Rescue pets and changing their names.

calico2222

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Just a question. How many of you have rescued pets and changed their name? The only pet we have actually rescued is our dog, Brooke. She was found running on a road and the people that found her brought her into the animal shelter and she was going to be put to sleep but they called our vet to see if he could take her and try to find a home. No one had a clue what her name was to begin with, but she was just so beautiful they called her Brooke (as in Brooke Shields, I guess
). But, she knew her name, since she was there for weeks, so we kept it.

Same with Buttercup (our pug) we bought off of my BIL's friend. I HATE the name (their 11 year old daughter named her) but she knew it, so she is still Buttercup.

My cats know their names. Do they come running? Not all the time, but at least I will get an ear twitch or one eye open to acknowledge they know I am talking to them.

So, why do so many people change the names of their pets that they bring in? The way I look at it, they are being brought into an unfamiliar house with strangers and strange animal friends. Why not keep something consistant that they understand.
 

katachtig

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I'm not sure that their names are ones they are used to. We kept Carly's mainly because we couldn't think of anything better. But it took about a year for her to respond to the name. So I don't think she was familiar with it.
 

kelicat

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I've changed most of the names. My Harley was named Dallas (one of my dogs) when I adopted him. I've only taken in three cats from other people that I've kept, two of their names stayed the same, but Keli's I changed.

I don't take in too many owner surrenders, most are strays or drop-offs. But in the surrender's cases, I always change the names. New name for a new life
 

worriedmommy

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Well we have two cats that we adopted from a shelter. The first one is Oreo. I am not exactly sure how long she was in the shelter. Her name at the shelter was Oreo and we thought it fit. Our second shelter kitty was Jazz. He was at the shelter for three months. His name was Astro (which made me think of the Jetson's dog). He did not respond to his name so I am not sure if that was because he was with other cats so he did not know exactly what his name was or not. So with that I felt comfortable in changing his name to Jazz. Jazz fit his personality very well. He learned his new name quickly and was always happy (just to have a forever home where he got constant love). I never felt bad about changing his name and he did not seem to care one bit.
 

goldenkitty45

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Keno's name has been change 3-4 times. Her original name, the name the shelter gave her when they picked her up on the streets pregnant, the name the adopted family that we got her from, and the name we picked out.

We don't know the original name, but her other names were Grace and Angel. She is Keno now.

We used her old name with the new name when calling for food/play, etc. Then dropped the old name after a few days. She knew "Keno" and would respond to it within 1-2 weeks after getting her.

Ling and Charlie know their names and will answer you (most times) when you call them. And if you just use one name, that cat comes - not the other.
 

laureen227

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of my current 5, only two did i name originally [meaning they had no names until i named them] Pixel & Firefox.

Cable may or may not have had a name - she was only about 8 weeks old when found, so really don't know.

Java probably had a name, since she was about 3.5 months old when found, & very friendly [still is]. but i re-named her as i couldn't locate her former owner.

Chip was being called Bear at the shelter, but again, he was found as a stray, so this is probably at least his 3rd name.

they all know their names, except for Firefox. but that's because i don't call her Firefox, i call her 'Puter Bug

 

gailc

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I got back when he was about two yrs old (he was actually from a litter of a long forgotten cat of mine). His name was really weird and his actions the 1st night we had him resulted in the name of Ox!! (really its Oxford)

Bakker was a 4 month old from a rescue originally called Slash due to the white "slash" of fur between his eyes.

Bobber was a barn kitten from my SIL-her sibling was names dusty bob and the dad was tigger bob hence the name bobber (all bobtails)
"
 

isabel

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Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't.

My first cat was named Sirius at the shelter, but I renamed him Boo Boo. My dog was named Bandit by the people who found him and I kept that name because he knew it. My cat Abby was named Sparky by her first owners. It didn't fit her at all. Manny was named Manny at the shelter and we kept that name; it fits him.
 

yam102284

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We renamed Namine when we got her from the shelter. Her original name was Madame Moment, but we had already picked out Namine for when we got another cat. It goes along with Kairi, so we knew we were gonna change it. Unless I really really liked the name.
 

whiteforest

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Clue, the one eared cat that we gave to the Mr's parents, kept his original name. Gus's name when we adopted him was Bertram....there was no way I was keeping that name. The rest of the cats didn't have names before the ones we gave them.
 

momofmany

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All of our cats were born feral so there was no name to change. We named all of them when we took them into our lives. Of our 3 dogs, we changed 2 of their names. Sam used to be Buddy, but since we had a cat named Muddy we changed it because it sounded too similar. Lola was Dolly and Dolly just didn't fit, besides she didn't have that name very long (2 weeks at the shelter). We left Spike's name alone. It just fit him.
 

goldenkitty45

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For those who's cats don't respond to their names, try changing them. We did that with Spooky. His original nickname was gonna be TS (part of his registered name) but he never responed to it. One day my ex said he looked like a ghost and should be called "spooky". Well Spooky perked up his ears and looked. So we started using Spooky and he responded every time.

Spooky became "Pooky" at times cause my son was a toddler and couldn't pronouce the s part - he called him Pooky a lot, and Spooky still responded either way.

At times we changed it to Pooky Bear too
 

swampwitch

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Sparkle was only eight weeks old when we got her; her shelter name was Rachel.

Lily was two years old and the SPCA showed her name had been Felisity. She's very delicate and gentle like a Lily. The names sound similar and she took to the name Lily immediately and answered to it right away!

My crazy sister gave me a lot of grief because I named my black cat Lily!
 

beck4582

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Pepper used to be Baghera. We changed it just because we didn't think it fit her. Besides, she didn't know it. It only took her three days to learn Pepper.
 

bnwalker2

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None of our cats came with names, and neither did two of our dogs (Scooter & Sammy). Thunder was Corbin when I got him, he was 12 weeks old then and didn't know it anyway. Marley was "Mo" and "Mose" when we got him, and while he knew it we didn't really like it. He learned "Marley" in less than a day though.
 

lillekat

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I think that sometimes, you are right, it's a good thing to keep something familliar - especially if they already know their names. When we bought Tosca, her name was actually Emma, so in our case it worked out to be a good thing to change it. Bootie however was called Bootie, seeing as I'd already named her at the shelter when she came in


I don't know about cats responding better or worse to certain sounds - or names that end in "e" sounds - mine will ignore me no matter what I'm doing. Unless I've got food.
 

nanner

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LOL.....that food thing. Yeah.


Lena and Larry were named Cinderella and Sylvester when I started fostering them. I changed their names within a week.
I guess that was the first clue that I was going to keep them.


I don't know. I just couldn't get Cinderella and Sylvester out of my mouth. And they were so freaked out the first few days, I don't think they cared what I called them.

My Mom suggested Lena and Larry. I started using those names all the time, and now, two months later, I'm pretty sure they recognize their names.

Or else it's the food.
 

carolpetunia

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Calico -- I think Buttercup is adorable! Both the name and the dog!


Katachtig -- I've always thought you must have named Carly and Lucy after Carly Simon and one of her sisters who used to sing with her. I never asked you about it, though, because Carly Simon does have a third sister... so I was afraid you might have once had a third kitty and I might be bringing up a sad loss! Glad to know it's not so.


At the shelter I used to volunteer for, they often came up with wretched names... perfctly lovely cats got tagged with things like "Grunt," "1/2 & 1/2," "Dimwit"... AUGH! We've changed all our kitties's names:

Dylan Ishmael's shelter name was Harrison, presumably as in Ford. I liked it, and it fit him, forceful and manly as he is.
But he would have gotten called Harry, and that didn't appeal to us, so we decided to honor Bob Dylan and that classic opening line of "Moby Dick" instead.

Sassy Lane's shelter name was Sissy. Since my father and I had named Dylan, it was Mom's turn, and she chose Sassy after the kitty Sally Field played in that sweet movie... was it "Homeward Bound?" And Lane is for Mom's own maiden name.

When I met Clyde Lee while volunteering at the shelter, his name was Klee, for the painter (he had one brother named Pissaro, but the other three brothers apparently were not artistic
). I renamed him Clyde for my father's middle name, and Lee for my great-great-great-great-uncle Lee Neal, who helped draft the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.

Pearl Noelle was named Garbo by the shelter, but that never had a chance with me. My brother Noel and I once had a wonderful babysitter whose name was Pearl Dykes, and I've always loved the name... so Garbo became Pearl Noelle, for Mrs. Dykes and for the feminine version of my brother's name.

Clydie's mother, Abby Helen, was called Mona Lisa at the shelter. Like Clydie, she's white with black splotches, and the splotch on her head looks like she's wearing her hair parted in the middle and draped down the sides of her face... which is how my great-grandma Abby wore hers! So she's named for great-grandma Abby, for grandma Helen, and for my mom's middle name, which is also Helen.

St. John Dundee had only just arrived at the shelter when we took him (supposedly just to foster -- we know how that goes), but they'd already started calling him Freeway, because he'd been thrown out of a car. After much discussion, we named him St. John, for a rambling orange tabby my brother became acquainted with as a teenager back in Austin... and Dundee for my father's favorite orange marmalade, imported from Scotland.
 

miss mew

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2 of our cats Sydney and Molly are rescue kitties and we kept their name
 
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