Product Review: Compound W Freeze Off Wart Remover

While brushing my dog, I noticed that he had something on the top of his head. I didn't know if it was cancerous or what. Concerned that it was something serious, I made an appointment with his veterinarian.

The veterinarian immediately waved off my concern. He said that it was a harmless wart and that I shouldn't be concerned. He said that if the wart seemed to be bothering the dog that I should use a wart remover. I felt that it was bothering him since he occasionally scratched it and decided to buy a wart remover.

I went to the store and there was a large selection of wart removers. Since I've never had warts, I didn't have any experience with any wart removing products. Feeling Compound W had the best television commercials, I bought the Compound W Freeze Off Wart Remover.

After I returned home, I read the instructions. The instructions seemed pretty straight forward. They basically claimed that only one application should be necessary. So, I attached the giant cotton swab looking attachment to the can. The dog tried to back away, apparently not liking the look of this product. He probably thought I was going to clean his ears considering it looked like a cotton swab. When I used the product on his wart, he didn't even flinch. It apparently didn't hurt.

His wart didn't go away though. Becoming concerned that a biopsy should have been done to rule out cancer, I took my dog to another veterinarian. When I told him that the other veterinarian had recommended the freeze off wart remover, he was shocked. He told me to never use that product on the dog again. He did agree though that the wart seemed harmless.

I agree that this product shouldn't be used on animals. But I do have a complaint about Compound W Freeze Off Wart Remover. The product doesn't say on it not to use it on animals. And when I contacted the company to ask them their opinion before I used it, they didn't have any recommendation. So, of course I went with what the first veterinarian had said. But the company needs to add a comment on the package that it's ineffective on animals and possibly even dangerous to use on them. They did refund my money, but I imagine most people don't go to all that trouble to get their money back when a product doesn't work.