By Eric Olson : The Herald-Sun eolson@heraldsun.com Dec 12, 2002 : 8:32 pm ET

DURHAM -- When David Ray got a kitten from his sister last month, he had no idea the feline would save his life.

But the white fur ball Ray’s cousin dubbed "Taz" did just that Sunday night and nearly lost her own life in the process.

"My sister said, ‘I want her back,’" Ray said outside his home Thursday afternoon. "I said ... ‘You’ll never get this cat back.’"

Ray’s 415 Lakeland Ave. home had been without power when his landlord gave him a generator Sunday afternoon, Ray said.

With explicit instructions to keep the equipment safe, Ray chained it under the crawl space of the home and left for Bell South, where he does maintenance work, around 6 p.m. He said he left the generator running to keep Taz warm and to be able to return to a cozy home after four days in the cold.

"I was at work, and something just told me to go home," the 33-year-old said. "I was going to go to Costco for groceries, but something told me not to go to the grocery store."

Just two hours after he left, Ray walked into his house and said Taz was issuing a deep, grating meow and walking around as if she were drunk.

"It’s like her rear end didn’t want to follow where her front end was going," he said.

Ray placed a call to a veterinarian, who immediately instructed him to call the fire department, he said.

"I had already sat in the house for about 30 minutes," Ray said. "My throat was a little dry, but nothing else" was physically wrong.

Durham Firefighter Bruce Jacobs was among the crew who arrived and used a carbon monoxide sensor to test the levels inside the house.

The reading of Ray’s home just off South Alston Avenue exceeded 500 parts carbon monoxide per million, Jacobs said. A reading of 35 parts per million would be considered lethal, he said.

"If they would have spent any significant time in that house, they would have gone to sleep and wouldn’t have woken up," Jacobs said.

Fire crews instructed Ray to shut off the generator then ventilated the house. They recommended he should spend the night elsewhere.

Ray took Taz to his mother’s house and after about four hours, he said the cat, which he estimates is about three months old, was back to her old self again.

Ray said he realizes if Taz had not been there, he would likely be dead. For that, he will be forever grateful to his little friend.

"I’d have had a fit if this cat was gone," he said.

Another family went through a similar experience on North Guthrie Avenue about 24 hours later, fire Capt. Sean Boone said.

Boone was unable to provide names or ages, but he said a woman had given her daughter, who was also without power, her cellular telephone to use for emergencies, Boone said.

On Monday night, the woman’s daughter called complaining she and her own daughter were sick at their 1117 N. Guthrie Ave. home.

She paid them a visit and discovered both of them unconscious, Boone said.

"She pretty much saved their lives," Boone said. "If they had continued to stay there, they couldn’t have lived in that environment much longer."

The pair was taken to a nearby family member’s home and the fire department was notified, Boone said. They revived and were no worse for the experience.

"We got an unbelievable reading at the doorway," Boone said. "We didn’t go in there. It took an hour and a half to get the reading to reasonable level."

The house had a carbon monoxide reading of 805 parts per million, he said. The problem was also a generator under the home, Boone said.

Boone warned anyone still without power to keep generators and gas grills in an open, well-ventilated area.

"You might as well park your car in your house," Boone said. "That’s not good."

-- Anonymous, December 13, 2002

Answers

Response to Cat (NAMED TAZ!) nearly loses life saving manÂ’s

good little putty Tat!!!

-- Anonymous, December 14, 2002

Response to Cat (NAMED TAZ!) nearly loses life saving manÂ?s

lucky cat, stupid people.

-- Anonymous, December 15, 2002