# Cat owners, what did you name your cat(s) and why?



## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

We have three cats. The first one we got from the shelter, and she was already named so we just kept it. Her name is Jennifer. It's kind of funny, but it really fits her.

The second one we found wandering the streets so we took him in. He's gray and we named him Smokey.

The third was a stray too, and his name is Toby. He's a gray tabby cat, and the name just fit him.

What about you guys?

Vicki


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## Geemont (Nov 18, 2008)

Our first cat was given to us with no name, just kitty cat.  The cat was used to living in a backyard and had to adjust to a one bedroom apartment.  She had a game were she'd pounce on our toes, and I'd call her a little sh!t.  When my wife wanted to name her, I said her we can call her L.S. for short, but that (when spoken) evolved into Ellis.  

Ellis was a great cat and we had her for ten years until cancer got her.


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## Ann Herrick (Sep 24, 2010)

Jennifer is my daughter's name!  

Starting from childhood: 

First cat, Sugar, because she was so sweet and had snowy white bib and paws. 

Second cat, Cosmo, my brother named him after a comic-strip character. 

Third cat, Inky (named by daughter, it was her first kitten. Guess what color kitten was).

Fourth cat, Starburst, named by daughter after the candy, because cat had many colors.

Fifth cat, Scarlett, named after Scarlett O'Hara (by daughter) because cat had black fur and green eyes (he was male, but he was okay with that.)

Sixth cat, Kitten. Found in mailbox, was not going to keep him, so we called him Kitten. For the next 17 years.

Seventh cat, Tigger. Showed up on deck with collar that was way too tight. Removed collar and named him Tigger, because he had a tiger/Tigger look.

Eighth cat, Colette, our current cat, husband liked the name.

Also had a stray who sort of hung around (we fed him, provided a nice comfy box, he would not come inside) but not permenantly. Called him George, because he looked like a George.


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## R. M. Reed (Nov 11, 2009)

One cat is Goblin, because her mother was Ghost. Ghost appeared in a house where I was renting a room and no one knew where she came from. The house had lots of animals, and the doors were often open in the desert heat of the Antelope Valley in California, and Ghost must have decided it was a good place to be. I named her Ghost because she was all gray and apparently had walked through the walls of the house to get in.

Ghost wasn't officially my cat at first, she just joined the general animal melee. She liked my room so she became mine. Then a male cat in the house got to her, and she had four kittens under my bed. I gave away three and kept one, Goblin.

The dogs at that house were kept in the backyard. They were fed and watered but not given much other attention. Once in a while one got into the house and chased cats. Sometimes they killed cats. One really cute calico named Precious was killed while I was there, and she was pregnant. (The lady who owned the house said that a female cat shouldn't be spayed until she had the chance to have one litter. Plus she didn't have much money so didn't want to pay for spaying.)

Goblin was about four months old when I came home from work one day and the owner told me the dogs killed my cat. I thought that was impossible, both Ghost and Goblin were in my room with the door closed. Then I found out the dogs had burst through the screen on the window and had a merry time. Ghost was dead and I couldn't find Goblin. I had to leave the window open, it was over 100 degrees. I never thought for a moment the dogs would come through the screen.

In the morning I heard a meow and saw Goblin on a high shelf. She had survived, but has been a very nervous cat ever since.

I moved from that house soon after that. I was pretty furious at the people there.

A couple of years later, in my own apartment, I decided Goblin needed a companion so I got a long haired young male from a shelter. He had been born in a colony of feral cats but was caught in a trap and taken to the shelter. I named him Zorro because his black and white markings look like a mask and a cape.


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## JChris (Jul 18, 2011)

If I had a cat, I'd name him Dr. Zhivago. It sounds like such an awesome cat name! If it was a girl though, I'd name her Brittney Spears. Maybe Lindsey Lohan. I'd make sure people used their last names, or referred to them as Miss Spears or Miss Lohan.

Meryl Streep is a good name too.


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## Cuechick (Oct 28, 2008)

First cat I remember was *Cleopatra*... called Cleo of course and I am pretty sure my Mom must have named her.

Next was *Poppy* and the love of my 10 year old life, he was a night wanderer and got in a bad cat fight. He ended up dieing from an infection he got from his wounds.

Then *Adeline* named after Tatum O'Neal's character in Paper Moon, she was my cat from about 11 till I went away to college and lived on with my parents many more years...

Then I got my first cat after I finished school, named her *Hayley Mills* and then adopted a friends cat already named *Polaroid*.
I had the pair for over 12 years. Hayley died first and I believe Polaroid died from a broken heart six months later. He just stopped eating when I didn' t
bring her home from the vet...

The I got *Efren Reyes* (named after my favorite Pro Pool Player!) a one eyed rescue...he was quite a character and moved south with me from NY to Atlanta. He died 2.5 years ago... which brings us to

*Atticus Finch*, from to Kill a Mockingbird.... one of my favorite books.. sometimes I call him Mr. Finch.

What is funny is I can look back and see where my head was at, at the time of naming...


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## DianaTrees (Jul 29, 2011)

I got my daughter a cat years ago, when my child was just four years old. My daughter immediately pronounced the cat, "Rainbow." The cat got its name because my daughter thought the cat, "pretty as a Rainbow."

In an unrelated story, we later found my four year old trying to pick the cat's nipples off, "because they look like ticks!"


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## ◄ Jess ► (Apr 21, 2010)

I named my cat Avery because I found her in Avery Park, in Corvallis, OR. I also wasn't sure if she was a girl or a boy, so I needed a name that could be used for either.  Of course, as soon as I named her, I knew I was keeping her.


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## valleycat1 (Mar 15, 2011)

We named our current cat Charlie, because he's a tuxedo cat & has a moustache.  The shelter had named him Otto because he likes to sleep on his back (reminded them of an otter), but Charlie fits him even better.  Only later did I realize my father in law who goes by Chuck might take offense....


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## valleycat1 (Mar 15, 2011)

I meant to add that the cat I had in high school was called Dammit by my parents.  Quite honestly, 40 years later I can't remember his real name!


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## Christine Lindsay (Apr 30, 2011)

I love my cats. First cat I ever had I named him Sam because his nose was salmon pink. Another beloved cat I named Pushkato. Actually my husband called him that because it sounded sort of Japanese and when the kitty stood up to play, he sort of acted like a ninja. And my cat that I now have--curled asleep at my side---I call Scottie. It's because his fur is the color of butterscotch icecream.  Makes sense to me.


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

The only cat I ever got the chance to name was one I had when I was a kid. I named him Dellian after something I'd read in a textbook on ancient history. I loved anything ancient Greek.


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## Doug DePew (Mar 26, 2011)

We had an orange cat who lived here when we bought the house. He almost never left the deck. We called him Patrick because our son said he looked like a Patrick. His only quirk was that he HATED to be picked up. He'd go crazy. He also didn't like to be inside the house. He was a great cat, but he disappeared a couple months ago. 

While we were on vacation in Alaska in June, a new tiny orange cat showed up at our house out of nowhere! He got here on a Friday, my mom told us. He's been a great cat so far. He's named Juneau because that's where we were that day. My wife wanted to call him Alaska, but I think that has too many syllables.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

I've had three Abys. The first one I named emma_peel because she was elegant (and I had a crush on Diana Rigg). The second I named Jake because he thought he was royalty so I had to take him down a notch.

The current Aby is named Kiri, after the New Zealand soprano Kiri Te Kanawa. I named her that after driving over two hours to pick her up as a kitten. Then I had to drive all the way back home listening to her practice scales. So the name fit.

Mike


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## originalgrissel (Mar 5, 2010)

Our cat is named "Spot" because he bares a striking resemblance to one of the cats that played "Spot" (Data's cat) on Star Trek: The Next Generation. He also answers to Mr. Spotty, which, though more formal, is his  nickname.


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## anne_holly (Jun 5, 2011)

Ours is Ralph. That was the name they gave him at the shelter from which we adopted him - I had the intentions of changing his name, but nothing ever suited him as well as Ralph. Besides, my three year old picked the name up really fast, so it wouldn't have been easy to change it.

Ralph has tried to convince me his name is really pronounced Rafe. I told him to come back when he has proof of his status as a Welsh nobleman, and we'll talk then.


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## Christine Lindsay (Apr 30, 2011)

I have to admit the Dr. Zivago name for a cat gave me a chuckle. You could always call him yuri for short, as that was Dr. Zivago's first name. Gorgeous names for cats by the way, but then they deserve elegant names; they're such charming creatures.

My Scottie sits at my side while I type, I call him my chief editor.


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## spotsmom (Jan 20, 2011)

When I got my current cat from a rescue organization, they told me he was a boy.  Since he was all black, I named him "Cash, Cat In Black".  Then we discovered no, he was really a she!  She only weighs 5 lb and is about 10 yrs old so her name is LBC (Little Black Cat).

One of my favorite cats was a long grey haired kitty named "Magnolia Thunderpussy" (after a woman of that name who made killer desserts in San Francisco.


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## mlewis78 (Apr 19, 2009)

My first cat in 1981 was Bates, after my mother's maiden name.  She was all black.  In 1988 I adopted two kittens and called them Strawberry (gray tabby male) and Mookie (long-haired black female) for two Mets baseball players.

I inherited a cat whose name was Tango and I didn't change it.

In 2004 I rescued two cats from a friend who didn't want them any more.  They were both black tuxedo cats and came with the names Fluffy and Sparkles.  I renamed them Pumpkin (because she was so big) and Oreo.  I still have Pumpkin.  She was 10 when she arrived, and she's 17 now.


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

These stories are wonderful.

When I was little we had twin Siamese, a brother and a sister: Gaston & Simone. My mom named them and I really think she just liked the sound of them.

Then we got another Siamese - Hershey. He was a chocolate point. 

We got a little tabby that we named Pfizer. My dad was an attorney working for Pfizer and I loved saying the word!

When I moved out I got Martini. He was named after one of the cats in the Mr. & Mrs. North mysteries. My roommate named her cat Tequila.

My current cat is an insane Siamese named Monkey because he's a naughty monkey!


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## ◄ Jess ► (Apr 21, 2010)

spotsmom said:


> When I got my current cat from a rescue organization, they told me he was a boy. Since he was all black, I named him "Cash, Cat In Black". Then we discovered no, he was really a she! She only weighs 5 lb and is about 10 yrs old so her name is LBC (Little Black Cat).


That's so tiny!!! We have one cat here (not mine) who weighs 17 lb and she doesn't even look fat. She's just HUGE.


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## Guest (Jul 30, 2011)

I had three when I was single. Anakin, Yoda, and Padme. Had to give them up when my wife came along. Good trade-off.


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## Carrien (Jan 30, 2011)

I had a crazy (good sense) chocolate lab and I wanted a companion for him and thought the only think tough enough would be a cat....so off to the shelter during kitten season and had the dog with me and the kittens hissed at the dog...this grey tabby purred and was interested.. . So that night in terrible rain storm I tucked her in my coat and brought her home...the entire ride she purred...oh how cute I said...we'll name her Sophie. She looked like a Sophie to me...hubby said no....brought her in house and out of my coat and this precious kitten turned into the entity...hissing growling....poofed her body.....the dog dancing around wants to check his new playmate out...this kitten let out such a growl and a funny noise with her ears flat back she spit at the dog with precision...the dog was like what is that!!!! .  We decided she looked more like a gremlin than a Sophie so her name is Gizmo or Gizzy Girl.... Quickly she loved her dog...she started every chase in the house...she'd groom him while he ate, chew bones with him, never far from him....we lost our dog last year....she still goes to the door leading to the garage and meows so mournfully looking at us like bring him back....I tell her if only I could....if she hears a dog bark she runs to see if it's him.  She still growls if people besides her people are in the house!! Guest say what is that noise  as the noise gets louder and louder....she does that if she feels they are here too long....our nephew came to stay for a week...she layed at the threshold to his bedroom growling, hissing and spitting at him acting like a nut!  Crazy cat that she is but she is cool....


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## NapCat (retired) (Jan 17, 2011)

I have a good size semi-feral herd of cats......

All Black cats are named: "BLACKY"
All yellow tiger cars are named: "RUSTY"
All Calico/Tortoiseshell cats are named" "MING"

All others are named: "VISITOR"


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## spotsmom (Jan 20, 2011)

Jessica Billings said:


> That's so tiny!!! We have one cat here (not mine) who weighs 17 lb and she doesn't even look fat. She's just HUGE.


My favorite kind of cat is a huge, long haired male **** Cat. Alas, the LBC allows no interlopers in the house.


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

Awe, these are great! I love these stories. 

Vicki


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## Thumper (Feb 26, 2009)

Max (aka Psychokitty) came to us with the name; he was the kitten of some friends of my son, who realized--after he got caught in a recliner and they rushed him to the emergency vet--that they really couldn't afford proper care for any pet while they made part time minimum wage. I hadn't even wanted another cat (my cat Dusty had died 6 months before) and was very reluctant... but the second I saw him I fell in love with him. He was supposed to go with my son when he moved out, but not only was I attached at that point, Max had bonded with me in a major way.

Buddah Pest...the Boy named him. He had been reading about Buddhism and for some reason it was important for him to name the cat that. I know we technically misspell it, but I did it on purpose and it stuck. A friend tacked on the "Pest" after reading some of the little crackhead's exploits. Unlike Max, Buddah hasn't ever really attached himself to one person. He likes whoever has the bag of crunchy treats in hand.


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## spotsmom (Jan 20, 2011)

Buddha Pest.  That's priceless.

Years ago, I had some friends who had a tiger striped cat named Rajah.  After he became very proficient at catching birds, they changed his named to Rajah Tory Peterson.


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## Tam (Jan 7, 2010)

I really enjoyed reading this post! 

I grew up with farm cats - too many to list, though my all time favorite was Smokey, a solid gray tomcat. Oh, and then there was the long-haired female we found in our shed at a time when we had been catless for a couple of years. We were overrun by chipmunks at the time and this sweet and loving cat cleared them all out. She also had quite a few litters of kittens over the years - living up to the name we had been calling her - Mamakitty.

In my adult life we started out with a shelter kitten named Pepper - she was solid gray except for four white feet and was a big gentle goofy cat that we had from the time my kids were little till they were college students and she passed from old age. We also had Marble, a white with gray spots tiny kitten we found out in our backyard being dive-bombed by birds one day. Marble was forever a shy cat who hid most of the time, but would come out late at night when everyone but me was in bed and crawl into my arms for some snuggle time. She passed away just last year at the age of 18. We took in a black stray tomcat we named Nick (short for Nick at Night) but we only had him a couple of years. A neighbor girl loved to talk to him through the kitchen screen door and one day she let him out to pet him and he just kept running. He was missing for 3 days, and when he came back he had an abcess on his leg which the vet treated with antibiotics and said probably came from a skirmish with another cat. About a month later, I found him very lethargic and ill one day, and he died at the vets with fluid and infection around his heart - most likely from that earlier abcess. Snickerdoodle was an orange tabby tomcat who came to us after a prison employee rescued him from the prison grounds. The office staff had snuck him inside and were feeding him until the warden said he had to go. Snicky was the sweetest most friendly big orange kitty ever. He unfortunately suffered from urinary blockages on a regular basis, which eventually killed him. This is making me sad right now...

Our current kitties are Zoey - a black cat who came to us as one af a stray litter of kittens taken in by my sister-in-law. SIL kept the 2 boy cats and gave us the girl. The boys are bad boys - even after being fixed they spray inside her house and they have destroyed her furniture. Zoey is a good little girl. She doesnt like to be picked up but she loves to be petted and she is very affectionate. We also have Gracie, who was, believe it or not, a stray cat who had gotten underneath my husbands old dental office. We knew she was going into a rabbit hole and would sometimes see her glowing eyes in the crawl space that could be accessed underneath the bathroom sink. One day I opened up the sink cupboard and there she sat - and allowed me to pick her up and cuddle her. She is the most tame cat I have ever seen - likes to be held in my arms like a baby, loves to have her tummy rubbed. She is a gray and brown tabby.


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## Dawn McCullough White (Feb 24, 2010)

These are my current group of cats~

Mouse- because she was a tiny gray kitten when I first got her.  I had no idea, at the time, she would grow up to be a bruiser.

Smooch- just those it sounded cute.

Little Hunter- was a feral kitten that started hanging around our back steps, I started feeding her, and taming her and finally adopted her.  She used to hunt anything she could find out there to eat, mostly bugs thus the name.

Tiny Kitty- came from a shelter, she was originally named Mae, but that just didn't stick.  We just kept calling her "that tiny kitty".  At 3 she's still so small, the vet thought she was a kitten.

Merry- actually named after one of my son's preschool friends.  The name grew on me.

Star- just always liked the name.

Layne- named after Layne Staley of Alice in Chains.  A shelter cat originally called Clifton.



Dawn


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## Ann Herrick (Sep 24, 2010)

Tam said:


> ...Snicky was the sweetest most friendly big orange kitty ever....


I wonder of big orange kitties are always really friendly. Our Kitten was big and orange and loved to wait in the front yard for people to come by, then would go for walks with them. Kids in strollers loved him, because they could stick their hands out and he would walk right under their hands to be petted. (Kitten, as mentioned earlier, died at 17).

Now, when we go for walks, we pass a house where a big orange cat comes running out and does the "flop-down" on the sidewalk right in front of us, so, of course, we scratch his chin and head. He does this every day.

So...are all big, orange cats super friendly?


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## PhoenixS (Apr 5, 2011)

Aww, I'm a sucker for a good cat story. What fun reading these!

I was a vet tech for many years (and many years ago), and I wound up with a lot of kitties who were abandoned at the clinics. I always thought they were going to be guests who'd find better homes later, so I had a number who were *Kitty, Kitten, MamaCat * and the like -- some with the same name at the same time.

_The Lord of the Rings _ was influential over the years as I've had a *Galdriel, Eowyn * and *Gandalf * *(the Grey * as it was a grey cat).

I had a *Dulcinea * from _Man of La Mancha_.

And a *Sadie * just because.

I currently have three cats:

*Magic*, who showed up under the porch when he was 8 weeks old and who I never saw clearly until about 2 months later he was so shy. I consider calling him Ghost, but since he was black, he became Magic instead.

*Callie * is short-haired calico and *Orion * is a tuxedo shorthair, both of whom were already named when I bought some land from my neighbor who was moving and she threw in two free cats with purchase. They were semi-feral and I put them in the house just to get them acquainted with their new home. I planned to let them live in the barn. That was two years ago and they're still in the house. Of course.

BTW: The little lady in the picture with me is a 4-month-old Bengal tiger who'd been left with a Big Cat sanctuary not too far away from me where I've had the privilege of volunteering in the past. She's sucking down a turkey milkshake.


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## prairiesky (Aug 11, 2009)

Throughout my life, I have had a variety of cats.  But, my most loved and most memorable was Ashley.  He was a slate gray and white cat.  When we got him out in the countryside, we thought he was a she, thus the name.  He was a love.  One October he disappeared.  We looked everywhere, put ads in the paper and kept looking.  We finally accepted the fact that he was gone. FOURTEEN months later, one December night, my daughter came into the house and said that a cat that looked like Ashley was sitting across the cul-de-sac.  I looked outside and under the streetlamp was a cat.  I called his name and he let out a LOUD yowl.  I ran across and picked him up.  It was Ashley.  He was ragged and very thin.  I took him to the vet the next morning thinking that I could feel lumps on him.  The vet said that it was just his organs, he was so thin.  Well, he regained his health and never strayed far from our yard.  He lived several more years.  I still wonder to this day where he had been.  How far did he have to come to get home?  Had someone picked him up and taken him so far that it took a year to get home  
Currently, I have two orange cats that I adopted in October.  They were 6 and 9 months at the time.  They are named Tangerine and Marmalade.  Both are very sweet girls.


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## crebel (Jan 15, 2009)

I love these stories! 

My childhood cat's name was Mr. Spock, because of course, he had pointed ears.  

Our first cat as a married couple was Ashes because he was grey and had been found in a fireplace. 

Our second cat was Dac because he was a polydactyl (extra toes) cat.  

Our current cat took a couple of weeks to get a name.  He started out as Prince since he found my fuzzy slippers and used them as a bed (Prince Charming found the slipper, right?). My kids thought that was a goofy name, so then I wanted to go with "Symbol" (the cat formerly known as Prince) which I though was clever - my family, not so much.  He ended up being called Yoda by the kids because he really did resemble the Star Wars' character when he was little - that's the name he still has.


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## Geemont (Nov 18, 2008)

Ann Herrick said:


> So...are all big, orange cats super friendly?


Yes, I think so. I've had two. Sebastian (Sebby) and Mycroft.

Sebby and I had this game I called cat-chi. He sit on the bed and I'd slowing move my hand above his head, then he'd make a grab for it, and I'd attempt to pull away fast so he'd only catch air. Despite the fact he caught me roughly have the time, it didn't hurt too much. Seb know it was a game.

Mycroft is 20 plus pounds and likes to sit on me, pushing his nose to my nose, and purring loudly. Only problem is he's really heavy and so sometimes gets called "the crusher". He also yawls at the bathroom sink until my wife or I turn on the faucet for him so he can stick his head under the water flow and drink.


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## Laura Lond (Nov 6, 2010)

Beanie - an orange-colored gentle soul, named after Mr. Bean. 

Charlie - a gray no-nonsense leave-me-alone former stray. Named him because I like the name Charles. 

Nixon - an all-muscle 20-pounder wearing a tux. Gentle giant with me, bossy with the other two. Was named at the shelter we adopted him from.


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## Tam (Jan 7, 2010)

Growing up amidst all manner of farm cats, and from my experience with house cats, I have never met an orange tabby that wasn't a big sweet lover. I've also had two blue-gray shorthairs that had that gentle sweetness too. And the gray tabbies that are more of a warm brown - the ones that have M's on their for heads and velvetty black fur o their paws - those are almost always friendly too. 

Heck, any color of cat can be sweet or reservered I guess...


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

I love Cuddles, the uncuddly cat! 

These are all so fun to read. 

Vicki


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## Carrien (Jan 30, 2011)

So many here have posted such great stories and have so much cat experience I wondered if anyone had any tips to getting a cat into a carrier.  Every year for our yearly check up the husband and I look like we've been mugged by the time we get to the vet....we are scratched and she bites. Last year the hubby put the carrier in the middle of the room ughhhhh.... After we took the bed matresses off to get her from under the bed the hubby said he could do it....after all she is a 8pm cat....how hard can it be....well I put the hubby and cat with the carrier in a small hallway leading to the garage with doors at both end....I must say I was laughing hearing all the noise and his yells of help....she puts her paws out and claws and bites and wiggled.  The two of us all sweaty we got her in the carrier...  The vet is so good with her they spray the room with a calming solution....they have to take the carrier apart to get  her out and  they spray a towel and let her sit there a few minutes to relax, they talk softly to her and she is still as a statue.   I tried putting the carrier out days even weeks in advance. She will not even enter the room where it is at....we have to go to the vet in August..... Anyone have any advice?


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

Awe, the poor thing.   We have two different sizes of carriers. I wonder if a larger one would be less stressful for her? 

Maybe put a can of wet cat food near the carrier...or even in the doorway to the room it's in. Then the next day move it a little closer? Eventually she might be near enough to it to not be so stressed about it?

Sorry, that's all I got right now.

Vicki


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## talleylynn (Apr 24, 2009)

I've always had a cat or two.

My first cat was a medium-long haired gray cat named Cereal because I was eating cereal when my mother said I had to name her. I was 4 years old.

Growing up I had a yellow cat named Amber.

Then came a big plain gray tomcat named K C which was short for Kitty Cat, but our next door neighbor insisted it was short for Kansas City; so my mother always called him Kans. 

When I was first married I had another yellow cat named Screaming Yellow Zonker after a caramelcorn snack that she loved. Mostly we just called her Stinky because she was a little stinker.

Next came two yellow brothers named Gato and Puma, but they disappeared after a few months.

I had a gray tiger girl named Tiffany who was pregnant the same time I was and had two gray tiger kittens with longer fur. I gave one away to a friend and kept the other and named him Amsterdam. The story behind his name was so I could yell at him when he jumped on the kitchen counter and say 'Amsterdammit get down' and my young children wouldn't know I was swearing. He was a big ole loveable tom. He died of cancer.

Next I went to the pound to get a cat and came home with two girl kittens, another gray tiger named Talley and a plain gray tiny cat named Puddums. Talley and I had a special bond I've never had with another animal. She lived to be 18 and Puddums (also known as Poo) never did weigh more than 5 pounds, but lived to be 19. Poo died in April. 

I still have a 4 year old gray tiger who was a stray until she ran in my front door one night as my daughter was leaving. She is the cat in my avatar and her name is Pepper because that's the color she is.

A month ago I adopted two cats from the local no-kill shelter. A 6 year old yellow tom who is the biggest cat I've ever seen and probably the most lovable. I named him Charlie because it sounded like a friendly name. My other adoptee is an 8 year old black cat with just a dusting of white on her chest. She had been in the shelter since 2006 and is still quite scared and slow to adjust to her new home. I have named her Boo.


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## Dawn McCullough White (Feb 24, 2010)

Carrien said:


> So many here have posted such great stories and have so much cat experience I wondered if anyone had any tips to getting a cat into a carrier. Every year for our yearly check up the husband and I look like we've been mugged by the time we get to the vet....we are scratched and she bites. Last year the hubby put the carrier in the middle of the room ughhhhh.... After we took the bed matresses off to get her from under the bed the hubby said he could do it....after all she is a 8pm cat....how hard can it be....well I put the hubby and cat with the carrier in a small hallway leading to the garage with doors at both end....I must say I was laughing hearing all the noise and his yells of help....she puts her paws out and claws and bites and wiggled. The two of us all sweaty we got her in the carrier... The vet is so good with her they spray the room with a calming solution....they have to take the carrier apart to get her out and they spray a towel and let her sit there a few minutes to relax, they talk softly to her and she is still as a statue. I tried putting the carrier out days even weeks in advance. She will not even enter the room where it is at....we have to go to the vet in August..... Anyone have any advice?


Have you tried carrying her by the scruff of the neck when you put her in the carrier? That is how mother cats carry their kittens and puts them into a passive position. If that doesn't work, have you tried wrapping her up in an old towel, like a burrito plus holding her by the scruff of the neck? Tip the carrier up and lower the cat into it.

If she really really hates the carrier maybe you can put her on a leash to take to the vet? Usually vet offices want pets in carriers or on a leash.

All the best,
Dawn


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## anne_holly (Jun 5, 2011)

I always leave the carrier out with the door tied open in a cozy corner with a blanket in it and a light covering over it - the kitty loves it as his private cave. Maybe if you let her "own" it in between stressful vet visits, she'd be more positive about it?


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## Carrien (Jan 30, 2011)

Thanks Vicki.... I will try that, I feed her dry food but can't hurt to get her a can of wet...can she eat wet food without digestive upset, I surely don't want her stressed with the runs too!   She is very fussy as well....she will only eat one brand of food and one flavor....Nutro ocean fish....

I think the carrier is good size for her, it's not too big but it fits her well, she has room and I put her blanket in there with her. 

Thanks again, I never thought about that approach!  I appreciate it.

Carrie


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## Carrien (Jan 30, 2011)

Thanks for all the great advice....maybe I was wrong but when I got her I tried a collar and she did alligator death rolls, taking her hind legs claws out tearing up her neck to get that collar off...I removed it immediately....tried a harness as well...similar results and since she was hurting herself I couldn't continue to put her thru that...I tried it a few times but it was always the same and I left the collar on the floor and she would sniff it and walk away....it was fine on the floor but not on her....so leashing her is not an option... She doesn't like to be held or picked up either.....she is not a mean cat, she is antisocial....she decides if and when she will grace us with her presence and if we can pet her or if it's just a look at me moment.  I have thought about asking the vet for a sedative but I hate the idea.....I mean it's a 8 lb cat....but she is agile and fast and definitely has that fight or flight when it comes to the carrier and while she normally does not bite or scratch, she will do whatever it takes to not go in that crate....we tried the scruff last year and she managed to claw us badly.  The shelter said she was found about 2 days old under a shed in the snow no momma cat and was bottle feed......so maybe she was never carried by her momma?


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## kindlequeen (Sep 3, 2010)

Not all orange cats are nice!  My stepmom had a big orange tabby named Moose and he was very picky about who he let pet him.  He hated me and used to bat me with his paws if I walked to close to his perches!

I grew up with Tweaky, Moose, Scamper, Max (who was violent and left us for the next door neighbors which we didn't mind), Maggie (the love of my dad's life), and Nabeshima (Nabby).

Currently, my husband and I have two kids - Spaz and Pris, both rescue cats from the same place, adopted together.

Spaz got his name because he bounced off the walls the second we set him loose in our house.  We had no idea that he had been locked in a small cage for most of his kitten life (rescued in January and adopted in May).  His name fits him as he constantly has bugged out eyes and sometimes misses the bed if he's jumping from his cat tree.  He could have vision problems but he manages fairly well.  He loves me to death and he's the best cat I've ever had!

Pris is very meticulous about grooming.... she is very clean, keeps Spaz clean (when he lets her) and kindly removes the gel out of my husband's hair in the evenings when he sits on the couch (she also likes to go after armpits when the DH is asleep  !).  She's obsessed with herself - if you're not petting her, she will come rub her head on your hands to get what she wants or rub herself on the clothes in the hamper, her scratching pad, cat tree, etc.  We often call her "Me Me" because it's like she's saying "me me me me me me" with her body language.  Her theme song is the Divinyls "When I think about you (I touch myself)."


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## Amyshojai (May 3, 2010)

Carrien said:


> I wondered if anyone had any tips to getting a cat into a carrier. I tried putting the carrier out days even weeks in advance. She will not even enter the room where it is at....we have to go to the vet in August..... Anyone have any advice?


Maybe this will help: http://cats.about.com/od/amyshojai/a/training-cat-to-crate.htm


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## Amyshojai (May 3, 2010)

My friend returned home from a week's vacation, and her 4-year-old daughter found a kitten sleeping in the empty flowerpot on the back stoop. Mom was allergic, daughter wanted the kitty--so I got called. Actually I planned just to pick up the critter and take over to the shelter. But as soon as I walked into the kitchen, here came this blue-eyed beauty, looked up at me, said 'MEOW' and climbed up my pants leg to reach my face. One hug around the neck and I was gone!

Seren(dipity)--because it was a lucky accident we found each other--came home with me 13 years ago and is my feline editor. Nothing gets pub'd without her paw-mark of approval.


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## cecilia_writer (Dec 28, 2010)

We've had lots of cats but we've only rarely had the chance to name them ourselves - the current ones all had names before we got them. Caspar and George belonged to my late brother, who died very suddenly so I inherited them, along with his black Labrador Sally, now sadly gone. Jacques, the third one, belonged to a French friend of my son's but he was still only a kitten when we got him. 
Jacques is another one who will only drink running water from the tap! He's a great cat with a lovely tabby patterned coat and quite a lot of white, very short hair which is almost waterproof as it's so thick. He likes to stalk foxes and once caught a magpie.
Before that we had two fabulous female cats we did name ourselves - Fizzy and Poppy. Fizzy was ginger (I think that's the same as orange tabby) and Poppy was tabby and white. They both lived to 15 and then both died in the same year as my brother.
It's been great reading all the cat stories. Every cat is different!


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## samanthawarren (May 1, 2011)

My current cats are Josephine and Penelope. Josephine (Josie for short) was named at the shelter. She had a brother named Napoleon, but I could only get one cat. Penelope was originally called Nugget, but I didn't want a cat named after fast food, so I renamed her after the Christina Ricci movie. We also have one more cat (my grandma's) named Bell. It used to be Belle when he was a kitten. I named him then. We thought he was a girl at first and never changed the name. I usually call him Bubba instead.


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## Carrien (Jan 30, 2011)

Thanks everyone!!!!  I am going to get the carrier out and put it in family room with one of the blankets she has made hers and let it sit there and see if she will eventually go near it.  That website Amyshojal was exactly what we go thru....hide and seek, then fight or flight....good advice there too!  I have received such great ideas I may just incorporate them all....leave the crate out draped like a cozy hiding spot, use some wet food to lure her....if all fails we'll trap her in blankets which will save us from getting clawed and put her in the crate....I hate that it's always been such a traumatic experience for her. I always feel so bad cause she has such glaring eyes at us after the vet.....if looks could kill!  Lol

If I survive yet another capture the cat vet visit...I'll let you know how it went....the appointment is in two weeks....

Thanks again everyone I so appreciate the advice.


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## anne_holly (Jun 5, 2011)

I don't know if I logically put too much stock in the idea that colouring patterns affect cat personality. However, emotionally, I have a strong preference for tuxedos, brown tabbies and orange tabbies, simply because these are the varieties that my favourite cats have fallen in. 

My last cat, before Ralph, was a tuxedo - Fritz. When we fist rescued him (from a Dumpster), I wanted to call him something classy like Chagall. Nope - it didn't fit. I ended up naming him after a pornographic cartoon cat, instead. It suited him.


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## Ann Herrick (Sep 24, 2010)

Carrien said:


> Thanks everyone!!!! I am going to get the carrier out and put it in family room with one of the blankets she has made hers and let it sit there and see if she will eventually go near it. That website Amyshojal was exactly what we go thru....hide and seek, then fight or flight....good advice there too! I have received such great ideas I may just incorporate them all....leave the crate out draped like a cozy hiding spot, use some wet food to lure her....if all fails we'll trap her in blankets which will save us from getting clawed and put her in the crate....I hate that it's always been such a traumatic experience for her. I always feel so bad cause she has such glaring eyes at us after the vet.....if looks could kill! Lol
> 
> If I survive yet another capture the cat vet visit...I'll let you know how it went....the appointment is in two weeks....
> 
> Thanks again everyone I so appreciate the advice.


You might try sprinkling a little catnip near the back of the carrier. That worked with one of my cats! Made for a quieter ride in the car, too.


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## Jordan Parkes (Jul 16, 2011)

I've always got tortie cat's love their coloring and personality!


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## D/W (Dec 29, 2010)

For the cat-crating problem, I was going to suggest spraying a bit of Feliway (Comfort Zone spray) on the inside of the carrier, but I see that Amy already mentioned that in the article she linked to.

Feliway simulates natural "friendly" facial pheromones that calm the animal and reduce anxiety. Helpful during transport and other stressful situations, it also works well to control urine marking and vertical scratching (like on furniture). It's a bit pricey, but it works very well and one bottle lasts a long time! They also make a version for dogs, and it comes as a spray or plug-in diffuser.


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## anne_holly (Jun 5, 2011)

DreamWeaver said:


> For the cat-crating problem, I was going to suggest spraying a bit of Feliway (Comfort Zone spray) on the inside of the carrier, but I see that Amy already mentioned that in the article she linked to.
> 
> Feliway simulates natural "friendly" facial pheromones that calm the animal and reduce anxiety. Helpful during transport and other stressful situations, it also works well to control urine marking and vertical scratching (like on furniture). It's a bit pricey, but it works very well and one bottle lasts a long time! They also make a version for dogs, and it comes as a spray or plug-in diffuser.


Interesting.

I've also used catnip spray or just sprinkling the real deal where I wanted the cat to go. He was too stoned to know what was happening. 

ETA: Warning - with some cats, catnip makes them even feistier, so I should clarify that I just put the nip in there and let him wander where I wanted him to go, following the trail. Manhandling a cat on a nip binge can lead to some nasty scratches.


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## Amyshojai (May 3, 2010)

Yes, the Feliway is an analogue of one fraction of feline cheek phermone--the part that tells cats their territory is safe. So it works well to associate the crate as a safe zone. I suspect that's what the vet used to spray in the exam room, too. 

Comfort Zone with DAP is the dog product and it's an analogue of the "no fear" pheromone mom dogs produce from their breasts during nursing--works for any age dog (helpful for thunder fear, for example). 

All the content I wrote for cats.About.com is still there, although now I'm over at the puppies.about.com side. *S*


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## tessa (Nov 1, 2008)

My  last 3 cats lived to be 17 years old. we got them within 12 months of each other and they past on within 12 months of each other.
Alf a 18lb male Siamese  Amanda a 3 lb female Siamese and Emily a 3-4lb Himalayan  
Amanda was the brains
Alf was the brawn 
Emily the lookout
They did every thing together Amanda showed Alf how to open the side door it was too heavy  for her to do by herself once open 
out they would go the 3 cats and the 2 dogs down the street happy as can be. If any one came up to them they would hide behind the big dog.

They shared their food and beds with the other animals in the house.

I had a rule in our house "Don't name it, it's not staying"  To this day no one listens to me I thank God they have their own houses.  LOL

tessa


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## RobynB (Jan 4, 2011)

My guy is Dorian Gray. Like the character, cats retain their beauty and often get away with murder, so I thought it would fit (and he's gray, of course). 

Seriously, he's gorgeous -- I think he has some Maine **** in him...weighed in over 22 pounds at one point (I see some of the others above know what that's like). I've worked on slimming him down a bit, thanks to a short bout with feline diabetes (was able to revert him to a pre-diabetic condition with a change in diet). He's my baby!


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## Casper Parks (May 1, 2011)

Charlies was rescue kitty, abandoned in the country. A lady from where I was working had taken care of him for a few weeks, however her husband said he had to go. She had already started calling him Charlie. Since he was use to the name, kept when taking him home. That was roughly seven years ago.


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## AnnetteL (Jul 14, 2010)

I grew up with lots of cats, but as one of the younger kids in the family, rarely got to name them.

The first cat I got as adult I named Geoffrey, after Chaucer. 

The next one was Klaus, which my kids named after the character in A Series of Unfortunate Events.

Our current cat is a white, flame-tipped Siamese mix. That means she's mostly white but has orange ears, nose, and a striped tail like a tiger.

Because of the orange, my girls named her Fiona after the princess in Shrek.


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## samanthawarren (May 1, 2011)

Carrien said:


> Thanks everyone!!!! I am going to get the carrier out and put it in family room with one of the blankets she has made hers and let it sit there and see if she will eventually go near it. That website Amyshojal was exactly what we go thru....hide and seek, then fight or flight....good advice there too! I have received such great ideas I may just incorporate them all....leave the crate out draped like a cozy hiding spot, use some wet food to lure her....if all fails we'll trap her in blankets which will save us from getting clawed and put her in the crate....I hate that it's always been such a traumatic experience for her. I always feel so bad cause she has such glaring eyes at us after the vet.....if looks could kill! Lol
> 
> If I survive yet another capture the cat vet visit...I'll let you know how it went....the appointment is in two weeks....
> 
> Thanks again everyone I so appreciate the advice.


When I need to get my black kitty, Josie, to the vet, I'm very, very evil. She's addicted to treats. Have you ever seen that episode of Family Guy with the greasy underwear guy who's following a line of candy? He goes "Ooo, piece of candy. Ooo, piece of candy" and so on. Well, I do that to Josie, and she'll walk right into the crate before she realizes what's going on. It's mean and she hates me for hours afterward, but then I just pull out the bag of treats again and we're all good.


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## Carrien (Jan 30, 2011)

Thank you, thank you everyone so many great ideas....I'll pick up some catnip this week and try it out ahead of time to see if we get happy stoned or uncontrollable entity cat. She has catnip toys but doesn't seem interested....but hey I'll try anything to make this as least traumatic as possible for her.

Much appreciated, thanks


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## talleylynn (Apr 24, 2009)

Does anyone know if Feliway would work to calm cats as they adjust to living with each other.

I have a sort of war going on between my long-time resident cat and the two new ones I adopted a month ago. It's especially noticeable between the two females, but the male takes his licks too. Amazingly, he never retaliates - just slinks away as if nothing happened. I'm really looking for a way to end these skirmishes so we can all live in some kind of peace.


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## rayhensley (Apr 16, 2011)

I wish I had a cat.

Something Louis CK said comes to mind:

"I'd like to name my kid (or cat) a whole phrase, you know, something like 'Ladies and Gentlemen'. That'll be a cool name for a kid (or cat). "This is my son, Ladies and Gentlemen"... Then when he gets out of hand I get to go "Ladies and Gentlemen, please!"


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## Amyshojai (May 3, 2010)

talleylynn said:


> Does anyone know if Feliway would work to calm cats as they adjust to living with each other.
> 
> I have a sort of war going on between my long-time resident cat and the two new ones I adopted a month ago. It's especially noticeable between the two females, but the male takes his licks too. Amazingly, he never retaliates - just slinks away as if nothing happened. I'm really looking for a way to end these skirmishes so we can all live in some kind of peace.


Feliway helps cats feel good about their environment. Felifriend (only available in Europe) is a different fraction of the cheek pheromone and is helpful with cat aggression but it's difficult to get. Here's more of my articles/tips on cat aggression (check the links at bottom of the article, too):

http://cats.about.com/od/amyshojai/a/10-Tips-to-Stop-Cat-to-Cat-Aggression.htm


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## Meb Bryant (Jun 27, 2011)

In my lifetime, I've had several cats. They've all been named Miss Kitty. They don't mind the recycled name and I don't have to remember a new name. Best of all, the same name helps lessen the grief.

Meb


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## Amy Corwin (Jan 3, 2011)

Cricket - because she responded to the "cr" sound when she showed up on our porch
Psycho - because he is completely insane. I think he's fallen on his head too many times.


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## PatrickWalts (Jul 22, 2011)

One of mine is named Leonardo(We call him Leo) because we used to give our cat Thomas that had recently passed goofy middle names. "Thomas Leonardo Beauregard Walts" and such. So, a few days after our beloved Thomas left this earth(He had an enlarged heart and his organs began shutting down), I saw a rescue cat that looked very similar to him, and was the same age(4). I took it as a sign that we were supposed to take this kitty in. I named him Leonardo after one of Thomas' middle names as a tribute.
Leo(He's a sweet boy, and a little comedian.)









And Thomas








Sigh. I miss that big beautiful guy.


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## SimonSmithWilson (Jul 26, 2011)

My cat was called, Tammy. She sadly passed away a few months back at the grand age of twenty-one. She was good fun and fairly sure she thought she was a dog, lol. She would walk with the dogs and boss them around.


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## ◄ Jess ► (Apr 21, 2010)

SimonSmithWilson said:


> My cat was called, Tammy. She sadly passed away a few months back at the grand age of twenty-one. She was good fun and fairly sure she thought she was a dog, lol. She would walk with the dogs and boss them around.


Wow, what an impressive age! My cat doesn't think she's a dog, but she is a bit confused about our dog. See, she loves to play fetch and she'll regularly drop things in our laps so we will throw them for her. A few times, she's gone up to the dog and dropped things at her feet, as if to say, "Hey, will you throw this for me?" The dog just looks bewildered and after a few minutes, the cat walks off and tries someone else.


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## PatrickWalts (Jul 22, 2011)

SimonSmithWilson said:


> My cat was called, Tammy. She sadly passed away a few months back at the grand age of twenty-one. She was good fun and fairly sure she thought she was a dog, lol. She would walk with the dogs and boss them around.


Man, that's got to be hard, losing a friend you've had for 21 years. Sorry to hear about that.


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## Amyshojai (May 3, 2010)

Wow, 21 is an awesome lifespan. Y'all must have been doing lots of things very RIGHT for this special kitty. It never hurts any less to lose a fur-kid, though. My deepest sympathies.


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## Evan Couzens (Jul 18, 2011)

The first day I got my tuxedo cat home from the shelter, he fell asleep in an empty Amber Bock box in the recycling, so I had to name him Bock. People ask if I named him after the composer; nope, beer. 

Girlfriend's cat is Toby aka Tobes. He's a ragdoll and is a bit dim, and it seems to fit.


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## talleylynn (Apr 24, 2009)

Thanks Amy. Your articles gave me several ideas to try.


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## Amyshojai (May 3, 2010)

talleylynn said:


> Thanks Amy. Your articles gave me several ideas to try.


It can take quite a bit of time for cats to accept new furry family members. My Seren-kitty didn't fully accept the Magical-Dawg for over a year. And I think she'd still be thrilled if he went away, LOL!


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## talleylynn (Apr 24, 2009)

My previous two cats didn't like each other, but they were able to unite in their hatred of Pepper when she came along. They divided up the house and everyone had their own territory. 

Right now, between the two girls (Pepper and Boo), there's a lot of sitting where they can see each other and just glaring. If one decides to decrease the distance or come into the other's room, then there is loud screaming and hissing. In a month I've only seen two little tufts of fur; so I don't think they want an all-out battle, but with the sound of things, I can't be sure. Part of the problem is Charlie, the male, has claimed Pepper's favorite spot in my husband's den; so Pepper is kind of at loose ends. I don't know why she is taking it out on Boo. Another possibility is that my elderly cat that just died lived the last year of her life in my den. That is the room Boo has claimed as hers. I'm wondering if Pepper is thinking the wrong cat is in my den and defending the space for the deceased cat.


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## Amyshojai (May 3, 2010)

talleylynn said:


> My previous two cats didn't like each other, but they were able to unite in their hatred of Pepper when she came along. They divided up the house and everyone had their own territory.
> 
> Right now, between the two girls (Pepper and Boo), there's a lot of sitting where they can see each other and just glaring. If one decides to decrease the distance or come into the other's room, then there is loud screaming and hissing. In a month I've only seen two little tufts of fur; so I don't think they want an all-out battle, but with the sound of things, I can't be sure. Part of the problem is Charlie, the male, has claimed Pepper's favorite spot in my husband's den; so Pepper is kind of at loose ends. I don't know why she is taking it out on Boo. Another possibility is that my elderly cat that just died lived the last year of her life in my den. That is the room Boo has claimed as hers. I'm wondering if Pepper is thinking the wrong cat is in my den and defending the space for the deceased cat.


Ya know how you can have a REALLY bad day at work with the boss being a complete jerk--but you need the job so you can't say anything? And then come home and your spouse says/does something (harmless, not meant to irk) and you BLOW UP!

Same thing can happen with cats. A kitty that's aggravated/upset by another critter and can't retaliate may instead take it out on a different cat that's closer/can be intimidated. That's "redirected aggression."

You can help with some of the angst by creating more 'prime real estate' with elevated resting spots--lots of them--so the cats don't have to argue. Just clear off part of a book shelf, add an empty box somewhere for kitty hiding, etc. I can offer specifics without lots more input necessary for a full-blown consult but hopefully some of the tips in the article will help, too. Good luck!


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## SimonSmithWilson (Jul 26, 2011)

> See, she loves to play fetch and she'll regularly drop things in our laps so we will throw them for her. A few times, she's gone up to the dog and dropped things at her feet, as if to say, "Hey, will you throw this for me?" The dog just looks bewildered and after a few minutes, the cat walks off and tries someone else


lol, that would be funny to see. My brothers old cat liked to play fetch, but had a problem of not being able to tell... or not caring, what was the soft ball or what was your toe!!!



> Man, that's got to be hard, losing a friend you've had for 21 years. Sorry to hear about that.


Thank you. It is really hard, as my dog lived until she was 18. I think it was more shocking with my dog, as at 18 she was so fit, but the poor Tammy's quality of life went downhill in the last 6 weeks, so I was able to prepare and get ready for the fallout with my 10 nieces and nephews. It was her time. I try to focus on the great memories I have of her.



> Wow, 21 is an awesome lifespan. Y'all must have been doing lots of things very RIGHT for this special kitty. It never hurts any less to lose a fur-kid, though. My deepest sympathies.


Thank you. I can't take credit for her long lifespan. She loved my old dog, Katie. Katie lived until 18. And then she just loved, Willow, my new dog and they are her real reason for a long life.


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## PatrickWalts (Jul 22, 2011)

talleylynn said:


> My previous two cats didn't like each other, but they were able to unite in their hatred of Pepper when she came along. They divided up the house and everyone had their own territory.
> 
> Right now, between the two girls (Pepper and Boo), there's a lot of sitting where they can see each other and just glaring. If one decides to decrease the distance or come into the other's room, then there is loud screaming and hissing. In a month I've only seen two little tufts of fur; so I don't think they want an all-out battle, but with the sound of things, I can't be sure. Part of the problem is Charlie, the male, has claimed Pepper's favorite spot in my husband's den; so Pepper is kind of at loose ends. I don't know why she is taking it out on Boo. Another possibility is that my elderly cat that just died lived the last year of her life in my den. That is the room Boo has claimed as hers. I'm wondering if Pepper is thinking the wrong cat is in my den and defending the space for the deceased cat.


Cats can be jerks, sometimes. I love them, though.


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

When I was young I got a cat from a friend who lived on a farm and their cat had kittens. She was all white. We didn't realize she could get out of the house through the basement crawl space, but one morning we found her all curled up on the porch outside. It was November and we thought she was a small pile of snow until she moved. We named her Snowball because of it. 

Vicki


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## SimonSmithWilson (Jul 26, 2011)

> It was November and we thought she was a small pile of snow until she moved. We named her Snowball because of it.


Snowball is a really nice name. I come from a family that has always had lots of animals. It is hard finding new and unique names!


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## The Fussy Librarian (May 3, 2011)

Our first cat, which my wife had before we married, was a farm cat that my mother-in-law discovered one day. The cat was a real mess -- fur was tangled and she was filthy. My mother-in-law said the cat looked like she was put together by committee. The name stuck -- *Committee*. She passed away a few years ago.

Cat number two was also a farm cat we decided to name *Henry*. We forget how we came to that. I suggested Hank. Maybe for Hank Aaron. But he became Henry.

Number three was a black shorthair that literally walked into our house and decided to stay. Since we already had a Henry, we decided that he would be named *Wallace*. So between cat #2 and #3 that gave us a famous Iowan -- *Henry Wallace.*

Cat number four was living with my sister-in-law when we decided to adopt him. We kept his name so he wouldn't get confused -- *Larry*.

Our most recent cat came from a local shelter -- she's a black longhair, like Committee. Her shelter name was Nicki, which didn't fit her personality. We named her *Agatha*, after the famous mystery novelist.


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## Casper Parks (May 1, 2011)

Rayn and Mini, her kitty...


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## MariuszCieply (Nov 30, 2011)

I gave to my cat name Lebovsky because he is so big


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## cheriereich (Feb 12, 2011)

I have a black and white cat with a smudge of black under her nose. She looked like she'd been in the cinders, so we called her Cindrella, "Relli" for short. My sister named Romeo while she was reading Romeo & Juliet in school. Then, I'm a big fan of mythology, so with a black cat, we named her Hekate.


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## Marie S (May 20, 2011)

My kitten's name is Athena. I've always loved that name and it suits her. She's a little goddess, and she knows it!


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## Anita (Jan 3, 2009)

First of all, let me say that my cats kind of name themselves. I try to come up with 2 or 3 names that I like..then I sit with the cat and say each name out loud. The name that elicits a good response from the cat (it looks at me and/or comes toward me) is the name we use - even if it wasn't my first choice. Sometimes I think that is why my cats always respond when I call them -- even if the response is just to look at me as if to say "I heard you, and I don't really care what you said or want...." 

That being said, there are 4 cats in my house right now:

_Sophie _ was actually named by my vet when I couldn't come up with names for 2 rescued kittnes - she meowed when he asked if it was okay, so we figured she approved. LOL. Her name matched perfectly with the little male cat I adopted with her - Tucker (who sadly passed away earlier this year).

_Dulcie_ is named after a cat in the "Joe Grey" mystery series. Marie, Dulcie looks just like Athena! At 6 years of age she is still petite and looks like a kitten .

_Alex _ is Dulcies littermate....I have always liked the name and he responds to it, so it's his!

_Pewter_ was grey as a kitten so I named him Pewter after the cat in the "Mrs. Murphy" mystery series. Granted, his namesake cat was a female, but I like to think it's an androgenous name. Besides, he has grown into a black cat so he's not even a pewter color anymore!


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## Nook and Kindle Reader (Nov 19, 2011)

We adopted Malachite about a week ago from the animal shelter. He was four months already and had a name he responded to, so we went ahead and kept it the same. It seemed to fit him and it seemed like a gorgeous name.


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## Grace Elliot (Mar 14, 2011)

The first cat that I owned was called 'Skate.'
This unsual name was chosen by my work colleagues. At that time I was working in Portsmouth and going out with a Royal Navy Officer (now my husband of 23 years!) I wanted a different name, and it was pointed out that Skate is a Pompey slang term for a sailor. (As in the unflattering expression "Skate bait" - meaning a young lady dressed up on a night out to attract a sailor!) 
My next cat I called Kipper (sticking with Skate but switching to a fishy theme) who sadly escaped one day and went missing. But on a happier note one of my current five cats is called Pilchard (she's a mackerel tabby so the name seemed especially apt.)


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## SongbirdVB (Nov 18, 2008)

My cat is named buster.  As in... HEY, BUSTER, you just knock that off!  He was always quite the mischief maker.  When he was a kitten I had to stand in the middle of the room when I was eating, and even then he would climb my clothes trying to get into my plate.  He finally realized there would always be food for him and now isn't quite so bad.  =D


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## Grace Elliot (Mar 14, 2011)

SongbirdVB said:


> My cat is named buster. As in... HEY, BUSTER, you just knock that off! He was always quite the mischief maker. When he was a kitten I had to stand in the middle of the room when I was eating, and even then he would climb my clothes trying to get into my plate. He finally realized there would always be food for him and now isn't quite so bad. =D


I had a school friend who named her cat Furkin. Sounds cute until you heard her calling the cat in.

"Come here, Furkin cat."


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## patrisha w. (Oct 28, 2008)

My son's cat was called Shatner. He started life with us as Le Chat Noir. On more formal occasions he was Shatner the Mighty Hunter.
My cat was Bella the Beautiful-but-Slightly-Stupid. She earned this name when she never did learn how to use the cat door! She would sit there meowing pathetically when she wanted to go out. When she wanted to come in, she would sit on the step outside and wait for Shatner to come and then follow him closely.


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## Klip (Mar 7, 2011)

I cannot have cats myself as my husband is allergic (so am I but I dont care!) so my father's cats are my vicarious cats 

At the moment he has Melchior and Balthazar who are both Burmese; the kind of cats that you can hug and will hug you back. They were named after two of the three wise men in the Christmas story.

He recently got a little Abyssinian red kitten who is called Willemien for no particular reason. She's a wild one! Brings in shrews from the garden.










Melchior did not like her at first but now I hear his helping her herd shrews...


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## Ann Herrick (Sep 24, 2010)

Colette, named after the author.


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## DYB (Aug 8, 2009)

Is your cat trying to kill you? Take the quiz to find out!

http://www.heyquiz.com/quiz/cat_kill


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## teashopgirl (Dec 8, 2011)

My cat's name is Ramona, after Beverly Cleary's Ramona the Pest. 

But I also call her Kittums. And Pickle.


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## lea_owens (Dec 5, 2011)

Our current cat is called *Rabies*. That doesn't sound like a very nice name, but it is a funny story.

There had been a feral black cat hanging around the house and stables through most of 2010, but we couldn't get close enough to catch her, she just stole the dog food and slunk around in the grass and between buildings. In January of this year we had horrendous floods in Queensland and my son and I sludged through mud and rain (over twelve inches of rain in one night) to feed the horses. I was surprised when Michael chased one of our Quarter Horse stallions, Nights Of Gold, out of his stable into the rain and mud.

I yelled over the sound of pounding rain, "What are you doing? Leave him in his stable!"
He yelled back, "No - the cat's in there and she has rabies!"
I thought, _Idiot boy, there's no rabies in Australia_ and yelled the more polite, "She'll be fine, there's no rabies in Australia."
Once more he stood and raised his voice over the rain to tell me, "She has rabies - keep him out of the stable!"
I groaned, thinking she's probably eaten a cane toad and is frothing at the mouth, but it's definitely not rabies, and I wished my son had listened harder when we discussed diseases of livestock because everyone knows there isn't any rabies in Australia. "She doesn't have rabies!" I yelled.
He shook his head at me (obviously thinking _My mother is an idiot_) and screamed as loud as he could over the rain, "Babies! The cat has babies!"

So, the little black cat had settled into the corner of the stallion's stable with her three kittens. It turned out she was a domesticated cat who had been dumped and she was just scared, once we rescued her and the kittens, she was very affectionate and loving... and she's known as Rabies.


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## SongbirdVB (Nov 18, 2008)

lea_owens said:


> Our current cat is called *Rabies*. That doesn't sound like a very nice name, but it is a funny story.
> 
> There had been a feral black cat hanging around the house and stables through most of 2010, but we couldn't get close enough to catch her, she just stole the dog food and slunk around in the grass and between buildings. In January of this year we had horrendous floods in Queensland and my son and I sludged through mud and rain (over twelve inches of rain in one night) to feed the horses. I was surprised when Michael chased one of our Quarter Horse stallions, Nights Of Gold, out of his stable into the rain and mud.
> 
> ...


Great story! Thanks for making me laugh this morning.


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## Meb Bryant (Jun 27, 2011)

I did not know rabies was nonexistent in Australia. Thanks for the knowledge.

Love the rabies story. Sounds like the communications around here.

Meb


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## Rita (Apr 30, 2009)

My cat is officially named King Louie, but we just call him plain ole Louie. My husband and son call him Puss.


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## Amyshojai (May 3, 2010)

A friend returned from vacation and found a 4-month-old Siamese baby asleep in her flower pot on the back porch. She was allergic--and her four year old daughter was already smitten. So she called me (the crazy pet lady!) for help.

I arrived with pet carrier in hand, ready to whisk said kitten over to the shelter. But the baby had other ideas.

She climbed up my pant leg, wrapped her paws around my neck (and heart) and mewed. So she's Seren(dipity), because it was a happy accident we came together. That's her in the avatar (and yes, she's still tiny at age 14 now...and bosses the dog).


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## Klip (Mar 7, 2011)

Amyshojai said:


> A friend returned from vacation and found a 4-month-old Siamese baby asleep in her flower pot on the back porch. She was allergic--and her four year old daughter was already smitten. So she called me (the crazy pet lady!) for help.
> 
> I arrived with pet carrier in hand, ready to whisk said kitten over to the shelter. But the baby had other ideas.
> 
> She climbed up my pant leg, wrapped her paws around my neck (and heart) and mewed. So she's Seren(dipity), because it was a happy accident we came together. That's her in the avatar (and yes, she's still tiny at age 14 now...and bosses the dog).


Wow that sounds like a fairy tale 

Love Siamese cats, they are so passionate.


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## macaroni (Sep 4, 2010)

The family has two cats ... the first is a Manx, we call him Rumpletailskin, Rumple for short (because you can see his rump, he has no tail, just skin).
The second is a Calico ... my son demanded that it was his turn to name a pet (he was very VERY young at the time) and was adamant that the name would be "Him" ... problem is, the cat is a female ... but after all it WAS David's turn ... so Him it is. It made for a very funny phone call when we called the vet to have "Him" Spayed, and they tried to convince us that they don't Spay "Hims" they neuter Hims, and they only Spay Hers.


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## DYB (Aug 8, 2009)

Amyshojai said:


> A friend returned from vacation and found a 4-month-old Siamese baby asleep in her flower pot on the back porch. She was allergic--and her four year old daughter was already smitten. So she called me (the crazy pet lady!) for help.
> 
> I arrived with pet carrier in hand, ready to whisk said kitten over to the shelter. But the baby had other ideas.
> 
> She climbed up my pant leg, wrapped her paws around my neck (and heart) and mewed. So she's Seren(dipity), because it was a happy accident we came together. That's her in the avatar (and yes, she's still tiny at age 14 now...and bosses the dog).


I got my cat from a friend. Her Siamese and American Shorthair had a litter. I wanted a kitten that looked Siamese. There were two options, a boy and a girl. My friend wanted to keep the boy, so at 6 weeks I came to pick up the girl. I pick her up - and she goes all rigid and scared. I put her down for a minutes and try again. Same reaction. So my friend says, "Okay, try the boy." I pick him up, he crawls into my palm, curls up and goes to sleep. That's the one I took home with me! His name is Pippin and he's going to be 4 on December 25th!


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## Beatriz (Feb 22, 2011)

Geemont said:


> Our first cat was given to us with no name, just kitty cat. The cat was used to living in a backyard and had to adjust to a one bedroom apartment. She had a game were she'd pounce on our toes, and I'd call her a little sh!t. When my wife wanted to name her, I said her we can call her L.S. for short, but that (when spoken) evolved into Ellis.
> 
> Ellis was a great cat and we had her for ten years until cancer got her.


My latest addition is called "Jolie" because she's tres tres jolie and my other two Ricky in honor of Ricky Ricardo and Nicole in honor of Nicole Kidman. I try to name them according to how they look. Ricky looks like a band leader and Nicole is elegant like Nicole Kidman. Jolie is a white Persian Himalayan that's breathtakingly beautiful and looks very, very French so I settled on Jolie.


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## Amyshojai (May 3, 2010)

I am LOVING the evolution of the names, this is fun! A friend had a tabby and white shorthair cat show up Christmas eve many years ago. He held his tail aloft with just the white tip hanging over like a bell....his name became Jingles.


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## Eltanin Publishing (Mar 24, 2011)

My husband and I have/had three kitties. First is *Kayla*, who we adopted shortly after we got married in 2003. The shelter called her "Sunny", but she is NOT "Sunny". I mean, we love her to death, but sometimes she is cranky. "Kayla" just popped into my head. Now if we hear someone out in public call their kid or dog "Kayla", we laugh, because to us, that's a cat name!

Then there was *Luna*. She was crying outside out apartment building door. We later learned she had been abandoned by a neighbor, outside, in October (in Vermont), and she is declawed. At first, we weren't sure we could keep her because Kayla fought with her. But they got used to each other so we figured it was time to name her. We were watching the World Series (or was it a playoff game? I think it was 2005) and the Red Sox were playing the Cardinals. I suggested that maybe we could name her after a Red Sox player. Predictably, a lot of the names just weren't good cat names. Then someone with the last name "Luna" came up to bad. PLUS, there was a lunar eclipse last night. But my husband said that that player was a Cardinal, so that's no good. But the guy struck out, so I said it was good for the Sox, so he agreed. Luna died on New Years Eve last year. It was sudden and unexpected, but I guess that's good for her - that it was quick. 

We weren't planning on adopting another cat super fast, but we happened to look at PetFinder.com and saw an adorable kitty. Unfortunately, PetFinder uses as-the-crow-flies distances, and didn't take into account that there is a huge lake in the way. So it was quite the outing to go get him. The shelter called him "Chester", but neither of us liked that, so we named him "*Milo*" (rhymes with "silo"). Again, it mostly just popped into my head. There was a Bloom County comic strip character named Milo, and it's also the name of a grain (I have a teddy bear named Barley). Milo is very naughty, but also very cute and happy. He likes to bite, but he bites out of joy, not spite (he just REALLY enjoys gnawing on things - particularly fingers). He purrs every time I touch him, and he greets all our guests at the door. Obviously, we love him to death. It's kind of weird, being so in love with him, and so glad we found him, yet we wouldn't have him if Luna hadn't died...


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## Coral Moore (Nov 29, 2009)

My rescue kitty came with the name Mittens, which simply would not do. At the time I got her, I was thinking of getting more pets after and using an herbal theme for all of them so I decided on Rosemary for her. In the years since it's simply become Rosie which is fitting because her favorite toys in the world are little fabric flowers like you find at a craft store. See below.


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## sheiler1963 (Nov 23, 2011)

Almost all of the pets I've ever had came from some rescue source with a name and I always kept the name. There was one time I brought home a kitten from a 'free kitten' box at a garage sale and then learned something about myself that I hadn't realized. I am a really bad 'namethinkerupper'! I couldn't figure out a really great name for this kitty. I came home every day looking around for the cat. I finally ended up naming him T.C. (which of course stood for The Cat). 
My bad 'namethinkerupper' status continued. Later I adopted a greyhound that came with the clunky name Greys Excalibur with a call name of 'Grey' which was a dumb name. I ended up giving him the name 'X'.


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## lea_owens (Dec 5, 2011)

Rosie is pretty - and how fitting she plays with her namesakes.

T.C. is a good name for The Cat, sheiler, but I'm finding it difficult to be quite so positive about X... wasn't there a spot of colour somewhere he could be called Spot? (as in 'X marks the spot')

Some great names. One of my best friends went to school with Nicole Kidman, Beatriz - didn't like her at all at school and had some funny stories about their school days.


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