Multimodal treatment of a dog with disseminated cutaneous viral papillomatosis

Background Canine papillomaviruses (CPVs) are associated with varied cutaneous manifestations. Spontaneous resolution typically occurs within one to 12 months. This case report describes multimodal treatment of a dog with severe disseminated papillomatosis. Clinical summary An eight-month-old, female spayed, mixed breed dog was presented with a two month history of rapidly progressing papillomatosis and lack of response to oral azithromycin therapy. The dog was severely pruritic and malodorous; the weight and growth of lesions had progressed to affect the dog's gait and vision, and led to decreased quality of life. The dog was treated with substantial surgical debulking of lesions, followed by daily topical 5% imiquimod cream applied to nonexcisable lesions, and received five doses of an experimental recombinant CPV2 L1 vaccine every 14 days for 10 weeks. At the end of the 10 weeks, two lesions remained and were excised. No additional treatment was needed and 10 months post-treatment the dog was lesion free. Conclusion New therapies need to be developed and assessed, in controlled treatment trials, to determine the efficacy of single modality therapeutic interventions for severe, persistent canine cutaneous papillomatosis.