Who is Petit Chat, a rescue origin story

Everything started a couple years ago, at lunch time on a sunny early summer day beginning of June 2021. We were ending our lunch, outside on the deck when we notice a tiny black shadow moving in a corner of the garden afar observing us.

As I stood up to try to meet her, she ran away and disappeared in the bushes, not to be seen again.

A couple days later, there she was again. This time we fetched a little bowl, put some milk in it and slowly put it down at a safe distance from her. Not knowing what to call her, we went for “little cat” (Petit Chat, in French). Trying this with a soft tone to make her feel safer.

After a couple of attempts, she finally approached and drank that milk as if it was a life saving beverage. We let her drink it from the distance. Once she was done, she looked at us. So I tried to approach her slowly, a couple steps in she ran. She was obviously very skittish and frightened.

We repeated this over and over for days.

Eventually, she became accustomed to join us during lunch times and we could get close and get a few pets in.

One afternoon, we saw her napping on one of the long chairs. This is when we took the first picture of her.

She let herself approach more, and before we knew it, she was around the house almost daily. Getting milk in the mornings and the evening before she went off again for the night.

That ritual went on till the middle of July of that year. We grew fond of her presence as time passed. I decided we couldn’t let her sleep outside in the wilderness anymore, so we would decide to take care of her.

Introducing real food into her routine and trying to make her explore the inside of the house. That was a tall order as every noise seemed to scare her. We left the windows open so that she could run outside should she choose, in order to feel safe and not trapping her.

As the summer ended, she was now relatively accustomed to us and her routine. She got familiar with most of the house. Surprisingly not scratching anything or doing any damage. I learned a bit later when I saw her scratching on some trees that she must have had her habits outside.

Still, holding her was not an option yet. Trust building was slow. Anyone coming into the house was an alarm for her and she ran. That’s when we thought, she must have gone through some traumatic experience with human to be so afraid of new people. We patiently waited it out, keeping her routine steady.

Fall was arriving fast, and temperatures started to get colder. And so, as smart as she is, she decided it was time to spend some night inside the house. Choosing random spots to sleep. Chairs, cushions on the couch. Anywhere comfortable not far from a window. That was a victory. She was now ok with spending her nights with us.

Before we knew it, she came on our bed to sleep. After a couple month, we went to the vet. That’s a whole adventure on itself. But the vet noticed she wasn’t chipped or tattooed. So she got all the necessary shots, and of course, a passport. We needed a name, but we had been calling her Petit Chat since the beginning and she seem to identify well with it. So, Petit Chat it is, and that’s how she became officially part of the family.

Julien & Petit Chat

Follow us on Instagram : @The_french_blackcat