Your local, independent, trusted vet - Castle Vets (Dorchester) Skip to content

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.

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!

I have been using Castle Vets for many years. I've always had excellent service from kind, thoughtful and highly trained staff. My dogs love trips to the vets.
I wanted to thank you for your incredibly responsive out-of-hours service yesterday. It very likely saved my dog's life. Your quick action prevented a serious and potentially life-threatening deterioration in his condition. Casper has been a patient since he was a puppy, and we've always received outstanding care. Thank you so much.
Very friendly team who always make sure that your furry bestie is happy and healthy
Good cat friendly service. Able to go in with my cats. Would recommend on my experience so far.
As a new client bringing one dog and 2 cats for their initial appointments I have so far had only positive experiences, and have found it easy to get an appointment, easy to park, and so far have even seen the same vet each time which is nice for continuity. Reception staff are lovely, too!
Kind, friendly and very thorough - certainly the best vets I have been to with my cats.
Top quality vets with top-notch staff. They really care about running a good and ethical business. I trust them.
Totally professional and compassionate vets made a very hard time easier with their support with our tess
Great Vets.
What a great team, from initial telephone conversation to my dogs operation - consistency in professionalism and customer experience 10/10. Would highly recommend.Thank you to both Weymouth and Dorchester ❤️
I've got a puppy who needed his vaccination, they responded very quickly
We have been using this vet practice for about 2 years now. We had three cats when we joined and they have cat surgeries and practioners. I would always take my cats here. I feel listened to and respected. And that the welfare of my cats is important. We recently had to say goodbye to one of our little cats. The care and consideration from the whole practice ( vet Ellie, nurses and reception staff) to us and our special family member was second to none
Friendly knowledgeable staff, very caring and efficient. Highly recommend
Amazing vets always been there for my animals especially Gill always try to have her for my fury friends she was excellent when i had to say good bye to my Joe Joe dog and now she takes care of my two I have now. All the vets i have seen have been brilliant keep up the good work team
I have recently changed vets and I'm happy to recommend the excellent compassionate and thoughtful service my pets have received. From the lovely caring receptionists to equally caring and competent vets I am most impressed. I initially thought that this particular veterinary practice would be expensive but have discovered that the prices have been very reasonable and compare favourably. Thank you Ellie, Lucy and Kelly, you are doing a great job!
Lovely kind staff. Great facilities.
They are amazing and really care about our pets!
Kind friendly staff. Clean and well equipped. Good vets who care for their patients!
Always has the pets' best interest at heart, rather than the profit driven experience I've had at other multi national owned vetinary surgeries. Good common sense approach, kind and caring.
Great service with very experienced staff. Always greeted with a friendly smile.
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.
Caring, reliable veterinary practice. Very pleasant staff, well equipped surgery, cat- friendly waiting area. Recommended.
Always amazing service. Quick & swift action removed a 2.5 cm piece of hawthorn from my dogs foot! 😬😬😬 Great vets, highly recommend. 🐕😻🐕😻
Absolutely outstanding service. All staff wonderful and the vets are incredible. Highly recommend
So lovely and helpful. Couldn't recommend them more!