Taz my inspiration

In loving memory of our Taz who we love so much. Taz will be greatly missed and be in our hearts forever.

Taz came into the world in the middle of a Florida Monsoon.  I was showing farm property to a client and we knew that the family that owned the farmhome went through a bitter divorce. They left all of their domestic animals behind.  We heard a meowing from an abandoned cement well on the property and saw a tiny orange kitten with the most beautiful turqoise eyes practically newborn struggling to stay above the rising rainwater.  His mother must have left him there as protection but would not have anticipated the storm.  I rescued him and brought him home.

Taz was so young that my son Mike fed him with an eyedropper and even then he had "attitude" and complained and fussed when he was fed and Mike was determined to save him.  As he grew into a magnificent 22 pound cat he had to learn to get along with the Australian Shepherd in our home who was fortunately friendly and mild mannered.  It took a few months of adjustment needless to say, but finally they made friends and were best buddies sleeping and eating together for the rest of their lives.  He and Sake were soul mates.  They endured a cross country trip in the car to Laguna Beach California and back and were comfort to each other even when Sake became ill at l5 and we lost him two years ago. Taz wandered to neighbor's doors to look for Sake for months after Sake passed he missed him so much.

When Taz was young we lived on a golf course across from a forested area with all sorts of critters.  He was a Rogue and and a wanderer and would take off at night when he could escape, once returning home after a bloody battle with a racoon or possum.  Fortunately injuries were minor.  In California we had to really watch that he did not wander down the hill to become dinner for the Coyotes in the canyon.  Not easy as he was so adventureous.

Taz developed Diabetes on our return to Florida and received two shots a day for 6 years which kept him going.  He began to fail this year but when my husband had to have heart surgery in Miami two hours away and we had to leave his feeding to a friend he seemed to be ok until we returned home.  Then he suddenly went downhill, refusing to eat, weak and unable to move around. We desperately fed him babyfood and hydrated him with Electrolite and water, but unfortunately he went into diabetic stress and then liver failure and the Vet could not bring him back.  I miss scratching his belly and his chin and having him put his paws on my shoes when I would sit on the patio so he could anchor me so I would not move. He loved to sleep on shoes wherever he could find them.  Taz had transformed into a super friendly and affectionate cat in his last years.

He went to his final rest peacefully, on a sunny Sunday in my arms. When he closed his eyes for the last time the thunder boomed and the torrential rains fell like the day he was born. Later that day a rainbow appeared in the sky and I knew he was in another dimension and safe from pain. I miss him scratching at my bedroom door to wake me. We will never be able to duplicate the love, affection, spirit and the beauty of this special Maine Coon cat who was somehow as much dog (from his relationship with Sake) as cat.  Our hearts are broken and our home is empty but his indominatable spirit will always be with us.