My fiance urged me to share our experience with BumBums on here, as others might benefit from it at some point.


BumBums is our 7 year, 10 month old boy who was diagnosed with a high grade second degree heart block following abdominal surgery back in April this year. It came as a complete shock to us, as he has check-ups every 8-10 weeks and NEVER shown any irregularities/murmurs. We put him on isoproterenol once he was diagnosed and he was doing great (heart rate well above 200) until about 4 weeks ago when his heart rate suddenly dropped to 120/140 bpm. Although I didn't put it together at the time, this occurred 2 weeks after his buddy died. His heart rate remained in the low 100's until last weekend (coincided with a mini vacation to NY) when it dropped to 60 bpm and he was diagnosed with a complete heart block at Cornell University. The vet suggested letting him go, as he couldn't take a single step without collapsing, had a respiratory rate of over 100, and couldn't hold any bowls.

He was in no pain, just very exhausted. I decided to take him back home to Maryland with me because I wanted him to die in the comfort of his home and my arms. Over the course the past week, he quickly began to improve. His heart rate went back up to about 200 and he started running around for 30-45min at a time like he used to (although he is old, he has the energy and activity level of a 4 year old!!!).

As if this isn't already interesting, here comes the kicker. I had a vet appointment for a follow-up EKG today. He was his happy lil self knocking over garbage cans and causing sorts of other trouble all morning. Heart rate was above 200. The second I put him in the car, he froze. Respiratory rate increased, heart rate dropped (I always carry a stethoscope with me nowadays) and he looked like in shock. At the vet his heart rate was under 100 and it was hard to even get him to open his eyes. However, once we started the EKG he came out of it and started to freak out. Heart rate increased again and we got pretty good data. We think he might now come out as a high grade first or low grade second degree heart block.

We couldn't put him through any blood tests today due to his crazy response to stress but we are thinking that he has some hormonal imbalance that impacts electrical conduction and intensifies when he is stressed/scared. We will pursue a hormone panel next month.

Lesson learned: Heart block can be caused by many things and it's important to figure out the etiology of it. 

There are no words to describe how happy we are that he is still with us today!