New Cat
Posted on May 27, 2003 Posted by John Scalzi 28 Comments
Meet our new kitten, who we received through the good graces of our neighbor, whose cat had yet another litter of kittens. We decided we’d take one on — there are always more field mice to deal with — and this is the one we got. We’re pretty sure that Lopsided Cat, one of our other cats, is his older brother. Despite his coloring, he is not either Siamese or Himalayan, he’s just cat. Or kitten, actually — this little ball of fluff is only slightly larger than my hand. Balled up like he is in this picture, I can sit him in my palm. I don’t exactly have Michael Jordan hands.
The new cat is not entirely pleased to be here — previous to this, he’d been running around our neighbor’s yard, and was successfully avoiding capture by the neighbor until our neighbor flung a fishing net on top of it. Those crafty humans with their nets! What are you going to do. Right now he’s sitting far back inside a cat carrier I’ve made his temporary home in my office. I honestly don’t expect him to come out anytime soon. This is just as well. We’ll be doing the slow introduction to the other animals, so that none of them get it into their fuzzy little heads to eat the new guy.
The animal I worry about the least in this regard, I should note, is Kodi — Kodi loves Lopsided Cat to death, and would love Rex too, were Rex not so studiously unlovable. Kodi will probably just be thrilled she has another new buddy to play with. The other cats will probably be more of an issue. A good friend of mine suggested that one way to make them all a big happy family would be to rub tuna juice around all three cats and put them into the bathroom; after a few minutes of required hissing and swatting, they’d engage in an orgy of mutual licking to extract as much of the tuna essence from each other as possible. It’s not a bad idea, I suppose, but I don’t much want to imagine how painful the initial “dousing the cats liberally in tuna juice” phase would be for me, so I’ll probably just let them get used to each other gradually.
The new cat hasn’t got a name yet. As with any family with small children, we’re likely to let Athena do the honors, but if any of you have any suggestions, I may slip them to our daughter as a viable alternative to “Fluffy,” “Fuzzy,” “Kitty” or “Nietzsche” — the last of these seems improbable, sure, but then again, yesterday, Athena chose to describe a tummyache with these exact words: “Every single thing in the entire universe makes my stomach hurt.” Which is a line ol’ dreary Fred certainly would have approved of. So you never know.
Anyway: Got cat names? We’re open.
He is a handsome fellow. My chief policy on cat names is that they should be real names, not cutesy names. Cat’s gotta have his dignity, after all. How ’bout ‘Akira’?
Our cat’s name is Cossette, which shortens nicely to Cozy.
I have a genetic freak of a cat which I have named “Toed” as he has seven- count them- seven toes on EACH foot. A normal cat has five, a Hemingway cat has six but my cat has seven freaky toes. That is 28 toes all together (not counting his dew), eight more then expected. You know how a puppy’s feet look like when they are going to be huge? Well Toed looked as a kitten like by adulthood he’d be a tiger.
None of which helps you in your search for a proper cat name (other then showing you how one mught come by such a name).
I have found that a cat will answer to any name with the same speed (not at all)- unless food is offered.
I say he looks like a Satchmoe.
Is “Nietzsche” that far-fetched? Our cat had already been named Tiger when he came to join our household as a little kitten but a year or so later my daughter nicknamed him Ishmael and since she was in middle school at the time I doubt that Moby Dick was part of the curriculum (and her own tastes ran more towards Brian Jacques Red Wall novels and stories with dragons and elves than stories with whales of any hue)
Thus, we have a cat with two names — most people call him Tiger but my daughter (now 21) insists on calling him Ishmael. Of course, as Dana noted above, cats generally don’t deign to respond unless food is involved.
Have three cats. Used to have cat called Nato – after the military organization, yes. Have cat called Keebler, after cookie elf – didn’t name him. Have cat called Trixie; didn’t name her either. Both inherited. Have called called Tado, longform name Cortado, after Spanish coffee. Named this cat ourselves. Wife had cats called Rat, Dipstick and Gyproc.
Like Nietzsche. Nietzsche good. Looks like Nietzsche. Beyond good and evil, like all cats.
How about an astronomical name (like “Comet”)?
Got two, myself.
Bartlett, an older longhair diabetic, and Kutuzov, a mostly-Russian-blue who has too much energy to live up to his namesake.
For a name, I recommend Yog-Sothoth. The kitten just _looks_ like it in that photo.
My friend Justin had a cat named “Kepler” – I always liked that cat.
Then, of course, there’s Gabe or Tycho.
How about Irwin, after Mr. Schroedinger? Or even just Schroedinger, which shortens to Schroeder.
My cat is named Nihil (Pronounced like Nile). Short for Nihilist. He’s got the black coat to begin with, and as far as I know, he believes in nothing. Reminds me of friends from back in college.
I’m for generic, run of the mill, human names, like Tom. It makes for interesting conversation.
Tom’s making that hacking noise again. I hope he doesn’t puke on the carpet.
I can never get Tom to go in his box. To top it off, he scratched me the last time I tried to give him a bath.
Tom left a dead mouse on the porch for you again John. Oh, and I think he got the neighbor pregnant again.
I’m not sure you’ll want advice from somebody who has named a cat Toonces, after an 80s SNL skit, but you did ask.
I’m reading “Lonesome Dove,” so my suggestion is Pea Eye. After watching Harry Potter I yesterday, though, I also suggest Snape, because I have a newfound affinity for said professor. Or maybe it’s just Alan Rickman.
Just remember — it really doesn’t matter much what you name New Guy. He’ll get nicknames, both related and unrelated to his name. We have Kate (aka Miss Kate and Katie Cat) and Abby (aka Her Abbiness and Abby Dabby Doo). They were named, incindentally, for two of my favorite women: Abigail Adams and Katherine Hepburn. I have moved beyond stealing from SNL to name my pets, thank you.
Bob?
“I have a genetic freak of a cat which I have named “Toed” as he has seven- count them- seven toes on EACH foot. A normal cat has five, a Hemingway cat has six but my cat has seven freaky toes. That is 28 toes all together (not counting his dew), eight more then expected. You know how a puppy’s feet look like when they are going to be huge? Well Toed looked as a kitten like by adulthood he’d be a tiger.”
Those aren’t toes. They’re an an attempt to develop thumbs.
As soon as cats get thumbs, we are in BIG trouble.
Name: “Toast” because he looks burned around the edges.
My cat narrowly escaped being named “Why Do We Live in a Denotationalist Society Where Everything Must Have a Name” (hey, I was in graduate school when you’re *supposed* to do crap like that) and ended up carrying around “Götterdämmerung” instead. She was so cute and sweet and tiny that naming her after the fiery destruction of the entire world seemed fitting.
My own suggestion, born of hard experience: do not give him a name that causes confusion every time you call the vet and the receptionist asks, “What is the pet’s name?” “Nietzsche” probably doesn’t fit the bill, especially if you don’t let them spell it “Neechy” on his medical file. If I had to name my cat all over again, I’d probably go for “Ragnarok” since it’s easier to spell.
What’s wrong with Nietzsche?
My elder cat is Schiller, and we were previously owned by Goethe, Brecht and Mozart (in that order).
Name him fhqwgads!
Well, there’s always Shroedinger.
He looks like he walked right out of the film Gremlins, so how about Gizmo or Mogwai?
awwwwwwwwwwwww!! So KY00T! *cough* sorry. Well I’m not going to suggest a name, you’ve got the right idea going with lopsided cat, watch your new arrival a couple days and you’ll find something that suits who he is. That’s how this lil guy:
http://www.over-clock.co.uk/hantai/kitty/P5170672.JPG
got named Frenzy last week ;).
Friday Cat Blogging — 30 May 2003
FRIDAY CAT BLOGGING….Since yesterday was my mother’s birthday, today we have pictures of her cats. (Hey, where do you think my love of cats came from, anyway?) On the left is Cadbury, who is convinced she is the most beautiful…
I had a cat that looked similar–we named her Varmina (feminine derivative of “varmint”) and it suited her just fine. Now I have a “Luigi” (big and fat, loves food food food) and a “Lulu” (she’s definitely channeling Varmina), but I am very fond of the name for the dog down the street, Debbie. It seems like an interesting pet name.
Sorry to double-dip: I just remembered my very first cat, who had a name that seems to suit your new kitten: “Robespierre” (she was kind of aristocratic in her own way, and was sibling to Maeterlinck (very crafty cat).
OOps–make that “Metternich” not “Maeterinck” (I’m getting my historical figures mixed up, and this was a loooong time ago!). Metternich was a real character, very shifty.
She is so cute and reminds me of the baby Siamese I adopted. (She was part of a wild pack that was going to be euthanized.)
It took a few days to name her but just cradling her and looking at her face, (the dark coloring that masks her eyes and ears) reminded me of Egyptian based movies, and Cleopatra came to mind. Though we called her “Cleo” for short.
My Bad! I just came back to read over the comments and realized the new kitten is male.?!!?
My apologies for my confusion! Hmmm so how about
Elysium, Aidan, or Bishop?
you could name the cat ‘asbestos’