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!

Have just registered our new pup here after the passing of our old Spaniel. Staff are friendly and ready to answer any questions. Appointments run to time and good parking outside.
Very good vets and brilliant staff
They saved my boys life when he broke his leg the other day. And now I can hold onto my purring best friend for hopefully much longer. Amazing team. Thank you so much.
Lovely people friendly service
Took my cat in as an emergency as she had suspected eaten a poisoned mouse and seemed really unwell. The vet gave me two options but advised me on the cheaper one being that it was pretty obvious what she had done. He gave her an injection and a few days later she was back to normal. Prices are very reasonable and the desk staff were very pleasant and helpful.
Still an independent practice with real affordable prices
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.
Recommended so highly, this place and its staff are all amazing!
Special thanks to the vet and nurses for looking after Molly my beloved border collie in her final hours , being with her as she past on was so important , very caring and professional team .
I stopped to pick up a wounded hedgehog this morning from the road in Charminster and drove it strait to Castle Vets being the nearest and near where I work.Having never been there before and walking in with this little hedgehog in a bad state the lady I dealt with, Amanda, was so kind, friendly and empathetic.She immediately took him to a nurse to be looked at and took my details to keep me informed as to his condition which she did later that morning.I am so grateful and impressed.Thank you Amanda and Castle Vets team!
Every time we've had to use Castle everyone you come in contact with is helpful and friendly. 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.
Covid safe procedures in place and all clean and bright.
Great staff, vet was friendly and took his time to explain everything in terms we could understand
Kind, friendly and very thorough - certainly the best vets I have been to with my cats.
Private practice so helpful and very careing. Piece of mind.
Really good vets, gave thorough examination of my vizsla and put us at ease, thank you
Very good place. They seem to be good value.
Very friendly, kept everything safe with distancing but still had that personal touch.
The team have always been excellent with our late cat Sammy over the 18 years of his life, thank you for everything
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
Lovely, Caring and Realistically priced.
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
Great Vets.
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