Three legged rabbit Leo in the running to be top pet

For the past four months, Vets4Pets’ Scottish practices have been running a national competition to find Scotland’s Top Pet Model. Each month a special pet has been selected and last month the final finalist was announced as Leo. He fought off strong competition from hundreds of dogs, cats, guinea pigs, other rabbits, birds and reptiles from all over Scotland, to win his place in the final.

Owner Rebekka Goodman, who nominated Leo said he deserved the spotlight after he sustained an injury, which ended with his back leg needing to be amputated earlier this year at Bishopbrigg’s Vets4Pets.

Rebekka said: “We were in Falkirk last July when we saw Leo was up for adoption. As soon as we saw him we knew we wanted him to be part of our family.

“We brought Leo home and introduced him to our other three house rabbits Luna, Comet and Cupid, and started the process of settling him into his new life with us.

“Leo was quite a skittish rabbit, and even after having him for several months he was still nervous around the house. Then one day in February, Leo managed to escape from his hutch, but ended up trapped behind the cages.

“When we found him, we instantly knew he had badly hurt himself, so took him straight to our local Vets4Pets in Bishopbriggs, where we were told he had broken his femur.

“We think Leo had previously injured his leg, because the damage was so severe, our only options were to amputate the leg or have him put down.

“Saying goodbye to Leo forever was something we couldn’t even bear to think about, so for us the decision to keep Leo in our lives was easy.”

Leo’s leg was amputated at the Bishopbriggs practice and now six months on, he has fully recovered and is happier than ever.

Rebekka added; “Since having his leg amputated the change in Leo is amazing. He is so friendly and has calmed down greatly. He has even bonded more with our other rabbits, particularly Luna.

“He’s also taking his new disability in his stride. We entered him into the competition so he could represent all the other disabled pets out there and let him have all attention and recognition he deserves.

“When we found out Leo was the August winner we were on a day out and we couldn’t help but tell everyone around us, we just couldn’t contain our excitement.

“Now we just have to keep our fingers crossed that Leo can go all the way in the final in October and win, for us he is definitely the top pet in Scotland.”

Chris McGaugie, veterinary surgeon and owner at Vets4Pets Bishopbriggs, said: “Leo definitely is a little fighter. When he was brought in to us with his injured leg we were worried about his future, but we’re over the moon to see he is getting on so well.

“It’s been amazing to see so many of our clients and their pets getting involved with the competition and we are pleased that Leo gets to go on to the final in October and represent our practice, we wish him the best of luck.”

Leo will now join Clyde, Milo and Cody in October’s final. One more winner is due to be selected in September.

If you want to nominate your pet for Scotland’s Top Pet Model, please visit www.vets4pets.com/scotland-hub.