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!

Very professional vets have looked after our dog for years always great advice and they talk u through the costs which is helpful. Would recommend these vets to anyone.
Totally professional and compassionate vets made a very hard time easier with their support with our tess
So caring and efficient, cannot praise the whole team enough for how well they looked after our cat, and us.
Had to say goodbye to our friend and the service we received from all staff , from reception to Giles was amazing.Thank you
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.
Always a friendly welcome at the surgery and helpful, professional advice.
Still an independent practice with real affordable prices
Absolutely lovely people. So caring, update you. My Pup loves them all. Have complete confidence leaving my pets with them.
Empathetic service from all staff members, especially date Suzanna
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 💓
So lovely and helpful. Couldn't recommend them more!
Castle Vets took care of our dog for many years, and were incredibly kind and helpful when she reached the end of her life.
Couldn't praise Jeremy enough for how he handled trimming my macaws nails today. Absolutely chuffed to bits! Was very nervous about the whole thing because he can be quite temperamental when it comes to people he doesn't know but left there happy and content. Will definitely see him from now on if I ever need to.
Did a good job with looking after our dog she is back to her old self...
Great service with very experienced staff. Always greeted with a friendly smile.
Such a good vet. Been with them for years for both my dogs. Trust them implicitly.
Friendly and attentive staff! I know that they have my cat's best interest at heart as much as we do!
Thank you Castle Vets. My dog had a half-yearly checkup today. The vet has just called me with the results of a blood test for a potential issue identified in the routine assessment. I'm impressed at the scrutiny, turnaround in the labwork, and the follow-up.
Lovely vets,so friendly. Nothing too much trouble.
Great service
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.
Excellent service. Vets obviously love the animals and deliver the best care.
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 😂!
Would not take my pets anywhere else. They really care for the animals and are extremely knowledgeable.
Fantastic! I can't fault at all... Looked after my cat so well and very reasonable prices