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!

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
Did lots of homework about vets before relocating to Weymouth and Castle Vets came out top for us. We made the right choice because the vets here have been superb when needing to visit with the feline member of our family.
As usual, excellent service. Little waiting around and dog untraumatised. Best vet I've ever had.
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.
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 💓
Good vets, they were really caring when we had to put down my mums dog. Sad times
Lovely kind staff. Great facilities.
Very friendly and helpful.
What a great team, from initial telephone conversation to my dogs operation - consistency in professionalism and customer experience 10/10. Would highly recommend.Thank you to both Weymouth and Dorchester ❤️
Really good vets, gave thorough examination of my vizsla and put us at ease, thank you
Covid safe procedures in place and all clean and bright.
Still an independent practice with real affordable prices
Always pleasant. No trouble getting an appointment.
Lovely people friendly service
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.
Truly caring fantastic vets, my wife and I can't thank and praise them enough, very highly recommended to any animal lover, well done all at Castle vets.
Wonderful vets and staff, kind and professional.
I can safely say this is the best vets ive taken my dog too, and ive tried them all. Fantastic staff, the vet doesn't make you feel rushed and explains things in detail to make sure you know what choices of treatment your pet has. 100% recommend this vets for your fur babies.
Great service with very experienced staff. Always greeted with a friendly smile.
Very professional vets. Treated my dog with great kindness and compassion on his final visit. Thank you
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.
Just picking up flea treatment for our 7 month old kittens. But very friendly and willing to chat and show interest in what happened to our cat who died, which I appreciated.
Top quality vets with top-notch staff. They really care about running a good and ethical business. I trust them.
Great Veterinary Practice. Staff all very welcoming. Would definitely recommend anyone to take their Loved Pets here 🐾💖🐾
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.