It takes her back to her favorite day 💖
Kitten Rescued From Chipotle Parking Lot Finds Forever Home
In November 2019, a tiny, sick kitten wandered into a Chipotle parking lot — not in search of food, but of someone to notice her. For over five months, the little stray had been ignored by passersby, left to survive alone in harsh conditions. But one chilly night, everything changed.
An animal-loving couple pulling into the parking lot spotted the kitten, later named Penny, huddled in a nearby sewer. While others had walked past her without a second glance, this couple refused to leave without helping her.
“She was a street cat who couldn’t even get bystanders to pay attention to help her for over 5 months of her life,” her rescuers shared on Instagram.
Penny was frightened and hesitant to approach, but her hunger eventually won out. The couple gently coaxed her out with pieces of cheese from a warm burrito bowl. Once she got close enough, they scooped her up and rushed her to a veterinarian for care.
At the clinic, Penny was diagnosed with treatable illnesses and minor injuries — but just in time. “The vet said that Penny wouldn’t have lasted more than two weeks outside without human intervention,” her rescuers explained. “She also said that she could tell that Penny knew I had saved her, and that she would be forever grateful.”
Grateful, indeed. Once Penny was brought home, she quickly adapted to her new life filled with warmth, love, and safety. Gone were the days of lonely nights in a sewer — Penny had found her family.
Now, five years later, Penny is a happy, healthy cat who never forgets her roots. Every year on her rescue anniversary, she gets a special treat to celebrate — her very own pet-safe Chipotle bowl, a sweet nod to the meal that changed her life forever.
“It was love at first bite,” her parents wrote on Instagram, reflecting on that fateful night when a quick stop for dinner turned into the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
From a freezing sewer to a loving home, Penny’s story is a reminder that sometimes, stopping to care can change a life — and in this case, it changed three.