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  • Do greyhounds have an increased risk of bleeding after dental procedures?

In the past it was recognised that some Greyhounds seemed to be bleed more than was anticipated after undergoing dental extractions.

This has been a cause of concern for us and also for many Greyhound owners. Recent research has shown that this increased tendency to bleed is cause by a condition called “hyperfibrinolysis syndrome” (1).

What can we do?

Unfortunately, a test that can identify which individual dogs that are at risk of bleeding after dentals is not widely available. However, resent research has shown that medicating Greyhounds with antifibrinolytic drugs is safe and does reduced the incidence of post-operative bleeding (2).

Therefore, we recommend treating all Greyhounds and Sighthounds that are having a dental procedure with an anti-fibrinolytic drug call Tranexaminc acid. Treatment is started on the morning of the dental procedure and continued for 6 days after the procedure.

Please contact the veterinary team if you have any questions regarding the use of Tranexamic acid in Greyhounds and Sighthounds who are having dental procedures.


  1. Lara-Garcia A., et al., (2008) “Post-operative bleeding in retired racing greyhound”. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 22, pp. 525-533
  2. Martin, L. M., et al., (2012) Epsilon aminocaproic acid for the prevention of delayed post-operative bleeding in retired racing greyhounds undergoing gonadectomy. Veterinary Surgeon, 41, pp. 594-603