New to this community and Finn and I have had a baptism by fire. If anyone has a forum tip for the best place for this to reach grey-parents who are making the amputation decision please let me know and I will repost.

There is a completely treatable bleeding disorder unique to greyhounds that owners need to know about. Your vet may not. Mine was completely puzzled by what she was seeing; we don't get too many greyhounds in interior British Columbia and my vet is as experienced with greys as we are likely to find here. She has a colleague who just graduated who was never taught this.

The disorder is called hyperfibrinolysis syndrome and it can be triggered by the surgery. To sum it up in lay terms: they clot well and then they repeatedly breakdown the clots. Your vet needs to know where to access tranexamic acid and pentoxifyline before your surgery, just in case. My vet was told it can even be helpful to give the TEA in advance of surgery as a preventative.

Finn had his hind leg amputation on Monday early evening. Twenty-four hours later he began to bruise and swell--everywhere. It started in the groin (to be expected anyway); by bedtime it had spread to his remaining hind leg; by the next morning it encompassed his whole chest, and one front leg. It was very scary. The vet could find nothing wrong. All blood counts ok. Dog cheerful; pain well managed. We considered rushing him 9 hours over 2 major mountain passes (it was snowing) to the nearest urgent care facility; we considered a blood transfusion with no blood-typing equipment available. We thought he might be dying. Thank goodness I suggested my vet call the urgent care facility for a consult. 

Hyperfibrinolysis is actually common in hind-leg amputations of greyhounds and presumably greyhound mixes. The specialist told my vet about a 2020 study of 200 greys with hind leg amputations for osteosarcoma. 160 greyhounds developed the problem to a greater or lesser degree.

Take a deep breath; we got a prescription from the local human hospital pharmacy. Finn is now expected to fully recover. He didn't even need to stay in the clinic overnight. Today, despite being black and blue all over, he doesn't understand why he can't go for a walk yet! He's found his balance and wants to go. I'm told 48 hours of rest to avoid disturbing

fragile clots.

Hope this saves some of you from a panic inducing situation.