Sweet Sunny was adopted by his human parents when he was a bit older than your average adoptee. And the grateful cat quickly got used to his happy new home and owners after spending more than half of his life in a shelter without a family.

“We got him from a shelter five years ago, at the age of 8,” Sunny’s mom, Shannon Richardson, told The Dodo. “He spent six years of his life looking for a new home and as soon as we met him, we had to adopt him!”

But Sunny’s life was turned upside down when a tiny fourth member of the family was added – the couple’s baby girl, Hazel.

Sunny was not impressed.

“When we first brought Hazel home, he did not care for her much,” Richardson said. “We put the infant carrier down and he sniffed her, then walked away and went and ate his dinner.”

Most house pets like routine and are comforted by it, so when there’s an upheaval of any kind, they tend to act out or exhibit atypical behavior. Sunny simply didn’t take kindly to the new human and never seemed to warm up to her.

Months went by and Richardson assumed that her cat was just waiting for the family to get back to normal.

Little did Sunny know that the baby wasn’t going anywhere.

While the couple hoped their cat would eventually come to tolerate Hazel, they had nearly given up on any sort of friendship – that is until one random day when they saw something remarkable happen.

While watching Hazel’s video baby monitor, they witnessed Sunny’s first attempts to bond with the baby.

They had just put her to bed for the night when the cat crept into her bedroom and jumped in the crib. Undoubtedly looking for any signs of trouble, what they saw instead was the duo’s first nap together.

Either Sunny was making an effort or had simply resigned himself to the baby and realized she might as well serve some purpose – perhaps as warmth.

“This was his first nap with her,” Richardson said. “I was super surprised to see him in the crib. There is not an easy way up without jumping pretty far and he doesn’t really like jumping. He stayed there for four hours before my husband realized he didn’t sneak back into bed with us!”

It sounds like Sunny was pretty intent on getting into that crib once he decided to make a go of it.

The pair slept soundly all night.

And that was just the beginning. Hazel clearly proved herself to be an acceptable comrade because Sunny accepted her presence after that.

These days, Sunny is often on Hazel patrol, following her around and snuggling up next to her when she’s napping.

Despite the rocky start, the former only “child” seems to feel real affection for his baby sister.

“He actually jumped in her crib this morning when she was crying and nuzzled against her,” Richardson said. “She has not exactly gotten the hang of petting, so she grabbed him and he just stayed there. He is such a good boy.”

A good boy, indeed! Sometimes we just need a little extra time to get used to new situations.

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

Source: The Dodo, Shannon Richardson via Facebook