Rescuer Saves Cat And Newborns Found Shivering In A Florida Walmart Garden Centre
You know how some people just seem born to help animals? That’s Leyley. She’s the kind of person who would stop everything if it meant saving a furry life.
Her passion for rescue work runs deep, and this story about one stormy day and a desperate cat family shows just how far she’ll go to make a difference.
It all started on a day when most of us would rather stay curled up inside.
The rain poured nonstop, thunder rolled overhead, and yet Leyley couldn’t ignore a message she’d received, there was a possibly pregnant cat living somewhere in the garden section of her local Walmart.
The thought of that poor mama cat trying to survive in such awful weather tugged at her heart. So, despite the downpour, she grabbed her supplies and headed out.
At first, the search didn’t look promising. The garden center was quiet, the sound of rain echoing off the metal roof. Just as she was about to give up, something faint caught her attention, the tiniest, squeakiest meows.
Following the sound, she climbed past shelves and stacks of bags until she spotted them: a terrified mother cat huddled in a shallow puddle, her newborn kittens scattered around her, cold and soaked.
Leyley later shared the heartbreaking moment on Reddit:
“Just as I’m about to leave I hear some squeaky little meows coming from the corner. I climb past some shelves to find a cat with her newborn kittens in a half-inch-deep puddle in the dark recesses of the Garden Center, scared out of her mind.”
With help from a kind Walmart employee, Leyley used a bit of canned food to gently lure the frightened mother and her babies out of hiding.
It took patience and a lot of quiet reassurance, but eventually, she managed to scoop them up and bring them home to safety.
Once everyone was dry, warm, and fed, Leyley finally got a good look at them. The kittens were tiny black fluffballs with piercing blue eyes, five of them, all healthy and beautiful.
She named their mum Marvel and, staying true to the theme, gave the kittens heroic names: Rhodey, Stark, Jarvis, Pepper, and Happy — her little Iron Man litter.
But it wasn’t all cuddles and purrs. Marvel was deeply frightened and lashed out constantly. As Leyley explained:
“She literally tried to claw her way through the dry wall next to the window in my bathroom, did some serious damage.”
Things got even tougher when the kittens developed ringworm. To protect them, she had to separate them from their mum. Using her creativity, Leyley found a safe way to care for them:
“I end up having to modify a ‘Grab and Reach’ tool in order to gently slide the kittens away from Marvel so that I can treat their ringworm, socialize them, and eventually help wean them. It was interesting, to say the least.”
Over time, Marvel’s fear never truly faded. Even after months of care, she remained aggressive. As Leyley admitted:
“She’s still lunging and hissing at me, and has completely destroyed my bathroom.”
Eventually, she made the difficult choice to rehome Marvel on a peaceful farm, where she could roam freely among other cats.
Meanwhile, the Iron Man kittens flourished. Once they were vaccinated, microchipped, and spayed or neutered, they moved to a rescue center. Within weeks, each kitten found a forever home.
Watching them leave was bittersweet, but Leyley knew she had changed their lives forever. What started as a stormy rescue in a Walmart parking lot turned into a story of love, resilience, and the incredible power of compassion.
