PM rate question - please take a look

Hi,
Maggie, my Border Collie, just got her PM implanted on Tuesday. It is her second generator. Anyway, I take her heart rate a minute or two after a short walk and it is down to 65 or 70 bpm. That is the bottom of her range. How fast does your PM slow down after activity is over? Is it a pretty rapid transition? Her "normal" dog rate should be around 95bpm.

I'm just wondering if we have a problem with her setting.
Thanks,
Lori

2 Comments

Maggie's HR

by SMITTY - 2007-06-23 12:06:04

Hi Lori,

A pacemaker doesn’t slow down; it simply quits assisting the heart when it is not needed. In the case of Maggie, if the low setting is 70, the PM will work full time to keep her heart rate at 70 BPM. After the HR reaches 70, or above, the PM monitors her heart and will assist with a heart beat if it looks as if the heart’s natural pacemaker is not going to make the heart beat. Thus the PM sits there monitoring each beat and helping as needed until the heart rate reaches the upper limit and then it takes itself out of the picture entirely, It will stay out of the picture until the heart beat drops back into the assigned range for it to help.

Now scratch Maggie’s tummy and tell her to go to sleep.

Smitty

PS: If this comment is duplicated, I apologize but I couldn't get it to show up the first time I looked so I did it again.

Smitty

by snipsnapper - 2007-06-23 12:06:10

Thanks for that insight. That makes sense. I was told that Maggie's PM is pretty much assisting on every beat because of the severity of her heart block. Pacemakers are truly a marvel. Thank goodness for them.

I'm hoping that her seemingly low heart rate is due to my errors in listening with a stethoscope. Her panting interferes with the sound of the heart. I'm bringing her in to the vet's today to have them take her heart rate. Hopefully it'll be in the healthy doggy range of 95 bpm. I'd hate to have an issue because that would mean another trip of 12 hours (round trip) for us just for a setting change.

Let's keep our fingers crossed! Have a great day.

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I am 100% pacemaker dependant and have been all my life. I try not to think about how a little metal box keeps me alive - it would drive me crazy. So I lead a very active life.