Changing old cats name?

jaffacake

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So, I`ve had Sooty a few weeks now and I was talking to someone at work saying I didn`t really like his name but thought he was too old to change it.

Then this evening I was talking to my landlord ( Sooty belonged to his MIL ) and he said he picked Sooty up from some neighbours when he was a kitten and they had called him Marmite.

Now, I quite like that name but do you think it would be mean to change his name now?
He`s about 15.
 

GoldyCat

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Does he actually respond when you call him Sooty? If not, I think you can call him anything you want. Only one of my cats even looks at me when I say her name. The rest ignore me no matter what I call them, unless they happen to be in the mood to do whatever it is I'm telling them.
 

natalie_ca

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Personally I would leave his name as it is now, Sooty. He's 15 years old and has had that name for most of his life. It would be different if you didn't know his name, but you do. I say leave it.

I know it doesn't really quite compare, but you wouldn't change a 15 year old child's name if you adopted one. I look at my cats as my children. Abby is 10 1/2 years and came to me at 4 months old. The girl I got her from called her "Abby", so I left it at that because she had become used to it.
 
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jaffacake

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He does answer to Sooty. I`d probably always think of him as Sooty anyway.
Ahhh, I just want to name a cat
 

laureen227

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Originally Posted by whiteforest

I say call him whichever he responds to best.
all of mine [well, 2 were kittens!] had their names changed due to the fact i was unaware of what their names had been prior to me acquiring them. they all know their names, too.
if you want to change it, that'd be ok. you could always pick something close in sound to Sooty.
 

tab

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all mine have nicknames and they do seem to respond to the tone of my voice rather than the word i use. i don't see there being a problem changing it.
 

katiemae1277

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I change all my cats' names when I get them... no one seems to name cats Greek mythology names but me
even if I know what the previous owners have been calling them
They learn their new names after a bit, but like Goldy said, they don't answer to them anyway
 

ladylonewolf

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Personally, I think if he's been called Sooty all of his life, and especially if he answers to it, then you should just leave his name as it is.


That's what kept me from changing Harley's name - she comes running when you call her.
 

sparkie

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Katiemae - You're not alone
I've named all my cats after Greek mythology. I did the same for my parent's cats too - Artemis, Athena and Orion. Then I continued the tradition with mine - Pandora and Thor. I'm running out of names


I voted for Sooty, just because I don't know what 'Marmite" is. Like a termite that eats metal


When I was younger, we had a dog whose previous owners called him Sam. We wanted to change his name to Troubles (which is exactly what he was, bless his heart), so in the interim, we called him Troublesome Sam.

Maybe you can do something like that - Sooty Marmite
 

piikki

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Originally Posted by Jaffacake

Ahhh, I just want to name a cat
ahh, I always want to name things too.

One compromise I use is to call new guys with combo names (at first). If kitty responds to Sooty I would not change it but I might sneak him to be Sooty-"Mike" (etc), and then when he responds to that I would slowly start dropping Sooty off and emphasize the latter part more and more.
 

nurseangel

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Sooty is cute, though it's a little hard for me to say. So it would probably be turned to Ooty at my house,
. Whatever you decide to do as far as the name, I just want to say bless you for adopting an older cat.
 

laureen227

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Originally Posted by Sparkie

I voted for Sooty, just because I don't know what 'Marmite" is. Like a termite that eats metal
Marmite is a sandwich spread made from yeast. not too common in the U.S.
 
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