Boy Caught Paying The Sweetest Visit To Neighbor's 'Misunderstood' Cat

This is Ace — an incredibly sweet cat who's special both inside and out.

Shortly after being rescued as a stray kitten, Ace lost one of his eyes due to an infection. Though that fact has never slowed him down or diminished his zest for life, Ace's outward appearance has made him misunderstood by some new folks he meets.

“He can sometimes seem scary, especially to children,” Norma Maikovich, Ace’s owner, told The Dodo. “People are often hesitant to greet him.”

But as Maikovich soon learned, that's clearly not true of everyone.

Ace frequently chooses to spend his days lounging on the porch out front, so as a precaution, Maikovich set up a home security camera to keep tabs on him. Little could she have guessed at the beautiful friendship the camera would catch blossoming. 

"When looking at the footage, we noticed one particular boy tends to visit almost every single day," Maikovich said.

Turns out, a young neighbor has made a routine of stopping by to spend time with the "scary" cat — and Ace clearly adores him for it. Here's video of one such visit:

Maikovich and her family were touched to know that Ace had made a friend who sees him for who he truly is.

"It melted our hearts, not just seeing how much Ace loves this boy, but how familiar they were to each other!" she said. "Sitting by the front door, as soon as Ace sees his friend, he rushes out to greet him. It's awesome, this bond they share."

Just in case the boy felt he had to be sneaky in his visits, Maikovich has since informed him that he is welcome any time.

"A friend of Ace's is a friend of ours," she said. "Once we realized that they were fast friends, it made us really happy."

Ace, certainly, is happy, too.

Though, sadly, some people may continue to shy away from Ace simply because he's different, they're the ones who will be missing out. For it's those who look a little deeper, like this kind neighbor boy, who get to bask in the beauty of his spirit.

And that's true of all pets who find themselves a bit unlike the rest.

"Ace isn't a scary guy, and it just goes to show that appearances aren't everything," Maikovich said. "Seeing the footage of Ace and his buddy really proves that when given the chance of life and love and a family, animals with special needs and handicaps are worth it too."