Mother, baby and cat have an incredible bond

Who says cats can't be 'man's best friend'?

Published 4th Mar 2016

New mum Liel Ainmar Assayag, from Alberta, Canada has shared some gorgeous photos of her three month old baby Sean and their pet cat Panda.

Two-year-old Panda's strong bond with baby Sean has existed since before he was born.

As many of Liel's Facebook photos taken throughout her pregnancy show, Panda enjoyed sitting on the mum-to-be's belly.

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"Once I got pregnant she started following me around the house, tucking her head on my belly, purring," Liel told BoredPanda. In another interview she told BuzzFeed, "When the belly got bigger, she started putting her paws around the belly so it looked like she was hugging it."

(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)0; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_GB/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); > אני כבר יודעת מי הולכת להיות החברה הכי טובה של בוטן הקטן... :)> > > Posted by

Introducing a baby to a house can sometimes be unnerving for pets, so Liel and husband Udi who have three cats in total, decided to give the cats a chance to smell the new addition before he came home, by giving them a baby-grow to smell.

Once Sean and Liel were home from hospital it took a little while for the cats to become accustomed to the new addition, but of course it was Panda who accepted Sean first and was soon back 'cuddling' the little baby and his mum.

Now the bond between Panda, Sean and Liel is stronger than ever with Panda regularly lying carefully on the three month old baby.

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Liel released these photos as she's keen for people to understand that pets and kids can get on well, "for some people they are just pets. But for the pets, people are their family and that’s how we should treat them — as family. And you don’t give up on your family." she told BuzzFeed.