Rescue pets and changing their names.

I would probably keep the animal's name the same if they were used to it and responded to it, at least as a general rule of thumb.

Then again, my babies all have their names, "proper" names (for scolding and such), nicknames depending on mood - and they respond to all of them.

So Molly is Molly, Mollyanna, Mols, Molya, Mollycobbles, Lump, Old Lady, Beautiful Girl

Slayer is Slayer, Fernslayer Marie, Fernslayer Marie!, router kitty, mei-mei

Sláine is Sláine, Sláine Elizabeth!, Lady Threepaws, Beautiful Girl, Sgt. Sláine, She Who Pees When Stressed

Talin is Talin, Talin William, Talin William!, little bug, tamade hundan!, Talin you hundan!, and boy-chick among others.

I think they'll learn whatever name/nickname you give them, as long as you're consistent.

I'm really bad - I change their shelter names WHILE they're in my care at the shelter!!

For instance, we had a black cat with white on his chest and belly... white under his forelegs - like armpit hair. So, tho' his name was Houdini, I called him Pitzy!

The Maine Coon kitten with us now is called Skamper- but he really doesn't... he has short stubby legs, so he kind of waddles. At first I was calling him Tug, as in tugboat... wide, powerful, shallow draft! Then last night, I just started calling him Stubbs... b/c of his stubby little legs.

When I got Beauty from a shelter she was called Enid. I never liked that name and she never responded to it so her name became Beauty. (She responds to Sugar Pie as well though - I call her that as an affectionate nickname)

All of the Jellicles that had names when they showed up, got to keep them. They simply had a Jellicle Surname added on (like..Peanut Butterum).

The ones that had no name, like the stray kittens, got a name and surname that matched their personalities, their appearance, or their situation (Hobo-rode into town on a train/Freeway-found on the freeway).

Sassy was a kitten when I got him and that has always been his name.

Linus was orginally named Baxter, it took about a month for him to realize that his new name was Linus and I don't think he would even respond if I called him Baxter now..

Pixie was orginally named Mickie so she learned that her new name was Pixie quite quickly because they both sounded the same..

I like trying to keep the original name, especially if the pet has been called that for over a year.

I had picked a name before I found the cat.

Which turned out to be a good thing since "his" original name was Sophie.

We didn't change their names, except to shorten Cynthia to Cindy. But she's still Cynthia sometimes too.

Originally Posted by Bella713

Mario's name was Chase and it didn't go with my Italian Theme

So we changed it, but for months called him Chasey Mario and then just dropped the Chase...I think he would come to Fred

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Hee! some of them are a little easy, aren't they?

Molly and Sláine also answer to rattled food bags as if it was an SOS.

Lilly was "Lillith" when we adopted her. It's much easier to call her Lilly. Sometimes when her tortitude acts up I revert to calling her Lillith.

We kept the name "Forrest" that the rescue shelter gave him - cause it suits him, he already responded to it and I like it.

I changed "Jumbles" name to "Toby"...What self-respecting cat would want to be called "jumbles"? LOL, It does fit though, as he is rather clumsy.

Art

For me it depends on the age of the animal, and how much they respond.
Bear came with his name, it fit, and he knows it (though I call him Bear-bear).

My Ex's Bombay came with the name Licorice, too many syllables, she didn't respond to it and it really didn't fit her, so we re-named her Majik.

Most of my rescued pets were strays, so we don't know what their previous names were and just gave them the best fitting names we could come up with. Sneakers was adopted and had her name already, we were going to change it but could not come up with a good new one.
My terrier Pooch actually was a stray but came with his name-- however now I wish I had changed it! When we found him he had a rabies tag on so we were able to find out the information for the vet who vaccinated him (he'd visited them nearly a year before I found him), and they told us his name was Pooch. They also gave us contact info for his previous owners, but that info was outdated and we were not able to find them. When we found out his name I began to call him that because I thought we would eventually reunite him with his owner, but Pooch did not answer to the name at all! He didn't know it! I'm not sure why, if the owners never taught him the name or if whoever got him vaccinated did not have him long enough to teach him to come to his name, or what the deal was. All I know is he didn't know his name, but by the time we realized that we were not going to be able to locate his last owners he had already learned to respond to the name Pooch so we ended up keeping that name. He was supposed to be a foster dog so I didn't think I'd have to live with that name forever. However after a failed adoption I realized I was too attached to give him up and he became a permanent member of the family and we were stuck with the name Pooch...

We rescued our Springer and his name was Sam. Our cat is a rescue and he came with the name Sam. There can only be one Sam in the house and seniority won, Sam the cat keeps the name and Sam the dog is now Fergus. He hasn't seemed to mind the change, love is more important than a name. Although when Sam the cat is being called because he is in trouble, Fergus disappears, he knows that tone of voice and is glad his name isn't Sam anymore.

I adopted two cats back in November, Alex and Beacon. I really liked Beacon as a name for my female black kitten, but Alex wasn't working for me for my mitted tabby, so I renamed him Sox, and I would like to give my mom credit for coming up with that name cause I didnt know what I was going to call him.

Chestnut and Gizmo kept their names... they both respond to their names and even though I don't like EITHER of their names and don't think they suite them (ie: Chestnut is um... gray & white!) I couldn't see changing names they have known for so long as they were 5.5 and 2.5 when I adopted them

Jake was Rudy when we rescued him..... It did NOT fit him
Tonka was Max... Again, didn't fit him.

I always change thier names

We changed the names, but they didn't have them for long anyway. Bella was being called "Tiger Cat" so she absolutely needed a proper name. Stanley was being called "Stella" because they originally thought he was a girl, then they changed it to "Romeo" because he's such a lover and we decided to call him Stan.


They both answer to their names now, so I think we made the best decision. Now, if I got a cat from a previous owner, and it was used to a name already, I wouldn't change it.

i adopt senior cats, so I always keep their names as they have had them a long time. Only been tempted to change once. i have only changed two fosters names, one cos we thought he was a girl and was really a boy, so had to have a name change (and didn't respond to either!!), and the latest foster was named Swiggy, so it had to be changed - he responded really well to his new name change. Any strays have had to have names picked for me, i am running low on names, I would like to have a name for each letter of the alphabet, think I have about 10 to go!!