where clients and patients are treated like friends and family

Welcome to Our Practice:

Our team is dedicated to providing the highest level of care, and we take the time to get to know each and every one of our patients so that we can tailor our services to meet your individual needs.

knowing your pet has an eye problem can be frightening (and sometimes a bit icky!)

Flashbacks of having your own eyes checked-the bright lights, blurred vision, and the dreaded “puff of air test” may come to mind. If thoughts like these make you want to run for the hills, let the staff at Ocean Veterinary Ophthalmology take away the fear factor! Our practice is devoted exclusively to the medical and surgical treatment of animal eye diseases and injuries. Our team is committed to helping you and your pet by providing answers and prompt treatment of your pet’s ocular disease in a compassionate and caring environment.

The good news is that many eye diseases in dogs and cats are treatable! Dr. Michelle Samuel and Dr. Laura Mancuso, our board-certified veterinary ophthalmologists, are dedicated to improving or maintaining your pet’s eye health, vision, and comfort. They are especially passionate about restoring vision through cataract surgery using the Stellaris Elite vision enhancement system. This cataract unit has advanced technology to enhance stability of the eye and improve efficiency during cataract removal making surgery much more successful.

We believe in quality care and medicine and will guide you through every step of process. This includes explaining and helping you understand your pet’s eye disease and possible treatment options. These options may be medical, surgical, or both. Together, we’ll outline the most appropriate treatment plan customized for you and your pet’s needs. The team at Ocean leaves plenty of time for you to ask questions because we understand that your pet having any health problems can be overwhelming and scary. We are always available by phone or email when questions arise, and try our best to schedule your pet’s appointment as soon as possible. A majority of the time, we even have availability to see your pet same day if necessary.

We are here for you and your pet!

Look no further for the rare and invaluable combination of board-certified skill and true compassion. Dr. Samuel and her team will most assuredly put both you and your pet at ease, make you both feel like you are the most important clients she will treat this year, take all the time you need to understand your pet’s condition, treatment, and prognosis, and execute a plan to have you and your pet feeling better as quickly as possible. There is nothing like the worry surrounding a condition requiring a veterinarian, let alone a specialist. Dr. Samuel understands this. She has the talent, knowledge, and experience to help you manage your pet’s issue(s). My Beezle and my Roscoe benefitted from her expertise, wisdom, and caring. I never hesitate to recommend her services to others. Such an asset to our area, as there are but a handful of veterinarians in the country with her certifications and even fewer with her level of patient (and human) bedside manner.

We highly recommend Dr. Samuel and her team. When we were considering cataract surgery for our dog, Elsie, Dr. Samuel explained everything very clearly and answered all of our questions while keeping Elsie’s health as her top priority. The entire staff is friendly and we are always seen right at our appointment time. We are so glad we found such a great ophthalmologist for our little Elsie!

I want to thank Dr. Samuel so much for her great care of Buster. She was the only one that gave me hope that Buster could have more time than his initial cancer prognosis of 1-2-month. Our family had a great six more months with that silly guy and Dr. Samuel was a big part of that!

“We greatly appreciate the care Dr. Samuel gave our beloved Shelby in the past 2.5 years. Shelby had multiple health issues and we entering what we were sure was end of life. She had an episode where she lost dramatically lost vision in one eye. Dr. Samuel provided a quick and precise diagnosis and treatment which we believe saved Shelby’s eyes, extended her life, and gave Shelby the Yellow Labrador a best quality of life in her final years. Dr Samuel shows great concern and demonstrates a care of understanding canine behavior while treating with the medical science in her field We are grateful to Dr. Samuel and all the staff at her practice.”

Dr Samuel and her staff are simply the best. Our dog, Neo, was severely abused as a puppy. The story follows if you want to see what a special guy he is. When we arrived at Dr Samuel’s office we were met by her fabulous staff. Neo was very nervous and afraid. I told them that he did not like to be picked up and that he was so afraid that I was not sure if he bite them or not. We were put in a room and Dr. Samuel soon arrived. She introduced herself and then immediately sat down on the floor with Neo. She stroked him and spoke softly. I almost cried knowing that I had brought him to the right place. They managed to check his eyes and gave him emergency eye drops. Dr. Samuel told me that if the pressure did not go down in 20 minutes she would have to take his eye out. We sat and waited. The treatment worked but she told me that eventually that would have to happen. Some months later she operated on him to remove the eye. They called almost every day afterwards to see how he was doing. He is doing great. He is almost blind in his good eye but he doesn’t seem to notice it even when he turns into a wall. You will never find a better doctor or a better staff to take care of your pets.

Read about Neo’s story below.
Here’s Neo story. He was thrown off a second story balcony – twice by his previous owner. His hip was broken, the retina of his left eye was detached, his skull was cracked …. and and and. Worse than all that he was “confined” for 6 months awaiting the trial of his owner. At the end a very skilled dog trainer took him to her place of work. She sat with him an hour a day for weeks until he regained his trust for people. It then took several months until he was ready to come home with us. So you see he is special and we don’t take him to just any vet and I know you all feel that way too.

Dr. Samuel is amazing!!! As a veterinarian in Northern Virginia, I have referred many ophthalmology cases to her and her team. Whenever I call her about a case, she always takes time to walk me through diagnostics and treatment to help my patient until they can follow up with her. The other day I called her about a patient with a real bad corneal ulcer. She was headed into surgery when she got my call. She had her technician call me immediately to answer my questions.

When I refer a patient to Dr. Samuel, I make sure to let my client know that their pet will be seeing a competent and caring specialist. She has a gentle touch with patients and clients. I know about the gentle touch with patients on a personal level. My 9-year-old Boston Terrier “Kettle” started to develop a opaque/white color to her eyes. I knew that it was cataracts but was worried because she is my baby. Dr. Samuel was able to get us in quickly to reassure me that her cataracts were stable and that she didn’t need cataract surgery at the moment. She was started on medication to reduce any secondary effects of having cataracts.

I recommend Dr. Samuel with no reservations not only as a client of hers, but as a fellow colleague.

Tosha Stark DVM

All Four Paws Veterinary Relief, LLC