Houdi, our beloved Chihuahua loves this place - but maybe it's the treats. Meanwhile, his only remaining eye is under their tender care and doing quite well. Professional, learned, kind, and not horribly expensive. Recommend them for your animals too. Read Less

Everyone here is great! Dr. Gratzek saved our dog's vision when he required emergency surgery, and then treated his complicated autoimmune condition, even assisting his internist (not kidding, he was very sick) with his diagnosis. And the vet techs and Autumn behind the counter are all wonderful. Read Less

Dr. Gratzek and her staff are WONDERFUL!  They are professional, helpful, and caring.  And they are VERY good with my grumpy cat, Rusty, and treated him like he was their own pet.  And I found the pricing to be very reasonable, for a veterinary specialist.  I would recommend Ophthalmology for Animals to anyone who has a pet that needs eye care! Read Less

Absolutely brilliant and compassionate doctor and staff.  I brought two Service dogs, to get a yearly eye exam.  The dogs are very well trained, of course, but Dr. Gratzek and the staff went out of their way to make sure everyone was completely comfortable and the exam was painless .    There was room for one occupied wheelchair, two dogs and a chair for myself in the exam room.   Both dogs appreciated the spin-able tray on the table that had very fresh and high quality dog treats.  I was tempted to try the bacon myself it looked so good.  The chicken was organic and by the amount of drool the dogs were happy to produce...very delicious.  We witnessed another dog who was not having such an easy time and the staff handled this with so much care and attention it was amazing.  They were skilled and gentle the entire time this dog was there and he was not really happy about it.    We are so fortunate to have such a great facility in our community.  Thank you everyone at Ophthamology For Animals. Read Less

Dr Gratzek and her staff are outstanding.  My Shih tzu had reoccurring eye ulcers. Dr Gratzek performed a Gunderson Graft and he never had another ulcer.  My other Shih tzu was also a patient due to old age and cataracts.  They received wonderful compassionate care.       When my newly adopted poodle mix started rubbing his eye I took him straight to Dr Gratzek.  I highly recommend Dr Gratzek and her team. Read Less

Dr. Gratzek and her staff are amazing! Dr. Gratzek is a no nonsense person that cuts to the chase but is caring all once. She saved my Vanilla's eyesight and i am eternally grateful! She and her team are definitely the best! Read Less

Dr. Gratzek saved my chihuahua's eye. She was scratched by my cat. I called Ophthalmology and they squeezed me in right away. Thank God, because if I went to a regular veterinary office she would have lost her eye. They also saw my other dog who had an eye issue. Before she was seen at our regular veterinary office and it kept coming back. We saw Dr. Gratzek and she knew what it was right away. I wish I would have taken her to Ophthalmology before her issue. It would have saved my dog's discomfort and me time and money. Dr. Gratzek and her staff are kind, knowledgeable, and go the extra mile. If your animal has any eye problems, take my advice and see Dr. Gratzek. Read Less

Dr. Gratzek and staff are WONDERFFUL, capable and caring.  Considering the specialized nature of the care they provide, their fees are reasonable.  I appreciate their dedication.  Recently they added my boxer to their busy schedule to perform an urgent eye procedure.  This caused the entire staff to have to stay in the office long after their day should have ended.  Who does that?  Amazing! Read Less

Dr. Gratzek and her office staff are warm and so welcoming. Dr. Gratzek is knowledgeable on latest treatments and research and takes time to explain the disease process in detail. Though our news was not good, we appreciated her honesty. And, feel blessed to have gotten bad news from such a caring doctor. There are many ways to be in the medical field and the best way is to remember to treat others the way you want to be treated. This office is a perfect example of that!!!! This is a happy office with happy people working there. Read Less

We took our rescue dog with eye problems for a check up. Dr and staff were great. We were told our 9-10 year old rescue was really 15-16 and that though his vision was not perfect he was getting along just fine. We love him just as much but are a little sad we will not have as much time with him. Thank you Dr for professional opinion. Read Less

As a local veterinarian,  I am always grateful for Dr Gratzek's expertise in treating my patients with eye problems.  Her staff is organized and courteous and Dr Gratzek treats her patients with compassion and efficiency.   We are so lucky to have this resource in Santa Cruz.   Thanks Dr Gratzek and Staff for all you do!! Read Less

When we discovered our female poodle's right eye was a deep red color, we brought her to our vet in Santa Cruz for treatment.  After one look poodle's eye, our vet referred us to the Ophthalmology for Animals clinic in Aptos Village for an ophthalmology examination.  Upon our arrival, we were greeted by the friendly receptionist, Autumn, who made us all feel quite welcome in the comfortable waiting area.  A few minutes later, Dr. Gretzek appeared and introduced herself to us with "Hello, I'm Ann, how can I help you".  Immediately, we felt at ease with Dr. Gretzek  and knew we had come to the right vet for help.  After a thorough examination, Dr. Gretzek diagnosed our poodle with a melanoma tumor in her right eye, which meant the eye had to be completely removed.  Dr. Gretzek explained the surgical procedure, the recovery process, the medications our poodle would receive during and after the surgery, and told us that she expected our poodle to make a complete post-surgical recovery.The surgery was a complete success and, after returning home, our poodle has resumed chasing after tennis balls in the front yard, even with only one eye.  We are SO grateful to Dr. Gretzek and her very professional office and medical staff for quickly diagnosing, treating, and ultimately saving the life of this precious member of our family, our female poodle.We highly recommend Dr. Ann Gretzek as an extremely competent, skillful, knowledgeable, and very compassionate veterinary professional.  Our poodle thanks you, too! Read Less

this lady not only blinded my mothers dog but the dog  now has seizures for life from the day of surgery all the way to the present. i dont recommend this place, the doctor had no understanding of my mother's  dogs character and kept going on and on about how safe the 5k surgery is.  besides not prescribing any sedatives for the dog, .a stressed out dog is not a good candidate for eye cataract surgery. no thanks, blind dogs can be happry but a dog with seizrues is not good. should have listended to the dogs regular vet and  told my mother , this surgery is not a good thing. Read Less

I was incredibly impressed by Ann Gratzek. She clearly knows her stuff. I had taken my dog Truffles to Westside Animal Hospital because she kept pawing at her eye. I thought she might have been scratched by a cat, so one of the vets there gave me antibiotic ointment to treat the eye with. When it still didn't seem to have healed after a week, I brought her back to Westside, at which point Dr. Martinelli referred me to Dr. Gratzek. I was very reluctant because I was completely broke at the time, but I didn't want Truffles to suffer, so I took her in. Within literally 45 seconds of walking into the room, Dr. Gratzek looked at Truffles' eye with her instruments, determined there was a foxtail that had been lodged BEHIND her eyeball this whole time (poor baby!),  and deftly removed it. She then continued examining Truffles' eyes, and within probably 2 more minutes had diagnosed Truffles with a completely unrelated eye disorder known as "immune-mediated keratitis", which she said was extremely rare. Truffles' eyes had always looked sort of cloudy and marbled, but I just assumed it was cataracts and no vet had ever said anything about it before. Dr. Gratzek prescribed these special steroid eyedrops to administer daily, and what do you know -- a year later, Truffles is not only no longer going blind but actually seems to have REVERSED much of her vision loss! She can actually see the ball when I throw it now, and has found even more things to bark at (sigh). And her eyes don't look cloudy or "scarred" anymore!  In a way, getting that foxtail stuck in her eye was one of the best things that ever happened to Truffles, because it brought her to Dr. Gratzek... and now she can see! :-) Read Less

Fantastic office/team and great vet all around. If you need an eye specialist I would highly recommend. She treated my dog like she was her only patient and had her well being at the forethought of her mind. Unfortunately I didnt have an optimal outcome (due to other issues), but I know that Dr Gratzek did everything that she could to try and make the outcome as good as possible. I would (and still do) take my dog to her as a patient. Read Less