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!

My dog mojo had to have some teeth taken out yesterday. The staff and vets are an incredible caring dedicated animal lovingteam .. with all animals whole health being the whole heart of all their work and passion . Thankyou for making mojo pain free and happy again . And putting his worried mums mind at rest when I had to leave him . He is doing incredibly well the morning after . Thankyou so much .
Very good vets and brilliant staff
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
Empathetic service from all staff members, especially date Suzanna
They are amazing and really care about our pets!
Great friendly Vet Practise. Staff are always knowledgeable, caring and always seem to go the extra mile for our furry friends.
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.
Very good place. They seem to be good value.
Castle vets are the best local vets. we have used them since 2014 for our chihuahuas who have kept them safe and well.the receptionist team and the vets are fantastic plus the nurseswe have been so well looked after over the years.thanks
My Nelly has had a few issues and had to have an emergency op due to eating a fish hook! She was referred by Castle to a vet hospital and it was arranged very quickly. I can't fault the team at both Dorchester Road and Poundbury at all. Reasonably priced in vet terms I think and I would highly recommend.
Great staff, vet was friendly and took his time to explain everything in terms we could understand
Honest friendly great service and no pressuring sales techniques like some chains locally 👌
Lovely people friendly service
Fast and efficient service, friendly.
Good vets, they were really caring when we had to put down my mums dog. Sad times
Good cat friendly service. Able to go in with my cats. Would recommend on my experience so far.
Recommended so highly, this place and its staff are all amazing!
Wonderful vets and staff, kind and professional.
I would recommend this veterinary practice to anyone . They genuinely care about the animals (our babies) over charging extortionate amounts for treatments and extra services that you don't need ! From the lovely receptionist to all of the other amazing staff the care you and your animals are given is five star absolutely !! The vets actually get down on the floor with your pets and are so friendly and minimally clinical.
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.
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.
Can not put into words our thanks for saving kayaks (our Siberian husky) life, removed a 5kg tumour.Giles and team were fantastic all of you! Thanks
A very caring vet with very helpful staff. I've always managed to get an appointment quickly. Would highly recommend.
Very satisfied with the service i recieved from castle vets.Would recommend to any one to take there.
Friendly staff and very helpful.