There were strange noises coming from April Fiet’s attic. Surely it was just a rat or a raccoon. But when it turned out to be a cat, she put in extra effort to gain his trust and welcome him as a new part of her family.
A cat in the attic
April had been hearing the noises in her attic, but it was her husband who discovered what animal it was. One night, he heard meowing, and he told her that he thought it was a cat.
How did a cat get into their attic? They didn’t know, but they called animal control for assistance. They gave the Fiets a humane trap and some cat food so they could get the cat out of the attic safely.
April got a security camera so she could see pictures and videos of the cat as he ate the food and entered the trap. Eventually, they took him out of the attic.
Atticus in the laundry room
Once he was out, April saw that he was a “beautiful cat with large eyes, and he was so small.” She cleverly named him Atticus. Their local vet told them that they could try adopting Atticus if they could be patient and get him to trust them.
This would be difficult, since Atticus didn’t seem ready to trust anybody. April’s son also had cat allergies, despite his love of cats, so she wasn’t sure how it would work to have a cat in the family.
But she wanted Atticus to have a safe and warm place to live, so she put him in their laundry room. He found a cubbyhole behind their washing machine that he claimed as his new favorite place to hide.
A part of the family
For two months, Atticus slowly warmed up to April and her family. At first he hid whenever they came into the laundry room. But after a while of approaching him with treats and a backscratcher for petting him, April was able to get closer and closer to the cat. In an interview with the Dodo, she said:
“Eventually, he trusted me enough to eat a squeeze treat while I was holding it. And over two months after we first found him in our attic, he came and sat in my lap!”
Now he has turned into a trusting and very “playful and curious cat” who is part of their family. He loves to be petted, and his favorite activity is stealing things from the house to horde in his cubbyhole.
April also found out that her son isn’t allergic to Atticus, and he and her other child love to play with him.
She doesn’t know where Atticus came from and why he was in her attic, but he was truly a gift. She said:
“Finding him has added so much more love and joy to our home.”