Re-Naming a Cat

It's impossible. Isn't it?

So I've had Pinky how long now? Several months? And of course, I had
to have *some* name for him to put on the vet papers. And to call him
by, of course. Cats *must* have a name, even if it *is* Pinky.

But of course, Pinky is a very silly name for a male cat.
Notwithstanding that it was my mother's nickname for me when I was a
child, it really isn't a particularly interesting, regal,
personality-appropriate, creative or just-right name.

So last night, I am watching him chase my shadow on the wall as I walk
up the stairs. I don't know what it is about this cat, but he goes
bonkers over light and shadows.

Shadow! He's black, he loves light/shadows, I have a good friend named
Shadow (of course, he is not a cat person, but oh, well) -- pefect!
Okay, it is not very original or unique, but it fits him.

"Shadow. Hi, Shadow! Mrrrowwww, Shadow," I try. Yawn. Ignore.
Scratch. Walk away.

"Shadow-Pinky! Pinky-Shadow! Mrrrooowwwwww." He gives me a look that
says "What in the heck are you talking about, stupid human? What's this
'shadow' stuff mean? I don't get you humans." Curl up. Sleep.

I'll keep trying. But I'm afraid the guy may be stuck with Pinky for life.

Be careful what you name your cat -- even if it is supposed to be
"temporary".

Ginger-lyn
--
Home Pages:
http://www.moonsummer.com
http://www.angelfire.com/folk/glsummer (homepage & cats)
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb....mmer/index.htm (genealogy)
http://www.movieanimals.bravehost.com/ (The Violence Against
Animals in Movies Website)

"Ginger-lyn" wrote in message
...
It's impossible. Isn't it?

So I've had Pinky how long now? Several months? And of course, I had to
have *some* name for him to put on the vet papers. And to call him by, of
course. Cats *must* have a name, even if it *is* Pinky.



Pinky sounds fine to me, but then my brother had a good guy friend named
Pinky for years.

I could rename Molly at will, but then she has never responded to Molly or
anything else for that matter. She seems to like "baby girl" when I'm
talking to her. We just yell kitty kitty out the door when we want her to
come in. Not that she responds to that either, but she has sort of learned
that at night when we are yelling that, we might be getting close to leaving
her out all night. Of course if the weather is decent she doesn't mind that
until long after we've gone to sleep.

The only purpose Molly serves is something to use when we talk about her so
we all know which cat we are talking about.

Of course she is a calico girl. They don't believe they need people names.

Jo

"Ginger-lyn" wrote in message
...
It's impossible. Isn't it?

So I've had Pinky how long now? Several months? And of course, I had to
have *some* name for him to put on the vet papers. And to call him by, of
course. Cats *must* have a name, even if it *is* Pinky.

But of course, Pinky is a very silly name for a male cat. Notwithstanding
that it was my mother's nickname for me when I was a child, it really
isn't a particularly interesting, regal, personality-appropriate, creative
or just-right name.

So last night, I am watching him chase my shadow on the wall as I walk up
the stairs. I don't know what it is about this cat, but he goes bonkers
over light and shadows.

Shadow! He's black, he loves light/shadows, I have a good friend named
Shadow (of course, he is not a cat person, but oh, well) -- pefect! Okay,
it is not very original or unique, but it fits him.

"Shadow. Hi, Shadow! Mrrrowwww, Shadow," I try. Yawn. Ignore. Scratch.
Walk away.

"Shadow-Pinky! Pinky-Shadow! Mrrrooowwwwww." He gives me a look that
says "What in the heck are you talking about, stupid human? What's this
'shadow' stuff mean? I don't get you humans." Curl up. Sleep.

I'll keep trying. But I'm afraid the guy may be stuck with Pinky for
life.

Be careful what you name your cat -- even if it is supposed to be
"temporary".

Happened for me with Boyfriend, he got the nickname when KFC was allowing
him into "her" garden = so he must have been her boyfriend, right? and it
stuck. I tried to rename him Gideon once but it didn't work so he has his
silly name for life too.

Tweed
Whaddya mean, my name is silly? - Boyfie..

Dylan wanted to rename Smokey because 1. he had a cat named Smokey
when he was younger, so it reminded him of the previous Smokey and 2.
Smokey is a very common, sort of dumb, name.

We couldn't do it.

Smokey is trailertrash. He has no dignity. He has no majesty. He
does like to eat garbage and stare at the ceiling for hours, though.

Any alternate name that would suit, is even dumber than Smokey. He
could pull off "Ranger," "Bubba" or the like.

And of course there's the cigarette fascination.

Smokey it is.

His middle name is "Wayne" after his "godfather" (who tamed him).

At least Smokey rhymes with "pokey." This boy sure does love his
pokes.

(I think you're stuck with Pinky)

--Fil



So I've had Pinky how long now? Several months? And of course, I had to
have *some* name for him to put on the vet papers. And to call him by, of
course. Cats *must* have a name, even if it *is* Pinky.

Ginger-lyn wrote:
I'll keep trying. But I'm afraid the guy may be stuck with Pinky for life.

Does he respond to Pinky? Maybe you could try and drop the P and call
him Inky? You know, ink - black...

I knew when I got Caliban that I would soon have to think of a new name
for him (his fosterers called him Leo, which I didn't think suited him
at all). I couldn't go on calling him stripey boy (randiga killen in
Swedish) forever. And since Miranda (who was named from Shakespeare's
The Tempest) hated him that first week and kept hissing at him all the
time, I decided to go with Caliban. I think it suits him very well, and
the first time I said it aloud, he looked at me as if to say, 'what do
you want?' He responds to it when he wants to, unless I say I say
CaliBAN! in a menacing voice, when he will ignore me completely.

--
Marina, Miranda and Caliban. In loving memory of Frank and Nikki.

Marina wrote:

I knew when I got Caliban that I would soon have to think of a new name
for him (his fosterers called him Leo, which I didn't think suited him
at all). I couldn't go on calling him stripey boy (randiga killen in
Swedish) forever. And since Miranda (who was named from Shakespeare's
The Tempest) hated him that first week and kept hissing at him all the
time, I decided to go with Caliban.

Not being well educated in Shakespeare, I looked this up in Wikipedia.
Here's what it has to say:

"Caliban is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's Theo
Tempest, a deformed monster who is the slave of Prospero..."

You named that beautiful boy after a deformed monster??

Joyce (I hope you know I'm just teasing)

wrote:

Not being well educated in Shakespeare, I looked this up in Wikipedia.
Here's what it has to say:

"Caliban is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's Theo
Tempest, a deformed monster who is the slave of Prospero..."

You named that beautiful boy after a deformed monster??

Joyce (I hope you know I'm just teasing)

I know you're teasing, but I still need to defend my choice. That is
quite a simplification of the character of Caliban. There are many
interpretations of him (like most Shakespeare characters). He is often
seen to represent the earth, while another character in The Tempest,
Ariel, represents the air. When I got Caliban, I knew I wanted to
continue the theme, and there were three characters in The Tempest that
I was thinking of, Caliban, Ariel and Ferdinand (whom Miranda falls in
love with). Well, the stubby, chunky little guy didn't seem to me like
an airy creature, so Ariel was out. Miranda hated him, so Ferdinand was
out. With his short stubby legs and his love of food, he seemed like
quite an earth-bound creature, so Caliban it was.

--
Marina, Miranda and Caliban. In loving memory of Frank and Nikki.

Marina wrote:

You named that beautiful boy after a deformed monster??

Joyce (I hope you know I'm just teasing)

I know you're teasing, but I still need to defend my choice. That is
quite a simplification of the character of Caliban. There are many
interpretations of him (like most Shakespeare characters). He is often
seen to represent the earth, while another character in The Tempest,
Ariel, represents the air. When I got Caliban, I knew I wanted to
continue the theme, and there were three characters in The Tempest that
I was thinking of, Caliban, Ariel and Ferdinand (whom Miranda falls in
love with). Well, the stubby, chunky little guy didn't seem to me like
an airy creature, so Ariel was out. Miranda hated him, so Ferdinand was
out. With his short stubby legs and his love of food, he seemed like
quite an earth-bound creature, so Caliban it was.

Thank you for the more detailed and nuanced explanation. As I said, I'm
hardly a Shakespeare scholar, so I defer to your much better knowledge
of the material. The photo on the Wikipedia page seemed to focus on his
ugliness, which doesn't seem apt, but I'll go with the match on elements.
He certainly seems to live very much in the material world.

Joyce
--
To send email to this address, remove the triple-X from my user name.

Ginger-lyn wrote:

I'll keep trying. But I'm afraid the guy may be stuck with Pinky for life.

Be careful what you name your cat -- even if it is supposed to be
"temporary".

You actually have a cat that pays ATTENTION to its name?
What's your secret?

"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote:

Ginger-lyn wrote:

Be careful what you name your cat -- even if it is supposed to be
"temporary".

You actually have a cat that pays ATTENTION to its name?
What's your secret?

All my cats know their names. Of course, whether they respond when I
call them is another matter.

Joyce
--
To send email to this address, remove the triple-X from my user name.