The perfect cat name

[HeroHog]

Michael Katz: "If I get another cat, I shall name him Razorclaw the Almighty, God of Phlebotomy." 

[RoadKingLarry]

Why do people give cats names?  It's not like they're gonna come when you call them.

[Hawkmoon]

They do pay attention when you use their name(s) in the same sentence as "Dinner!"

[230RN]

Michael Katz: "If I get another cat, I shall name him Razorclaw the Almighty, God of Phlebotomy." 

Yes, yes, I understand.  However, the kneading of the paws in your hair indicates that you are accepted as some sort of funny-looking cat. In other words, you are "in."

The individual names are to differentiate one cat from another amongst humans .  The cats themselves don't really give much of a damn unless a food tribute or "tithe" is involved.  AKA cat taxes.

All in all, my decades of observation of both dogs and cats forces the conclusion that cats are citizens, while dogs are mere subjects.

I love 'em both, but that's just the way things are.

Terry, 230RN

[Jamisjockey]

Why do people give cats names?  It's not like they're gonna come when you call them.

My daughter's cat comes when called...by her anyways. Not usually to anyone else.

[dogmush]

One of my cats will come when called. She's pretty affectionate so any chance for a scritch.

Her name is Schrodinger.

[Fly320s]

Why do people have cats?   give cats names?  It's not like they're gonna come when you call them.

Fixed.

[230RN]

Fly320s asked,

Why do people have cats?   give cats names?  It's not like they're gonna come when you call them.

Non-cat people have been asking that for millenia.  There is no single answer.  You ask ten cat people that and you'll get ten different answers, no single one of which will be satisfactory to a non-cat person.  Nor will all ten answers put together suffice.

I did notice they definitely save on heating bills in winter.  A cat on your lap will automatically raise the room temperature by 5°F.

Draped over your shoulders it's only about 3°F.



I do not know why cats like to be carried around that way, so don't ask me.

Terry, 230RN

Pic credit:
https://www.mnn.com/family/pets/stories/shoulder-cats-felines-like-view

[Jamisjockey]

My daughter's cat would absolutely not do that.  She doesn't like to be picked up.  Loves to be petted.  Always wants to be in the same room as the people.  Loves my daughter to pieces, only tolerates the rest of us.

[TommyGunn]

"Grimalkin."   It's an archaic  name for a cat, and Nostradamos had a cat by that name.
I never did, but I've had cats named Target,  Thomas Hewitt Edward Cat (T. H. E. Cat), Shambles, Tisiphone, and my current critter, Smudge.
"Razorclaw," b.t.w.,  is a terrific name for a cat.  

Some cats WILL come when called,  others will not,  while others are somewhat of two minds about the matter.

[Hawkmoon]

Fly320s asked,
Non-cat people have been asking that for millenia.  There is no single answer.  You ask ten cat people that and you'll get ten different answers, no single one of which will be satisfactory to a non-cat person.  Nor will all ten answers put together suffice.

Cat people understand without explanation.

Non-cat people will never understand.

Either you are a cat person ... or you're not.

[HeroHog]

Phredd (Fred), our favorite cat, was VERY dog like in that he would come when called and was NOT cat like in that he was, well, clumsy as *expletive deleted*it! Great personality and loved me to death. Damn, I miss that damn cat...



 

[grampster]

We had a calico and she was named Gizmo.  She pretty much hated everybody.  She would cuddle, but only on her terms for the time she ascribed to it.

Her partner was Tubby.  She didn't like him either.  He was named that because one of our grandkids found him in the bushes by our house when he was a very young kitten.  He was skin and bones and a day or two away from dying.  We figured somebody chucked him out of a car.  We had a lot of that where we lived at that time.  He eventually grew into his name.

We miss both of those cats.  Giz was 18 and Tubby 16 as close as I can remember when they crossed the Rainbow Bridge.

[BlueStarLizzard]

Raleigh came when called. Roanoke sometimes does. Mosby and Ashby are either ignoring me or still don't really know their names yet (I'm betting on the former)

Rules when naming cats:

Never name a cat after a god or king. It furthers their delusions of grandeur. We stupidly named a cat Pharaoh. 19 years of insane, demanding and constantly offended cat.

Don't name a cat after a famous guerrilla raider. Mosby will steal the food right off your plate if you're not careful.

Also, don't name a cat after a egotist. Ashby has honeybadger attitude and struts around like he owns the place.


Place names are pretty safe, though.

[Perd Hapley]

Our cat lady friend gives her cats biblical names (obviously), which led to an interesting (to me) occurrence. Recently, she got two kittens, and named them Sarah and Gideon. Soon afterwards, she went out of town on business, and we went over to check on them. For some reason, though they have a larger water supply upstairs, we gave them each a bowl of water down in the kitchen. Or maybe it was food. In any case, Gideon drank warily, constantly looking around. If you recall your flannel-graph Bible stories, that's what Gideon wanted from his soldiers, when they drank from the stream. The ones that kept their eyes open were retained, and the others sent back home.

[Mannlicher]

I always liked “Dead Cat” as a proper name.    😜

[TommyGunn]

I always liked “Dead Cat” as a proper name.    😜

I have a feeling you don't like cats very much.   

[HankB]

I always liked “Dead Cat” as a proper name.    😜

One cat.
One highway.
One semi.
Flatcat.

[MechAg94]

I don't mind cats as pets.  What I really don't care for is the strays.  Everyone feeds them no one cares about their effect on wildlife.  I guess stray or feral dogs aren't much better. 

[230RN]

          MY BLACK BODY CAT

I had a longhaired really fuzzy calico cat named "Phoebe."

I could rarely get a good picture of her because the camera's focusing beam would get lost in her fur and the camera would think it should focus at infinity.  There were tricks to get around this, but I couldn't just point 'n click.

I was not aware of the problem until I got some film back from the drugstore with almost all of the closer pictures of the longhaired calico being blurred. Took me a while to figure out the problem.  Further away, the cat subtended such a small area that the camera would just focus on her surroundings and of course her image would be too small.

I could have named her Blackie for black body, but that would have been very confusing (for the humans)  since one of my other shorthairs had a glossy black coat which did not confuse the camera.  The black cat was named McDougall.

Terry

[grislyatoms]

Ouija.

[French G.]

Only accurate cat name is Trouble. He's my buddy, a sweetie after dozens of supposed last nights on earth. Looks a lot like Pharoah. 100 lb dogs will double their trip length just to avoid Trouble troubles. Go ahead and stop petting or ignore when you walk by, that's a claw for you.

[Brad Johnson]

This thread brings back a lot of good memories, and a tear that they're gone, about Boomer the big goofball and Minnie the loveable hellion. I'd love to have a couple more roaming around but I'm not home enough to justify having house pets.

Brad

[grampster]

We had a golden angora male cat when I was a kid we named Suzie mainly because he was so hairy, we couldn't find his junk till long after he was accustomed to the name.  He lived in and outside.  He also was king of our neighborhood.  I was sitting on the porch one day and I saw Suzie walking into the tall grass in the lot next door.  You couldn't see him but you could see the grass moving.  A big dumb hound dog was coming down the street from the other direction and he entered the long grass in the lot as well.  The moving grass finally met and their was nothing....then there was yowling and howling and then yipping and yipping and that hound dog came flying out of that lot with his tail was so far between his legs the tip of it extended beyond his muzzle.  A couple minutes later Suzie waltzed out of the lot, turned and gave a disgusted look up the street at brer hound dog making feet, then arrogantly strolled up onto the porch and laid down and went to sleep.

[Hawkmoon]

We had a golden angora male cat when I was a kid we named Suzie mainly because he was so hairy, we couldn't find his junk till long after he was accustomed to the name.  He lived in and outside.  He also was king of our neighborhood.  I was sitting on the porch one day and I saw Suzie walking into the tall grass in the lot next door.  You couldn't see him but you could see the grass moving.  A big dumb hound dog was coming down the street from the other direction and he entered the long grass in the lot as well.  The moving grass finally met and their was nothing....then there was yowling and howling and then yipping and yipping and that hound dog came flying out of that lot with his tail was so far between his legs the tip of it extended beyond his muzzle.  A couple minutes later Suzie waltzed out of the lot, turned and gave a disgusted look up the street at brer hound dog making feet, then arrogantly strolled up onto the porch and laid down and went to sleep.

Didn't Johnny Cash have a song about that?

Why, yes, he did. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOHPuY88Ry4