Our wonderful nine year old St Bernard bitch has just had a very bad uterus infection after her last season, the vet has advised having her spayed in about 6 weeks time. He says next season she will have a serious infection again obviously we are worried about her age and the risk of the operation on her heart. Any advice would be grateful, thankyou.

I had my 10 year old bitch speyed last year (she was having a mammary strip anyway) and she was soooo much better for it - you vet will know how well her heart is, although I appreciate 9 is a very good age for a Saint B, it's better to have planned surgery than an emergency spey because of pyometria.......