Did you keep/change your cat's name from previous owner/guardian?

When I got Larry (along with his sister) from a rescue group, they had been named Sylvester and Cinderella. I was supposed to be fostering them, but within a week decided to keep them. But their names just didn't come out easily for some reason.

I was on the phone with my mom and she said, "How about Larry?" Her cat is Curly, my brother's cat is Mo, so Mom thought we should complete the Stooges. And I immediately knew that Larry fit him. I re-named his sister Lena. Which sort of suited her, as well. Very sweet kitty, and I lost her 4 months later to FIP.

But Larry lives on, and lives up to his name. He's really......Larry!

Monster was an abandoned baby from the feral colony across the street from where I work. The guy who brought him to me thought he was a girl, and had been calling him "Misty". I called him that and my boyfriend didn't like it, because he didn't think Monster looked like a Misty. So I changed it to "Bella". I took him to the vet 3 times and they never told me he wasn't a girl. When I took him the 4th time, I asked them, because he was getting his testicles. Then I was told he was a boy, and I kept one of his nicknames, Monster. I don't think he knew his name when he was Bella, and even if he did, it would be odd to have a male cat named Bella. LOL.

Mittens was given to me by my boss, and I kept her name because she answered to it and I didn't want to confuse her. Plus, its not like I didn't like it anyway.

Only one of my cats already had a name when she came to me. Her name was Cracker Crumbs, so I just shortened it to Crumbs. Silly name, but I think it suits her.

OH yeah, all my pets get their names changed to suit what DH and I see in them. Rosalie they were calling her precious and while she is absoultely precious, it didn't suit her. Zoey they were calling her something else (can't remember). Even the dogs got new names, Scarlett was Daisy and Sasha was Sexy (GAG!) on her UKC papers it says "Sexy Blue", UGH! I'm just waiting for DH to come up with a good name for her so we can change that out, if he doesn't she's going to be "Devious Dreams Sasha" (Devious Dreams is what I'm going to be calling my shelter in the future ).

We changed our kitties names.

Juju was "Jupiter" at his foster mom's....so we just shortened it to "Juju". I rarely call him that, though. He much prefers "Toodles", "Toots", "Dooot Dooot" .

Tibi was "Thomas" at his foster mom's. My friend suggested "Tiberius", but that was too long so I shortened it!

Quil was "Butch" ( ) at the shelter. He was waaaay too cute to be a "Butch". Even the lady at the shelter told me that! So, I picked "Quil" because he looks like a little wolf cub. Quil means cub and it just so happens that "Quil" is a character in the Twilight saga and he turns into a werewolf .

Zaide (RIP ) was just a little baby known by a number at his foster mom's house. She just hadn't given him a name yet and the rescue numbers them on the paper work. I saw "Zaide" on a baby name site and fell in love with it. If I have a human baby boy in the future, his name will probably be "Liam Zaide Davis" .

Originally Posted by c1atsite

Thanks. I was unaware of that.

I once knew a girl with a cat named Lucy - Lucy was an undeniable brown tabby. like a bold milk chocolate with a bit of cinnamon. That, to me is brown. (jmho) But I'm glad my camera picked up Daisy's true colors. What you guys see here is accurate.

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Brown tabby in cats can range from a silvery or dark grey sort of color to warm chocolate or cinnamon brown (all with the black stripes.)

For a good example here are a few of my cats. All of these except for the one with the orange splotches are considered brown tabby (with white since they have white paws.) Harley the one with the orange splotches is a brown ticked torbie with white, or that color/pattern is also called brown patched tabby because she is both tabby and tortie. "Ticked" refers to the fact that she has no stripes on her body but instead has 'ticking' (banded hairs.)


Spot here is also ticked, he is a brown ticked tabby with white:




Harley the torbie is on the left, the other two Blaze and Mr. Grey are brown mackerel tabbies. You can see they are different shades but they have more of a "cool tone" which a lot of people would not think of as brown.



This is Church, he is also a brown mackerel tabby with white, he has a bit more of a warm tone than the others


Church again

Originally Posted by Nekochan

Daisy looks like a brown mackerel tabby to me. They don't use the term "gray" to refer to cat coloration, and smoke refers to a specific type of coloring in cats where the base of the coat is white.

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I agree, Daisy is brown mackerel tabby.

Most of my cats came to me without previous names that I knew, and I let them tell me what their names were.

Mazy cat's name at the shelter was Trinity, but I knew her name was Mazy the minute our eyes met. She never answered to Trinity, and answered to Mazy immediately.

My cats all have nicknames, too, and they know their nicknames.

For anyone wanting to change a cat's name, the best way, in my opinion, is at first to say both names together. Using Trinity and Mazy for an example, on the drive home from the shelter, just in case, I talked to Mazy all the way home, first saying"trinitymazy" and then just dropped the trinity. I'm not sure it was necessary in her case, as she never answered to Trinity that I could tell, and she TOLD me her name was Mazy in the first second we met, but it works, in other cases.

All four of mine (so far) have had their names changed.

Luvbug was a nameless stray we took in and it didn't take long for his name to fit.

Lil' Jag (her first name was Baby) was also a nameless stray we took in. We actually found her in the tirewell of our Jaguar Coupe - hence Lil' Jag.

ca1tsite Lil' Jag is also a smoke. She started as a black smoke but she's bordering on a black smoke or maybe a chocolate smoke but she definetley has the white undercoat.

Kuce (means Quiet One) is a rescued kill shelter cat. Her shelter name was a number and was due to be put down soon. It took a while to know her as she was extremely shy and scared. She's now the current alpha cat and a talker (too late to change the name now.)

Sphinx (our angel cat - R.I.P.) was also a rescued kill shelter cat (He came home with Kuce) and was scheduled to be put down soon as well. He also had a number. The shelter staff (who adored him) hoped he would walk out the front door. He was so regal - like the Egyptian Sphinx - that that name fit him to a tee.

Well, my cat's names and stories are:

Teya: Teya was found as a stray, so I had no idea what her previous name was. She was terribly thin and had an eye injury. I have always enjoyed Greek Mythology, so I was going through those names and found Triteia, which I really liked. I decided to shorten it and came up with Teya for her. Since Triteia was a priestess of Athena, it does fit her.

Malyka: Malyka was named Marble at the shelter. They said she looked like a little Marble Cake, plus she was sweet as she could be, so that's why they named her that. I do call her my little marble head sometimes. Anyway, I was looking through cat name lists and found Maliika. It meant "Gracious Gift of God". I had gone to the shelter to drop off some donations and decided to visit the cat room. Out of a room full of cats and kittens, Malyka was the only one that really caught my heart. I mean...they all pulled at me and it broke my heart to know that I couldn't just load them all up and bring them home, but there was something special about this little girl. She was just sitting there in a cage by herself watching me. When I got close to her, she reached out to me and had the softest meow. I felt drawn to her, like she ws a gift meant for me. I chose to spell her name a little different, but I felt that the name really fit. I went to the shelter that day with the sole reason of donating things. I had no plans to visit the cat room, but for some reason, I felt the strong urge to go in there, and look what happened.

Sara: Her previous owner had named her Puck. I'm sorry, but that name was just horrible for her. It didn't fit her one bit. Now, I normally don't go for human names and I don't like to change names of older animals, but that name HAD to go. For some reason, she just looked like a Sara to me. I tried it and she instantly responded to it, so I took that as she approved.

Siana: I had gone to the store one day and found this tiny terrified kitten in the parking lot. To be as little as she was, I felt that an angel had to be watching out for her that day. Well, Siana means "Angel" in Swahilli. The true pronunciation for it is Shawna, but I have a friend with that name, so I chose to pronounce it the way it looks...See-ah-na. She's my little .

So, that's the stories with the names behind my four.

Erica

For the most part, I always have changed my kitties' (or other pets') names unless they were older and knew their names and came to them when called. But, in general, I like to let my pets tell me what their name should be .

Cassidy was known as Ophelia at the shelter. While Ophelia is a beautiful name, it just didn't suit her. As you'll see, I have an Irish theme going and the name Cassidy came to me out of nowhere, but suited her immediately. By the time I'd gotten home from the shelter, Cass already knew her name and I still think it's the perfect name for her. I hope she agrees!

Delaney was given the name Smores while at the shelter. She's a brown tabby with white so I can see where they were going with that, but it was not the right name for her. First off, I generally prefer human names for pets and animals and Smores wasn't doing it for me. But, she just looked like a Delaney to me. I had worked at a day care a couple of years prior and there was this darling little girl named Delaney who was rambunctious and a spit-fire, but oh-so loving and trusting -- and it was that little girl's personality that I saw in Laney. And, I couldn't see her as anything but Delaney at this point so I guess I got it right .

Emory was Emma at the shelter. I love the name Emma and would have kept it, but I had had a cat by that name when I was younger and I don't think I could ever re-use a name. But, she did know her name as Emma and I didn't want to change it too much so we came up with Emory. I know it's technically a boy's name (actually, I think it's a unisex name -- and my Cass and Laney have unisex names too), but it suits her and she knows it. And, plus, I think it's cute.

And, last but not least, I have my new little kitten who was being called Furby (bleh ) by my aunt and uncle. They thought he was a she, but now that his gender has been confirmed, I need to come up with a name for him as Furby will just not do . But, that's a topic for another thread.

My dogs and other pets also have had their names changed. But, don't worry, I won't bore you with all of that .

I'm sure "Furby" (ick!) will let you know his name soon.

(I agree that cats will let us know their names, if we pay attention!)

The only one I changed the name was Lucky - she was Merweenda before - Yuck! Merweeda???

We changed them. Bella was called "Tigger Cat"...I thought she deserved a better name, so we gave her one.

Stanley was called "Romeo" which, while fitting, wasn't my taste (he didn't seem to know it was his name anyway).

Barney was named "Miracle"...yuck...the only thing miraculous about him is that he hasn't died (or been strangled) yet. His name is now "Barnard Troubleton Underfoot". Very fitting...

We've only changed the name of one cat. When our neighbors got evicted they left all the cats behind. There was at least six of them. We took in Sam whose previous name was Snowball I absolutely HATE that name for white animals. Sam isn't white either, he's a cream lynx point and Sam just fits him.

Lilly: Was named "Lillith" by the shelter I adopted her from. I shortened it to Lilly.

Zachary: Was named "Billy", but I had to change it because it was to close to Lilly - and he only had the name from the shelter for a short time.

Forrest: Kept his name that the shelter gave him. It suits him.

Much had no name so DH got to name her.

Lucy was originally called Paloma (as in Picasso's daughter)

Carly was named by the shelter and we were too lazy to think of anything else.

Most of the time, they are called: "Carly, Lucy, Much whatever your name is, stop it."

Magnum and Boomer were kittens without a name, Mags was 'stray cat' for a bit before he chewed through the screen and let himself in, Boomer, Matt picked at 2 weeks so they didnt name him.

Bumper did have another 'real name' but I really cant remember what it was, I will have to find his neuter cert, i know it is on there, but after telling so many people his story, he became known as the bumper cat (for those who don't know, he had a terrifying ride on the highway hiding in the truck's bumper) then we thought he might be blind as he would walk into stuff all the time and Bumper stuck, he was still young when we decided to go with Bumper as his name.

Scully, we kept his name. He was almost 9 years old so we figured he knew it and it sounded right with our other cats names. We also didnt think he would be with us long so it was never really in our minds. I always called him big boy and Matt always called him Swaru (solid waste reduction unit) so although he was Scully, his name, like the others, is only really used when talking to others or when they are being really bad.

Autumn, I tried to change her name. I settled on Penny because she loves playing with pennys, it was the only thing that she really seemed interested in and she would batt them around but not chase them. But I had known her at the shelter for so long as Autumn that it stuck. I still call her Penny occasionally and I sing Penny Lane to her but its Autumn.

Quincy was Chutney at the shelter, I was in love with Mango who came over from the vet earlier than Chutney (a vet tech tried him with her dog but it didnt work out) but Mango was adopted before Scully passed away. So when the vet tech said Chutney wasnt working out I had to have him. But I knew I didnt want to keep the name, although the shelter peeps still call him that when they ask about him (his name to them is Chutney Quincy Trouble Junior)

Originally Posted by DarkMavis

Genever was Miss Boo Bear at the SPCA. When we took her home I even told the ladies at the desk "That name has got to go." I mean, really? Miss Boo Bear? Come on!

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That is what we call Autumn most of the time

Originally Posted by DarkMavis

Genever was Miss Boo Bear at the SPCA. When we took her home I even told the ladies at the desk "That name has got to go." I mean, really? Miss Boo Bear? Come on!

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thanks for making me laugh

For those of you who changed your cat's name: didn't it confuse them?

Originally Posted by ut0pia

For those of you who changed your cat's name: didn't it confuse them?

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maybe because penny doesnt answer to penny or to baby (her 1st name)

she answers to "hi pumpkin"

just like that - "hi pumpkin"