While Grace dearly enjoys her family, she also has a strong sense of independence. Grace was rescued from a shelter five years ago.

Grace’s mother, Jeannie Seiler-Laderer, told The Dodo that although Grace is a nice cat, she prefers to keep her distance. She wants to cuddle, but only according to her conditions.

When Seiler-Laderer learned she was expecting, the family rapidly started planning for the arrival of a child and worried about how their cats, especially Grace, would respond.

“We always joked that when Jensen was born, Grace was gonna be the one cat out of all three who would be the least interested,” Seiler-Laderer said.

At first, that seemed to be the case. When Jensen came home for the first time, Grace pretty much ignored him. She didn’t seem to really understand what exactly he was — and then suddenly, something clicked.

“It took a solid six weeks for Grace to realize the baby is a new human and that she favored him,” Seiler-Laderer said. “She follows him EVERYWHERE now.”

As soon as Grace realized that Jensen is, in fact, a human, he quickly became her favorite one in the whole world. Now everywhere Jensen goes, Grace is close behind, and her parents can’t believe how protective she is of her new baby brother.

She blocks the door as we attempt to go, so Seiler-Laderer stated, “We have to try to keep her back so she doesn’t try to come with us.” She’s the first one to meet us at the door when we get home, when in the past she didn’t give a damn. She has to be cuddled up close to or on Jensen throughout the entirety of his naps, especially during his nighttime naps.

Grace was clearly not a big cuddler until Jensen showed around. She still isn’t with most people, but she loves being with Jensen when they are.