Entrant's First Name
Nicholas

Your Pet's Rescue Story
14 and a half years ago, on a Saturday afternoon, I found a 5 week-old kitten wandering around a Turnpike Service Plaza parking lot, where I was working at the time. Someone had probably dumped him off as there was no way a small kitten by himself would have been able to get there. He was hiding under the cars in the parking lot. He was so scared and hungry, but I wasn't able to catch him. The next day I returned to see if he was still there and to feed him and try again to catch him. I was not successful. The next day, Monday morning, I asked co-workers to help me catch him. After much effort, the kitten climbed up into the engine of a Ford Taurus car, which was a FDOT fleet vehicle. We were able to find the key to the car, pop open the hood and then I was able to scoop up this scared little kitten. I decided to keep him and I named him "Taurus". This was the first cat I ever owned, or I should say "that ever owned me".
He became my best friend and was so smart. He had quite an understanding of the human vocabulary which included words such as "hungry", "want to go out" (to the patio-he stayed indoors only), and "kiss-kiss", where I would bend over and he would stand up and give me a kiss. Taurus taught me a lot about life and unconditional love. He also taught me that the most difficult part of owning a cat, is the "goodbye". Just this past Saturday, I had to make the most painful decision of my life and I had to decide to let Taurus go to the Rainbow Bridge, His health suddenly started failing over the last 6 months of his life and after the over 14 years of unconditional love Taurus gave me, it was my turn to give Taurus the unselfish gift of the decision to end his suffering. " Nine Lives" would not be enough time with Taurus. He was the first cat I ever knew and I look forward to crossing the rainbow Bridge with him one day.