Samantha Smart and her family felt they had to assist a little cat after hearing him meow for days in their Florida neighborhood.

It wasn’t simply a meow, according to Smart, who spoke to The Dodo. He had everyone in the area working together to track him out and capture him. We weren’t actually seeking to have another cat because we already have one, but it seems like Ponyo was intended for us!

The family formally adopted Ponyo after realizing that he would not be leaving them. They moved swiftly to assist him in settling in to his new residence, and Smart’s daughter felt he required his own unique stuffed animal to help him feel at home and secure.

“My daughter Violet spent a while picking out the perfect friend for him to sleep with and settled on Dragon,” Smart said. “He sleeps with Dragon every night and spends a lot of his time dragging him around the house!”

When it was time for Ponyo to get neutered, his family knew he might be a little nervous about going to the vet — so they decided to send his dragon along with him.

Ponyo visited Operation Catnip, a spay-neuter group that primarily targets feral, stray cats in the community, to get neutered. Everyone present instantly fell in love with the little cat cowering behind his favorite toy dragon as soon as he arrived.

According to Melissa Jenkins of Operation Catnip, “Ponyo was really anxious when he arrived at the clinic.” “We all observed that he was carrying his adorable dragon companion, so we put the dragon in the kennel with him. At first, Ponyo hid behind the dragon and was obviously at ease there.

Everyone could see that Ponyo’s stuffed dragon made him feel a little safer while he was in a new place — so they decided to make sure his toy stayed by his side the entire time.

“We thought it would be really great to send the dragon on the same journey through the clinic as Ponyo, so we had fun giving the dragon the identical services,” Jenkins said.

Ponyo’s dragon was by his side every step of the way, and when he initially awoke from surgery, it was his cherished dragon that helped him feel better.

Since he had encountered so many new things in such a short period of time, Ponyo was understandably anxious when he first arrived at the veterinarian. However, with the help of his dragon, he was able to remain brave and calm, and there is no doubt that Ponyo and his dragon will remain the best of friends for a very long time.