Rico is like the perfect medicine.
A few years back, while on her way to work in Morocco one morning, veterinarian Meryem Imrani found a tiny kitten cowering on the street — his sickly body crying out for help. Naturally, she brought him to her clinic, Cabinet Vétérinaire, for treatment.
This was perhaps the first act of kindness the little cat had ever known. And it seems to have been a gesture he took to heart.
Meryem Imrani
In time, the kitten’s body began to heal and his sweet personality began to shine through. Initially, Imrani had planned to adopt the kitten out to a family when his recovery was complete, but by then the two had become so bonded that it was impossible to part ways.
“I didn’t even try to find him another home,” Imrani later wrote. “I thank heavens day and night for allowing me to save him.”
She named him Rico — declaring him her clinic’s resident pet.
Meryem Imrani
Rather than view his new role as merely an honorary one, Rico quickly embraced the vet clinic’s core mission — to help animals.
Soon, whenever a nervous new patient would come in for treatment or a checkup, Rico would introduce himself and offer them reassurance.
“He starts licking every pet he comes across,” Imrani told The Dodo.
Meryem Imrani
Though Rico has a special touch with animals of all kinds, a tiny patient admitted to the clinic recently seemed to spark an even more profound reaction in him.
The new patient was a tiny kitten with a story not so unlike his own.
Meryem Imrani
Injured and suffering an illness, the little orange cat had been brought in by a person who’d assumed he’d need to be put down. But Imrani decided to give him a chance.
And Rico did, too.
In the early fragile moments of the kitten’s treatment, Rico came to his side to comfort him:
The kitten, thankfully, survived.
Imrani credits Rico for helping the kitten pull through — offering his warmth and affection at the time he needed it most.
Meryem Imrani
Each day since the kitten first came in, he’s been getting stronger under the clinic’s tender care.
Rico, of course, has been doing his part, too.
Meryem Imrani
Just as kindness was shown to Rico when he was a kitten, he’s shown it back in turn by going above and beyond for another little one in need. And that’s made all the difference.
“The kitten is doing good,” Imrani said. “We’ve found an adopter for him, but he is still with us for now.”
