ago, I noticed that my horse had a few wart looking things on the side of his muzzle. They didn’t seem to be that huge, so I kept an eye on them. They have now spread to the underside of his muzzle and around his eye. Still not huge, but just a little concerning to me that they are spreading. Also concerning to me is that he is 14, and not a baby. I know that young horses usually get them as their immune systems aren’t fully developed, but it seems a little more on the rare side for mature horses to get them.

Here is a link to my shutter fly account with some pictures of what they look like:
https://pamrickard.shutterfly.com/pictures/11

Has anyone ever had this happen to their mature horse? If so, should I be concerned, or should they go away? He does have more of a compromised immune system at times, so I do give him the following supplements/feed to help that and his ulcers/belly:

GUT
Flax Seed
Prolactic DFM with Pre/Probiotics
Vitamin E Capsules
Selenium Yeast
Kelp
MSM
3-way Amino Acid
Oat Bran
Beet Pulp
Hay cubes
Grassy Hay

I just hope that it is just a passing thing, and there is nothing going on internally, or that it is some type of sarcoids vs. warts.

Does anyone have suggestions on how to get rid of them, or do I just wait it out? I have read that warts tend to go away in a few months.

[Flash44]

You can get some cod liver oil and rub it on the warts and they will disappear. Or maybe they will disappear anyway. My son had a wart on his knee as an infant, and the cod liver oil worked. I’ve used it on horses as well. Takes about 6 weeks I think.

[Highflyer]

My gelding got them on his leg last year (just above coronet and they spread up to his ankle.) He was eight and hadn’t been exposed to anyone with warts as far as I know. It took about 5 months and they suddenly started to dry up and were gone in a week. My vet had never seem them on the leg or in an older horse.

[Marla_100]

In humans- Adelle Davis, old time nutritionist used to say that a Vitamin A and/or Vit. E deficiency caused warts and to make them go away, take lots of both vitamins orally and try spreading the oil from Vit. E capsules right on the warts.

Just curious if you’re feeding a complete vitamin/mineral supplement? You might want to check on that feed balancing website and see if your horse’s diet is adequately balanced.

[Highflyer]

In horses warts are caused by a virus, the papilloma virus, not a vitamin insufficiency.

[Lamma70]

Thanks Highflyer. Good to know that it could take longer than 2 months to clear up. I keep reading articles/posts about it only taking 2 months, and it seems like it has been longer than that. He does seem to have some type of warty looking bumps on his right leg above his knee too…but wasn’t sure if that was some other skin thing going on. It makes me wonder though…all of the warts are on the right side of his face, and he itches his face on his leg…
I guess I will just ignore them for now unless it worsens.

[merrygoround]

Next time the vet comes out have him look them over. Warts have their own time schedule. Many of us have wished it was only 2mo.

[Lamma70]

Update…his warts completely disappeared after worming him! His most recent fecal check indicated a high worm load, which was probably reducing his immunity. He hadn’t had worms show in his fecal for quite some time, so I was becoming a little more relaxed in that area, and was a bit surprised with the results. Poor baby! So, gave him the Panacur power pac, and then Ivermectin a week later. About a week after the worming, pretty much all of the warts were gone! My barn manager had also started him on garlic around the same time, so thinks that could have helped as well. Needless to say, I think I am going to run a fecal check every month for a bit here, and keep him on a more regimented worming program (he is now on daily wormer for the next few months). I wanted to let everyone know in case they have a mature horse with warts. Check for worms! :eek:

[cloudyandcallie]

Go to a drugstore and buy some of the “freeze off” stuff for warts. Works very well to dispose of warts as well as getting rid of skin tags on horses. I usually buy “Compound W” but think that other products should work as well.

As an aside, when I was in grad school I got a wart on one finger! I was appalled and wore a ring over it. Till spring came and the pool opened at my apt complex. A couple of days in the pool and the wart was gone. Didn’t have to kiss a frog to get the wart, nor to get rid of the wart. If your horses doesn’t want to go swimming in a pool, then buy the Compound w and use as directed. One of my friends used it on, oh what are those things called in draft horse’s ears?, she used it on those growths down here in the summer heat an humidity and it worked great.