Cute cat Bovril Gilbert put his nine lives to the test in 2014, and that is why Burnham House Veterinary Surgery has made him its Pet of the Year.

Described by staff as ferocious but lovable, nine-year-old Bovril made his first appearance in the Castle Street vets last January.

He came in with a painful right front leg, which, on inspection by his vet Lara Hueston, turned out to be a large abscess.

Ms Hueston was nipped by Bovril at the first examination, but managed to work out that the abscess could have stemmed from a cat’s bite.

The boil was lanced and drained under general anaesthetic and needed a course of antibiotics to help it heal.

Bovril had already been diagnosed with an inoperable tumour in his mouth in 2013, which was being controlled using steroids.

They cause immunity to be lowered and can lead to decreased effectiveness of the drugs.

But Ms Hueston still decided to withdraw Bovril’s steroids, risking his tumour growing, to treat the infection.

His bandage needed changing every two days under general anaesthetic for several weeks.

The bone in Bovril’s leg began to die through a lack of blood from surrounding tissue.

He was then forced to undergo another operation to burr (make rough) the dead bone and to stimulate fresh bone growth and muscle repair.

The operation was a success and Bovril’s healing was progressing well.

But tragedy struck when the adventurous feline landed badly on his leg while convalescing at home. It snapped the already weakened bone in two - resorting to amputation in April 2014.

Brave Bovril recovered “brilliantly” according to the vets at Burnham House. He has returned to his active ways.