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!

Fast and efficient service, friendly.
Very friendly. Great vets and nurses.
Very professional vets. Treated my dog with great kindness and compassion on his final visit. Thank you
Friendly and attentive staff! I know that they have my cat's best interest at heart as much as we do!
Have always been brilliant with our girls even 3am in the morning when I'm panicking
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
Still an independent practice with real affordable prices
Covid safe procedures in place and all clean and bright.
1st consultation appointment with Eva this evening and can not thank her enough , she was so welcoming to us as a family had already read through missys notes which the past vets hadn't, and gave us more advise and information on an eye issue missy is currently going through than the last 4 vets we have seen. The receptionist were all lively and welcoming and had bloods taken expecting them to be back tomo and recieved a call 15 mins after leaving with the results, can not fault any part of our appointment. Thank you so much 💓
Helped us recapture cat when basket broke open outside!
My 16 yr old cat became suddenly very ill, I rang Castle vets and I saw us the same day. They were incredibly caring and reassuring towards my pets needs. Reception staff are also amazing and very friendly. I will never take any of my pets any where else. Thank you Castle vets.
Lovely vets,so friendly. Nothing too much trouble.
Fantastic friendly service. Vet, we saw Kirsty, was informative and explained problem well. Very well covid organised so felt very safe. Thank you
Always friendly and try to ensure you and your pet are looked after.
Thank you Giles and staff for your compassion and care of my baby girl Rosie such a sad time with such a hard decision to make but Giles gave me time to say goodbye to my bestest girl for the last 15 years. Thank you so much
Lovely people friendly service
Absolutely lovely people. So caring, update you. My Pup loves them all. Have complete confidence leaving my pets with them.
1st class. Friendly understanding staff, who are genuinely concerned for welfare of all the animals they see.
Still an independent practice with real affordable prices
Used this vet for many years and I would not want to go anywhere else, they looked after my little girl (cat) a year or so ago and they were amazing at such a hard time in my life, I was able to stay with my cat as I said goodbye. They aways do the best for my cats. Very understanding and kind. Would highly recommend.
Great staff , who have supported us through a lot with our kitty's
Kind friendly staff. Clean and well equipped. Good vets who care for their patients!
Brilliant quick service
Very friendly. Great vets and nurses.
We can never thank Castle vets enough for the outstanding care over 10 years for our amazing dog Alfie. As well as all the routine checks, vaccinations and general care, they recognised aged 3 that he would need life changing knee surgery to prolong his life, which would have been shortened considerably had we opted for pain relief only, and which also improved his quality of life. He loved visiting both the Weymouth and Dorchester surgeries and all the staff always welcomed him despite his boisterous greetings which sometimes involved paws on the reception desk and knocking down of displays! When we became concerned that he was seriously ill, they were prompt and sensitive in their investigations and in giving us dreaded news, helping us to digest the implications for Alfie. This meant that we made the right decisions for him and he had a good last week of life with a final walk on the beach, a final visit to his favourite dog friendly pub (the Springhead at Sutton Poyntz and the last thing he actually ate - some carvery pork) - and time at home resting on the sofa, going down the garden, or sitting outside sniffing the air. When we saw a deterioration which signalled that he was uncomfortable, we called the vets and within 40 minutes, despite being nearly midnight, Kirsty the vet and Roxy, veterinary nurse, arrived at our house and made sure that Alfie's death was a calm, peaceful and dignified one. They must have been tired, but they sat on the floor with us all reminiscing about him, stroking him, talking to him and crying and only left, over an hour later, when we were ready. Alfie loved Castle vets and we do too.