We often hear about crazy names people give to their babies, or names they were gifted by their very creative parents. But it turns out that pets too can have names that lift eyebrows—if not of their fellow animals, then surely their vets’. Well, according to this viral Twitter thread, at least.
It all started when Brittany Means, a writer and editor from Albuquerque, NM, shared this tweet: “One of my greatest joys in life is when Jeff calls the vet to make an appointment and they ask for his name, and he says, Jeff. Then, they ask for our cat's name, and I watch him gather his strength before he tells them, Baby Jeff.”
This hit all too close to home to many pet owners out there who took the thread as an opportunity to share the ensued hilarity behind their furballs’ names. Especially when it’s time for a vet’s appointment.
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Bored Panda spoke with Molly DeVoss, a certified feline training and behavior specialist with a vision to reduce the number of cats euthanized in shelters, who runs the Cat Behavior Solutions agency. We asked Molly how important, in her opinion, the name we give to our cat is and she said that a cat’s name is more important to you than others.
“So pick something you love – or something that makes you giggle,” Molly suggested. She also added that the cat doesn’t speak English so he has no idea of the meaning behind his name. “Cats will learn their names fairly quickly and it is an opportunity for you to get their attention on cue.”
For those who are wondering if cats actually recognize their names, and Molly confirmed that cats indeed do recognize them. For that reason, “if you ever decide to change it, try to pick something that has the same number of syllables and ends in the same sound,” the cat behavior specialist explained.
Moreover, cat names, just like human names, have their trends. “I see cat names trending with popular movie characters, TV shows and heartthrobs. Timon and Pumba (the warthog and meerkat) from Lion King are cute for siblings,” Molly told us.
“Working with a lot of shelter cats, I see a lot of names – and have the opportunity to name a lot of cats. Food themes are popular; we have candy cats with names like Skittles, Jelly Bean, and Pez. I typically adopt red cats and name them in a spicy theme: Tabasco, Salsa, and Pico de Gato.”
When it comes to the names you don’t want to give your furball, Molly reminds everyone to not name their cat anything that might offend someone else. “Name your cat something that makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside,” she concluded.
My son has a cat named Frank Sinatra. But he's Siamese with blue eyes and we call him old blue eyes!
Fattie Harris was a footballer. Not as famous as Fatty Foulke, but he was a solid 'keeper in his own right.
I have 7 kitties that I rescued from outside! (And 1 more from a shelter 🤍)
Look at those teeth ! Wouldn’t want to have him playfully bite me ! Lol
My cat is named Max and sometimes we call him Beauteous Maximus because he’s a beautiful black panther!
Growing up my siblings and I named a couple of cats white feet and brown feet they were both tabbies. So basically a description of the coloring of their feet. Also there was one named Striped Spitty.
I hope I've both delighted and tortured the employees at my vet with my wacky cat names over the years. I had a gray girl for 20 years named Wintressia. It was pronounced "win-tress-ee-uh" but the vet techs always struggled with it. Eventually we all just called her "Win-win" XD
Ah yes. I think I call my pets by a nickname 99% of the time. XD Getting called by their normal names is rare.
How funny! Each one of my pets is also named "Goddamnit" XD (Full names are "Goddamnit Kohl Stop Licking The Spatula", "Goddamnit Preacher Don't Eat That", and "Goddamnit Stilgar Stop Licking Your Díck We're In Public")
Absolutely. As I commented somewhere else, my childhood tuxedo was named Kazarothien James-Joseph Skandranon Rashkae Sheean III. My two current cats have somewhat shorter names. I feel that it is similar to a show dog having a registered pedigree name and a "call name", which is the short version we call them everyday XD A cat must have three names! (At least!)
I always call cats whose names I don't know Pooshka. once had someone ask me if that was Polish. I said no, it's just a cutesified version of puss cat
One of my cats is named Preacher. He's named after my favorite comic book series, but it's kind of an obscure series, so not everyone knows of it. (It works out because he's a tuxedo, so he sort of looks like he has a priest's collar on.) He's the sweetest boy at home, but apparently he's a demon at the vet's. My vet will always bring him back out and say "This is NOT a peaceable man of the cloth" XD
My childhood cat in the early 90s was Kazerothian James-Joseph Skandranon Rashkae Sheean III. All names taken/combined from TV shows, games, and books I was watching, playing, and reading at the time XD
Uhh… I need some clarification as to what you mean about a childhood character that died on your soap….
My cats are named Donut and… Snape… 🤣 damn ‘Ah yes Snape needs a rabies shot’
My uncle renamed my cat Streak! I bottle fed her from 2 weeks old, but she is antisocial. It's taken her 18 months to be in the doorway of the room he is in and not disappear.
I tried to be clever with my black cat. Her name is Kohl, which is another name for the mineral stibnite, which ancient Egyptians (and other cultures) used as makeup (if you look at Egyptian art, kohl is the black stuff around their eyes.) It is still used today by many cultures! I'm also a rock nerd, so having a name that is sort of geologic in nature delighted me. Of course, it's PRONOUNCED the same way as "coal", so everyone thinks I'm just a scrub who named her black cat a totally stereotypical black cat name XD
Had a cat long ago named Sean Patrick Mulcahey. We called him Dago. Named for the priest in M*A*S*H
Wow, the casual "ha ha funny joke right?" way that this person admits that they just moved away without actually finding their kitty. Maybe they actually spent a long time looking and exhausted their options of finding him, but the casual way they joke about it in a tweet comes off as a bit crass.
I approve of your boys. But I do not think that means what you think it means....
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I approve of your boys. But I do not think that means what you think it means....
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