Vinny's Place was constructed by a builder that couldn't spell.
But Vinnie didn't really care at all about that; spelling wasn't a high priority in his life. Vinnie was a cat.
He was found with several other feral cats and brought to Best Friends. None of them were doing very well, including Vinnie. He had an upper respiratory condition and a bad eye infection.
He caught the attention - and the heartstrings - of Vivian Ebbs, a Best Friends founder. At the time she was working as a vet tech, so she saw Vinnie every day. She cleaned and brushed his matted coat. She put drops in his eyes, petted him and told him everything would be okay. Over time, Vivian uncovered the beautiful cat buried beneath layers of dirt and hard living.
"One day, I noticed he just blossomed; it was really something to see his transformation," she says.
Vinnie made a full recovery; and enjoyed a healthy life for many years. He was best friends with all the other cats in his house and made friends with all the people who came to visit.
In his twilight years, Vinnie's urinary tract infection came back. Sometime around his 20th birthday, he passed over the Rainbow Bridge.
"Best Friends was the only home he ever knew," Vivian says. "Naming the building after this special boy seemed like a fitting forever tribute to a cat we'll remember forever."
And it doesn't bother Vivian anymore that his name is spelled wrong on the building. It doesn't change the fact that she and many others luved him!
Written by Amy Abern
Photo by Gary Kalpakoff
Posted
Sep 03 2009, 07:08 PM
by
amyAbern