Meet Zeus (aka The Kitten Formerly Known as Temp Cat™)
Posted on January 24, 2008 Posted by John Scalzi 20 Comments
Temp Cat™ has now been formally named: His name is Zeus. As it happens, this was the name Krissy had been thinking of all along. She was momentarily swayed by the idea of formally calling Temp Cat™ Temp Cat™, but Athena preferred the name Zeus, on account of the mythological Zeus’ relationship to the mythological Athena, and it’s hard to argue with that, especially when it comes from an obstinate nine-year-old. Zeus it is.
Zeus has thus far lived up to his name not by hurling thunderbolts but by watching us all from on high, “on high” in this case being a ledge above the kitchen cupboards. This is a lifestyle choice which annoys Krissy and which will no doubt be trained out of the kitten by judicious use of a squirt bottle. But in the meantime he does seem to enjoy his Olympian vantage.
Since Zeus was a name Krissy had already had in mind, technically there is no winner to the Official Name Temp Cat™ Contest. Nevertheless, I thought it worth checking to see if anyone among the 390+ entries had come up with the name “Zeus,” and as it so happens, someone did: the commenter under the nom de plume of “A Rusty Butter Knife” did so at comment #243. Way to be psychic, ARBK! If you will be so kind as to send me an e-mail from the address you have on your comment, we’ll get to work on getting you your prize.
As for everyone else, I thank you for your participation. Zeus thanks you too, I’m sure.
Yeah, but aren’t you just going to end up writing “Veus” on all the vet forms and everything, anyway….
I kid, obviously. It’s a fine name for a cat.
You know it doesn’t matter, right? We’re all still going to call him TempCat.
Let me know how that squirt bottle works. My cat ignores a direct stream to the back of the head when I find him on the table. Only repeated blasts to the face can annoy him enough to make him get up and move.
Good name. My long time childhood cat was named Zeus. I rescued him as a kitten from a storm sewer. Scrawny, bony, and starving, stinking of garbage and bleeding from a wound on his neck. It was obviously love at first sight. He turned into a beuatiful leonine long haired cat. I swear he had a mane like a lion, and the most amazing amber eyes. He was diagnosed with FIV about a year after we decided to keep him (and after the vet certified him healthy), but he lived for over 10 years after the diagnosis, and one couldn’t ask for a better cat.
Hope your experience with your Zeus is as good as mine was.
Does Athena know that she was created when her cat had a headache?
Hmm… He always struck me as a Hermes type, but maybe it’s the whole Zeus-Hermes bloodline thing. I mean look at him. Doesn’t he look like the type who’d sneak out of his crib and eat his brother’s cows?
Eyebrows. That cat is incredibly made of eyebrows.
In leu of the joke JustAnotherJohn stole from me…
So does that mean your cat will fight in an epic battle with Kratos, for the fate of all Olympus?! Urgh, I need to get out more.
For Krissy:
To cure cats from jumping up on ledges, counters, what-have-you: place cookie sheets atop the forbidden surface, such that about 2 inches of cookie sheet hangs over the edge.
Cat jumps up on counter. Cat lands on edge of cookie sheet. Cookie sheet flips up and dumps cat (harmlessly) on the floor. Cookie sheet follows cat to the floor, where it clatters on the linoleum in a manner guaranteed to terrify cats. Cat flees the scene at a high rate of speed.
I’ve never had a cat try the counter a second time.
the cat is nine years old!?!
Oh, you meant your daughter…
If you don’t like the clattering of cookie sheets, try lining the shelf with aluminum foil. Claws on foil are allegedly the cat equivalent of fingernails on chalkboard.
Look on the bright side – as long as the cat stays above the cabinets you won’t need to dust there.
Simply vacuum the cat now and then.
Zeus cat pwns Ceiling Cat! :)
Ah, I like Temp Cat.
But Krissy says it’s Zeus now so I go with she who must be obeyed.
Congrats to the winner. Zeus is a cutie.
I can only hope that when call him, you’ll say “Hey Zeus!”.
Behold Zeus Who Was Formerly Known as TempCat!
Athena sprang from Zeus’s forehead…
Still confused?
zeus has a hitler stash… interesting…
I can just guess how Zeus got his name…
Chrissy: I like TempCat™.
Athena: His name is Zeus!
John (whispered): Remember what it was like getting her dressed for the store?
Chrissy: Yep, Zeus is certainly a fine name for a cat.