About us

Your local independent and trusted vet

Our practice was founded by Rip Kirby in 1992 with the ethos of being a friendly and approachable place to bring your pet. We are still committed to this, whilst providing the best possible care and treatment for all your pets. The practice remains independently owned by the vets who work in it, the only one in the area now. Being independent ensures the practice employees are motivated only by making pets better, not by keeping shareholders happy.

Our Practices:

We're a gold standard Cat Friendly Clinic

We make an extra special effort with all our feline patients, as we know how upsetting a trip to the vets can be for them. We're proud to have attained the Gold Standard Cat Friendly Clinic award, which means your cat is in safe hands.

Find out more

We have highly trained and experienced staff who will work with you to keep your pet in the best of health. We offer a full range of veterinary services, preventative health care, consultations, in-house diagnostic testing, imaging, and surgery. We have also partnered with Virtual Veterinary Specialists to ensure almost every problem imaginable can be dealt with right here at Castle Vets. We also offer a monthly budgeting plan and provide our own out of hours care to all our registered patients.

Many clients have been with us years and we consider them old friends, but we are always happy to welcome new faces, paws, tails and whiskers! Please do not hesitate to contact us about any matter big or small.

Reviews

Meet just a few of our happy owners and their pets!

Absolutely the best. Looked after our best boy Jake for nearly 14 years and were always kind, compassionate and supportive. All round lovely team of people.

Jackie Topp

Special thanks to the vet and nurses for looking after Molly my beloved border collie in her final hours , being with her as she past on was so important , very caring and professional team .

Mike Bluck

The team have always been excellent with our late cat Sammy over the 18 years of his life, thank you for everything

Holly Mercer2

Great service with very experienced staff. Always greeted with a friendly smile.

Andy Horne

Just started taking our kitten Nimbus to this vets recently, vet instantly told us hes actually a boy 😂 Extremely friendly vet and reception staff so thankful we chose such a friendly vet. Only thing to mention is theyve got his name on file wrong as Nimba we learnt when i got an email for the cat plan 😂!

Apollo M

Empathetic service from all staff members, especially date Suzanna

Colette McKenney

We couldn't have asked for a more professional and caring service from castle vets staff over the last 6 years, looking after our beloved paddy until the very end x thankyou x

Sam Taylor

Honest friendly great service and no pressuring sales techniques like some chains locally 👌

Adam Lapworth

Such a good vet. Been with them for years for both my dogs. Trust them implicitly.

Linsey Binks

Still an independent practice with real affordable prices

Lollie Lou

Every time we've had to use Castle everyone you come in contact with is helpful and friendly. Thank you

Jo Leggett

We are new to the area and have had nothing but kindness and professionalism from the vets

Sue Glover

We've had multiple pets here over 17 years. They've always been amazing with the animals, even through covid. The way they handle animals and also customers is amazing. Reception team are always on it and the veterinarians have always made the animals feel comfortable.

Ceri Bury

Had to say goodbye to our friend and the service we received from all staff , from reception to Giles was amazing.Thank you

Tony Porter

They are amazing and really care about our pets!

Dana Sousa Machado

Parker can certainly be a bit of a handful at times the staff are always brilliant with him no worries of leaving him there.Always so incredibly friendly and empathetic no matter how big or small a problem. I'm always confident in they're knowledge and wisdom.

Lollie Lou

Just wanted to say thank you ALL for looking after Frankie (our dachshund) over the past few days. Glad you quickly diagnosed her bladder stone and operated to sort the problem. Sincerely appreciate everything.

Neil Barbour

1st class. Friendly understanding staff, who are genuinely concerned for welfare of all the animals they see.

Paul Beukers

Excellent vets, frendly and helpful staff, highly recommended for all your pets needs.

Martin Worlock

5* service from reception to consultation room.Fern my springer had a tough time for about a week or so and she's now doing great, I cant thank them enough.They kept me reassured at all times and made the whole experience a whole lot easier.Vets arnt shy of a telephone call to help assist from home rather than calling you in to the practice just for the sake of the consultation fees, unlike other vets I've previously used.Reception are really friendly and helpful.Alice and Star are the two names that stood out the most for me, as these guys dealt with me the most but the rest of the team I spoke to are equally as professional and friendly.One happy fern and 8 even happier puppies

Ryan Ashworth

All our cats are registered here. Compared to two other veterinarians in Dorchester, we find these the best. A little bit more expensive, but they do have our full confidence.

Dave White

Have just registered our new pup here after the passing of our old Spaniel. Staff are friendly and ready to answer any questions. Appointments run to time and good parking outside.

Old Crock1928

Would be nice if a bench was provided in the car park to sit on. As our appointment was running late and we weren't in a car because Maisie Pearce doesn't like getting in cars. Staff were excellent though.

Susan Atyeo

I stopped to pick up a wounded hedgehog this morning from the road in Charminster and drove it strait to Castle Vets being the nearest and near where I work.Having never been there before and walking in with this little hedgehog in a bad state the lady I dealt with, Amanda, was so kind, friendly and empathetic.She immediately took him to a nurse to be looked at and took my details to keep me informed as to his condition which she did later that morning.I am so grateful and impressed.Thank you Amanda and Castle Vets team!

Jessica Weymouth

Brilliant vets ,competitive pricing and staff are fabulous!

Samuel Schofield

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