Warts

jane · Post by **jane** » Fri Apr 23, 2004 10:09 pm

Does anyone have a cure for warts? We've a heifer growing one on her shoulder, I know it will drop off eventually but if we could treat her with something that would speed that up, or at least stop the wart spreading, either on her or onto her mates it would be good. Thanks.

Post by **Mark Bowles** » Fri Apr 23, 2004 10:41 pm

Warts have got to be the biggest pain in the ar..! We have two sorts, the largish round ones that tend to be on the body (i do have a heifer that has on on the inside of each ear!)
Then there are the other long thinish types that protrude from any part of the body,teats being a favorite position.
Warts are costing me dear in two respects, selling heifers, as it is the heifers between 10 months and 2 1/2 years old that get them, also showing gets very difficult,i have some very showable heifers that will never see the showring because of warts.Is there a magic solution, i have tried putting a magic solution in the water, yes that failed!
Maybe i need to isolate all those with warts until they are cured then reintroduce them back to the main herd.With 2 mature bulls and various young bulls coming thru it would mean running lots of small groups,then space becomes an issue.
Vaccination may be the way,but i am told there are all sorts of variations of warts,still to eradicate just a couple would be good.
Anyway,at least they go in the end,i will have to show cows 4 years old and over!!!

monica waltho · Post by **monica waltho** » Fri Apr 23, 2004 11:28 pm

Are warts contagious? I have one heifer this year approx 11mths old who has a few on her neck,would this or should this stop me from showing her?
I usually have one animal a year who seems to have warts,but nothing else in the same group get them.
I wish the same could be said for ringworm!

Duncan MacIntyre · Post by **Duncan MacIntyre** » Sat Apr 24, 2004 12:01 am

Hello Monica,
Warts are indeed contagious and this is why they are not acceptable in the show ring and not poular in the sale ring either. The type generally found on the head and neck are called angleberries in many parts of the UK and can spread quickly through a group of young stock. Occasionally they get on to genital areas and if they get on to the penis of a bulll can cause considerable loss of use. They will always receed in time but this may be speeded up by use of an autogenous vaccine - this has to be prepared on an individual basis for use on that one animal only so is expensive unless the animal is particulary valuable or its sale may be lost if not cured quickly. I rarely get asked to do it now but it used to be quite common in veterinary practice to take warts off young bulls or heifers a few months prior to sale and get vaccine made up. It is probably a year or two since I did it but as far as I know it is still allowed - so many medicines and practices seem to be outlawed these days - like anthiomaline which worked well against pedunculated (on a stalk) warts as it constricted the blood vessels and the wart could not get enough blood and died off.

Marg Rawlings · Post by **Marg Rawlings** » Sat Apr 24, 2004 3:20 am

Hi everyone

I am going to quote my Pat Coleby book " they are caused by a virus attracted to a Magnesium deficient host, and extra dolomite in some form or another is usually enough to halt their progress". We have used this and found that they start dropping off after 10 - 14 days. We use dolomite in powder form and just add a tablespoon to their feed twice daily. It did work for us.

Have also been told that if they bleed they usually fall off, but have found the dolomite to be the cheapest and probably the kindest way to get rid of them. Good luck.

Marg Rawlings :D

Kathleen · Post by **Kathleen** » Sat Apr 24, 2004 3:20 am

I could not agree with you more Mark! I am sick to death of them dam things... and I have tried EVERY remedy that everyone has ever given on your old site and many others!
And I would love to know -when- they are suppossed to 'drop off' I have a four year old cow that I have tried everything and they have never lessened or decreased where as other heifers from the same year have lost the ones they had thru my stubborn determination and cutting them off... anyway the cow that still has them is going to slaughter next month (for my freezer) because I have just had enough!

Re the 'vaccine' I approached my vet and he would not give me a guarentee that the treatment would solve the problem in the first place let alone afterwards... it would have cost me around $500.00 plus for the treatment!

Duncan can you please tell me more about the anthiomaline ... is that what I would buy it as (is that the chemical name only and I need to know the 'product' name?) and exactly how would I use it IF I can get my hands on it?

Regards
Kathleen.

Sylvia · Post by **Sylvia** » Sat Apr 24, 2004 8:37 am

I think I might have to give up Dexters, I am so naive it isn't true. We had some warts on one of our heifers last year and they went without any action from us. So when I was asked if I minded buying something with a wart I said they aren't contagious are they? No I was told. And remembering mine I said I didn't mind. From the previous posts I look as if I have seriously disadvantaged my herd.

Mind you, we had never seen ringworm before but since the new lot came in they have developed it

I am putting a homeopathic treatment in the water and everyone says don't worry it will go when the weather improves. I sincerely hope so, skin problems in any animals are such a b*****.

monica waltho · Post by **monica waltho** » Sat Apr 24, 2004 11:28 pm

HI Duncan
Thanks for the reply,but I'm not convinced that they are that contagious. Why do I only get the odd one with it, and none of the same group get it?
I would probably prefer to buy an animal with warts,provided they are not great big things, than an animal with ringworm.

Leanne George · Post by **Leanne George** » Sun Apr 25, 2004 8:54 am

Hi Everyone

Well a few years ago i had trouble with a heifer with warts lots of people told me to get them cut of, but not a good look on her face, so I resorted to the Pat Colbey book and fed her dolimite in her feed every day for two weeks and they went and never had a problem since

Leanne George :p

Duncan MacIntyre · Post by **Duncan MacIntyre** » Sun Apr 25, 2004 12:20 pm

monica waltho wrote:HI Duncan
Thanks for the reply,but I'm not convinced that they are that contagious. Why do I only get the odd one with it, and none of the same group get it?
I would probably prefer to buy an animal with warts,provided they are not great big things, than an animal with ringworm.

There are a lot of reasons why not all animals in a herd respond to a challenge with a virus in the same way at the same time, but it is certain that warts are caused by a papilloma virus. Individual immune status, maternal immunity, and oll sorts of other factors play a part. Levels of vitamins and minerals may well affect severity of signs and speed of recovery, but the cause is the virus.
Likewise with ringworm the cause is a fungus growing in the skin, but it may be influenced by immunity from previous exposure and by the general health of the animal. So whilst suplimentation of some of these may speed recovery the underlying cause is still the fungus.
I would agree wholeheartedly that warts are preferable to ringworm and it is probably easier to eradicate ringworm from a herd. I was surprised to learn during a tour of Scandinavia in 2000 looking at cattle health that there is no ringworm in Norway - and they intend to keep it that way. It can cause havoc if it gets into a herd which has not had any ringworm infection for a long time because all the adults are susceptable as well as the usual calves which we see in herds where it just goes round and round.
Duncan

Kathleen · Post by **Kathleen** » Wed Apr 28, 2004 1:15 am

HI Leanne,

Well from one Aus to another ... it does not work!
I have tried ALL of the 'P.C.' formulars for all the do-dads they are supposed to cure from warts to ticks and god knows what in between ...nope ...sorry ... they do not work!

*sigh* so I suppose this thread has been about as usefull as the above book was!

Oh and thanks for the answer Duncan *wink*

Kathleen.

Duncan MacIntyre · Post by **Duncan MacIntyre** » Wed Apr 28, 2004 10:02 pm

Kathleen wrote:Duncan can you please tell me more about the anthiomaline ... is that what I would buy it as (is that the chemical name only and I need to know the 'product' name?) and exactly how would I use it IF I can get my hands on it?

Regards
Kathleen.

Hello athleen,
reply not completely forgotten, it is several years since Anthiomaline went off the market, it was an old product of May and Baker, which underwent various name changes and takeovers and is now part of Merial. I can't find any old bottles or data sheets about to give you accurate pharmaceutical details but I am pretty certain it is no longer available anywhere. I merely mentioned such a historical wonder to show how long my patchy memory is :;):

Kathleen · Post by **Kathleen** » Sun May 09, 2004 3:48 am

Thanks Duncan,

All the best
Kathleen.