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.
Nice friendly staff and good service, but cost of drugs high
Highly recommend, We've used this clinic for over 10 years and wouldn't go anywhere else.
Still an independent practice with real affordable prices
Did a good job with looking after our dog she is back to her old self...
Amazing care of my guinea pigs can't fault them Giles the vet was fab two weeks ago and explained everything in minute detail regarding my very small Piggie put me at ease
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.
Lovely people friendly service
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.
I cannot possibly explain with words how amazing this veterinary clinic is, it was our first time going there and its also the first time I've ever felt just purly listened too and not pushed to do anything I wouldnt be comfortable with for my dog. I feel they genuinely want the best your your animals, to the point where they want to make sure there is an infection before just giving antibiotics, which other vets I've been too would have just prescribed them regardless. I cant express how much this helped me relax, and my dog also enjoyed the experience and got lots of lovely hellos and treats.Truly I feel over the moon that this is our vets!I am feeling so indescribably happy with my experience and I couldnt recommend them enough.
Top quality vets with top-notch staff. They really care about running a good and ethical business. I trust them.
Wouldn’t take my cat anywhere else. Caring and professional. Not sure Moo would agree!
We are new to the area and have had nothing but kindness and professionalism from the vets
Lovely kind staff. Great facilities.
They are amazing and really care about our pets!
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 😂!
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.
The best thing I could have done is move our dogs to the care of Castle Veterinary Clinic. They have just recently helped diagnose one of our dogs with a life threatening cancer. She is now cancer free and under the continued care of this wonderful practice. As soon as you walk in you are greeted by the most friendly staff. I am confident in knowing we are with the right professionals.
Absolutely outstanding service. All staff wonderful and the vets are incredible. Highly recommend
Most caring vets I have ever known...my boy was seriously ill and I couldnt have asked for better care for him...unfortunately he lost the fight but not without vets pulling out all the stops to save him....they let me visit and stay with him for hours while he was still here and after
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.
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!
Private practice so helpful and very careing. Piece of mind.
Such wonderful professional service.Very sympathetic towards me and my dog when I had to let her go.All staff included especially when I had ring and book my dog on, thank you.
Absolutely lovely people. So caring, update you. My Pup loves them all. Have complete confidence leaving my pets with them.