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!

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.
Private practice so helpful and very careing. Piece of mind.
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
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
Saw us at very short notice before closing and gave very friendly and helpful service, reasonable price and would definitely recommend.
Very friendly and helpful.
A good professional service
1st class. Friendly understanding staff, who are genuinely concerned for welfare of all the animals they see.
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 ❤️
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
Always friendly and helpful, and the dog doesn't mind going there which is a bonus 👍🏻
Wouldn’t take my cat anywhere else. Caring and professional. Not sure Moo would agree!
Have always been brilliant with our girls even 3am in the morning when I'm panicking
Great service for our fur babies. Only charged for necessary treatments. Recommended
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
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!
Our vet for 17 years and we’ve always had great service from them. Recommended
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.
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.
So good. So professional. Lovely service. Very happy.
I have recently changed vets and I'm happy to recommend the excellent compassionate and thoughtful service my pets have received. From the lovely caring receptionists to equally caring and competent vets I am most impressed. I initially thought that this particular veterinary practice would be expensive but have discovered that the prices have been very reasonable and compare favourably. Thank you Ellie, Lucy and Kelly, you are doing a great job!
Still an independent practice with real affordable prices
Really caring and honest vets. Feel really confident taking our animals there.
Would not take my pets anywhere else. They really care for the animals and are extremely knowledgeable.
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.