What did you name your pet and why?
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Shipmate
in Heaven
My dog Molly who was a rescue was found thin, and shaggy running the streets. So I named her after the Unsinkable Molly Brown because she survived. Also as we adopted her on St. Patrick's Day and thinking of Molly as an Irish name it all sort of went together to fit her. Molly's best friends are Scooter, Max, Lucky, and Brownie which has me curious about how the Ship's pets acquired their names.
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But all of that was a wasted effort because, whenever I spoke to her, I would call her Sweetie, or Sweetheart or Sweet Girl or even Sweet Lissa. So I am pretty sure she thought her name was "Sweet."
My prior cat was Burnie. I got her from my brother, who had named her Burnside (already having a cat named Beauregard--this is a whole American Civil War thing). I did not chagne her name, but shortened it to Burnie.
Caliban and Miranda: we had been to see The Tempest shortly before they arrived.
Pontiac: born on the back seat of a friend's car.
Merlin: the Rolls-Royce supercharged V12 aero engine.
Griffon: the more powerful version of the Rolls-Royce supercharged V12 aero engine.
Leonides: the Alvis 9-cylinder radial aero engine.
Then there were Bailey, Will (Shakespeare) and Ajo, who kept their names from their original families after they came to us.
Selima - after Horace Walpole's cat
Ace - short for asymmetrical, because he's a snowshoe mix with a tilted face mask, and because if he were a person he'd try to give himself this nickname
George - I knew in the shelter that this was this orange tabby's name
Sixteen years on, Chloe is easily confused and a bit senile, while The Chub is lively as ever. I took Chloe to the vet when she began barking at the walls and the vet scolded me for even thinking there was anything wrong with her or Jezebel. "You're no spring chicken yourself," he said. "She's ageing very gracefully."
Previous names, most not chosen by me: Woolly Wolfbear the German shepherd, Peanut the large Airedale, Axel Rose the cat, Juniper the Jack Russell x, Dexter the ridgeback (named by vet), Sorghum the spaniel, Conan Doyle the inquisitive piglet, Butterball the cairn terrier, Chaplin the black and white cat, Charlie the papillon, Margot the Labrador x boerbul, named by vet . All loved and missed.
Suzie is just Suzie, but is commonly adressed as 'Sweetie'.
Now you need dog called Gnasher!
Mr Heavenly and my 2 sons are big Japanese anime fans so we wanted a cute Japanese name. I don’t like her real name and Mochi sounds similar in tone.
There was no question of changing their names, so they remained Pepsi, a black female, and her ginger brother, Tango.
Did they meow 'nanu nanu'?
Only Mork did it.
He was home for the week in 2013 when we went to pick up our new puppy. On the way I said “you can choose the name, Pepper or Rosie?” Meaning I wanted him to decide one of those names. He said “Tatze”. So Tatze it was. It means “paw” in German.
Of course, I’m constantly having to explain her name and how to pronounce it! (Tats - er)
Ted’s name needs no explanation!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/bDG1vbe7mr971CFU6
Er... Racoons ain't rodents.
Our childhood cat was Puss, because what else do you call the cat who turns up and eventually adopts you?
I still miss her as she saw me through the thousands of aftershocks we had. She also had a police record, having set off the burglar alarm in the school nearby.
Before we adoped Pepsi and Tango I had always given my cats rather elaborate names. partly because I'd had a couple of pedigree cats, and didn't see why domestic cats of mixed heritage should be less honoured, and also because I was a fan of TS Eliot's Old Possum poem The Naming of Cats.
The cats that were members of our household the longest were 'Melissa Marzipan the Patchwork Cat' (a Tortie & White), and 'LucyLastic the Orford Orphan', a kitten I hand reared from about 10 days. Her feral mother got confused and abandoned three kittens after moving the res, she'd had them in a shed at my place of work and had been disturbed by human activity.
Our previous cats were:
Cleopatra (Cleo) because an Egyptian name seemed appropriate.
Black Agnes (Agnes) because she was black and regal. There's a line in the ballad of Black Agnes Dunbar Cam we early, cam we late, we found Black Agnes at the gate and I liked the idea of our cat being always there (although Black Agnes Dunbar herself was always there to ward off attacks on her castle). Agnes was a rescue cat. Sometime after we had her I said the word "beauty" and Agnes looked round. So we tried it a few times randomly and she always reacted. She must have been someone's Black Beauty once. If we hadn't already named the cat Agnes, it might have been the Quinie's name. She is very glad not to have been named Agnes!
Plato because he was calm and solid.
Very true. A law student next door humorously named his cat Jesus Wept and for years we would hear him calling "Jesus Wept! Suppertime, come along, good boy Jesus Wept, time for kibbles!"
My first cat (a female Tortie) was named Buster as I'm a big Buster Keaton fan. She was knocked down and killed on the day we were going to see a play called Buster's Last Stand. The two I had after her were Rosie and George as I liked the names.
Everyone assumes Lyra is named after the Philip Pullman character, especially as they are somewhat alike in personality.
The name served him well.
Correction - it was a stuffed toy. Close enough.
However, along the way we have taken on three rescue dogs. Sally, a Saluki X Lurcher was named by the Blue cross animal rescue organisation; Titch, a small Jack Russel Terrier who removed from its owner by the Police and RSPCA along with six other dogs. (Owner had left the dogs to fend for themselves while she went away for a few days. Third and final warning and guest appearance before the Magistrates Bench). Titch's original name was rather pretentious, so she was named according to her size.
Our third rescue came to us a week before last Christmas. Some lads found this small puppy, about six or seven weeks old struggling in the snow and their parents took the puppy to the vets. The vets in turn asked us to look after "Blue" as the boys called her until enquiries could be made. The boys called her "Blue" because of the colour of her eyes are a bright blue. It ended up with us being asked to find Blue a good home, so now she has one!
Blue is a Parson Jack Russel terrier. white with a brown patch over the left eye and is known as "Baby", Puppy or Poopy depending on her behaviour/
Biscuit - she was a three colour tortie, named Rainbow (Arc-en-Ciel) by the refuge. I wanted to call her Biscuit just because I liked it as a name. She died a week after we got her of a virus.
Pomme (grey and white) was the name given by the Refuge and we liked it, so we kept it. She died in 2021 aged 19
Pumpkin was adopted around November (Black and white tuxedo cat). Died aged 4 of a heart problem.
George (ginger and white) was born on St George's Day. Disappeared in 2017
Millie (tabby) was George's sister, adopted later to save her from The Bucket. George & Mildred. Still with us.
Bib (a dark tortie) - Bibendum -was rescued from the Michelin R&D site, and Bibendum is the French name for the Michelin man. Still with us.
Jasper (ginger and white) rescued from the street after George disappeared. Named after a picture I have of a cat sleeping. Jasper was in the exact same pose when we were thinking of a name. Still with us
Lucky Jim (ginger fluff ball) so-called because he was very, very lucky. I came across his mother on the road, hit by a car and dying. Jim had been in her mouth, and he'd been thrown clear. If I'd not stopped he'd have soon died, either squashed by a car or of exposure as he was only a week old. Born in 2022. Still with us.
Thank you. Your place in heaven is assured!
Belle was a rescue who was a teenager cat when we got her. When I first held her at the Humane Society, she put her front legs around my neck and kissed my cheek. Later that day, I took D-U to meet her. Again, Belle hugged my neck and kissed my cheek. D-U figured Belle was a Disney princess, too, so that's where her name came from.
BTW, those were the only two times Belle ever hugged my neck and kissed my cheek!!!
Jasmine lived to be 19 1/2 years, and Belle was 20 1/2 years.
The two cats we have had in more recent years kept the names they came with. Spikey was a 17 year old rescue cat, and Cookie came from a very loving family who could no longer keep her. It just didn't seem right to rename either of them.