Two weeks ago we had a lovely woman veterinarian come to our home to clean our two dogs teeth.

Her name is Danielle Spade, DVM. Not only does she do dentistry, she also does acupuncture, herbal remedies and more. She is very professional, and provides everything that you would find in a normal vet office.

She does not do sedation dentistry. Instead, she uses a shot before the procedure, which makes the dog feel loopy and relaxed, after the procedure is done she will administer another shot to bring them back to their normal selves.

During the procedure, she speaks to the dogs, in a very calm, soothing voice. She is very gentle and professional. If any teeth need to be extracted, she will take care of that. Each procedure took half an hour. When the dogs were given their recovery shot, they came back quickly and were as happy as could be.

I am writing this letter, mainly to inform other Borregan’s of this gift of a woman that has discovered our valley.

The last time that our dogs had their teeth cleaned under anesthesia, it was a very long drawn out procedure and very expensive to say the least. We have been using High Valley Veterinary hospital in Ramona for several years.

In their normal method of operation for a teeth cleaning procedure, a client is required to bring their dog in a few days prior to having their teeth cleaned so that they can have blood work done. The cost of blood work panels is $180 per dog. They will not perform a teeth cleaning without having blood work done prior to the teeth cleaning procedure. You must also have your dogs teeth cleaned within one month of having the bloodwork administered. If you wait longer than one month, you must do their blood work all over again.

The cost to have a teeth cleaning for our two dogs ranges between a low estimate being $597 and $784.50 per dog, an astronomical amount.

They also want to have your dog delivered to their office by 7 AM in the morning and they keep your dog until 5 o’clock that evening.

Our dogs like a lot of other dogs get very stressed in a vet office and to be placed in an environment like that for such a prolonged period of time seems inappropriate.

Dr. Danielle Spade charged us $125 per dog and she did a beautiful job, their teeth are sparkling white.

I cannot think of a better scenario than having a registered veterinarian come into your home and administer a teeth cleaning procedure that is as good as being in a vet office, no expensive blood work required and having our dogs not experience the stress which they do at the vet office is very comforting.

Cynthia Wood

– Borrego Springs, California