Newsletter chitchat - February 27, 2024

[Cassel]

How did you pick the name of your pet?

Did you have a particular reason for it? Did you let the kids choose? Was it the name the pet already had when you got him/her?

Show us your pet and tell us the story of their name.

[Ann Seeber]

I can start with my current kitties: Adam, my black "Hauspanther" and Eve, my "Tuxie" (Tuxedo cat).

Adam was adopted from the Warwick (NY) Animal Shelter after we lost Miss Kitty, who was a dark "Tortie", at the age of 20. Adam was already 2 years old when adopted and had spent his whole life in the shelter. We kept his name as he knew it and answered to it. They say black cats are always the last to be adopted, probably due to myth and prejudice. He chose me as I walked into their cattery, reaching out a paw from his perch on a tall cat tower.

Eve was adopted 2 years later at the age of one from the West Milford (NJ) Animal Shelter. She had been picked up as a pregnant stray, had two kittens at the shelter, and was waiting for her "forever home." 

Eve was delighted to meet Adam, but he was not all that enthusiastic. To him, she was an annoying little sister! There was no fighting, but he avoided her, if possible. Black cats are usually very mellow personalities whereas, Tuxies are feisty. He managed to make her cool her enthusiasm by planting a paw on her head occasionally. 😆

Adam was initially brought to the shelter with a sister, named Eve. They were tiny kittens, just weaned. Eve was soon adopted but Adam languished. When we added the Tuxie to our family, we were sort of forced to rename her "Eve" to match him; plus her shelter name was not appropriate. They called her Mango. (Mango is actually a cartoon cat that is orange.) And she didn't respond to it as her name so "Eve" she became. 

I almost forgot the origin of his name. Adam and his sister were born in Pine Island, NY, and the local "mountains" were dubbed "Adam & Eve." They were really no more than hills. 

Edited February 28 by Ann Seeber
add origin of Adam's name

[Chris Schults]

Our first together dog was a chinese shar-pei, named sheng-si means raw silk. When you stroke the coat feels soft, but when you move in the opposite direction it feels very rough. Next 2 dogs (Shar-Pei) had already a name. Then we got a english bulldog, her name is Vaya. Sounds good according to my wife. And reminds on Vaya con dios. Later a 2nd bulldog, named Bentley, we can not afford the car. so we named the dog. 

[Rene Marker]

I've had 4 dogs in my life. I always wanted one as a kid but since the house we lived in was a rental, Mom and Dad said no. When we moved into the house they had built in 1964, I got my first dog. Patches. Patches was a mutt. The husband of one of Mom's fellow teachers worked at a gravel pit and there was a female dog that lived there. A stray dog got her pregnant and she had a litter in October. We got to bring Patches home the day after Thanksgiving. She was brown with several patches of black on her back, thus her name. What I would give to know what breeds were in her because she actually didn't look like any specific breed.

In 2000, I wanted another dog and knew I wanted a small dog. I found the Havanese breed and fell in love. Some dogs would make my eyes water and itch so I wanted a breed that wouldn't do that. I visited a dog conformation show and met some friends from an online group. One gal let me sit with her dog on my lap for over an hour and I had no reaction so I knew this was the breed for me. The next weekend I went to another show with a college friend and one of the breeders there asked if I had found a puppy yet. I hadn't even started looking since the breed was rare at the time. She said she had a male available. She sent me pictures of "Mic" and I fell in love. 2 days later I drove back to Toledo and picked him up.... he was now "Pepper". He was all black with a small patch of white on his chest.

Within months I knew I wanted another one but waited awhile. The breeder had a litter in January 2002 with 4 boys and 1 girl and I wanted a girl. That girl ended up being mine. The breeder called her "Danielle" and then "Carmen" but she became "Paige" when I got her. I did get many comments when people asked me the names of my dogs. When they heard "Pepper" they would ask if the other one was "Salt"... she was a very light cream color!

I had both Pepper and Paige until December 2015. By the fall of 2016 I knew I wanted another Havanese and told the breeder. She put me on her list for her next litter. That litter was born May 7 of 2017 and was 3 girls.  Their momma was named Luna so she called this litter her "Moon" litter. The girls were named "Ash", "Cosmo" and "Willow". The breeder of the father of the litter had first choice of the puppies (to train for agility). I actually fell in love with "Cosmo" although "Willow" was a cutie as well. I ended up getting "Cosmo" who is now known as "Peyton". Peyton is a great comfort to me and those evenings on the couch while a watch tv with her curled up next to me are so nice. On a side note, Paige's father is Peyton's great-great-grandfather and although not as closely related, Pepper (besides being a half-brother to Paige since they had the same mom), is also related to Peyton. There are times that Peyton does look a lot like Paige even though she is a Red-Irish Pied color in the breed. She has more coloring to her when her hair is longer when Paige was a pure cream color.

Here is a layout with photos of all 4 of my furkids.

 

[Anne Lamp]

I guess I will start with the dogs I had before I got married.  The first one I remember was Tiny that was a toy terrier I think.  The 2nd one was Tiny Two a  long haired Chihuahua., she was so small she would fit in my hand or a pocket so we had to name her Tiny also.   Next I got another small mix breed. I couldn’t think of any names that would be good until I was giving her a belly rub a few day after getting her.  On her chest ther was a big spot shaped like a heart and it even had what looked like an arrow going threw it, so Valentine is what me named her. Not long after I had her my Grandma’s neighbor’s dog had pups.  We got one of those a fox terrier mix.  That is the only time I have had two at the same time and the only male too. We named him Sandy because he was a sandy color.  The next one was Candy, another small mix breed.  When she was a pup she was black and I thought she looked like liquorices candy.  She turned grey and white, but she was a sweet dog.  That brings me up to my current dog Foxy.  She is a Yorky/Pom mix.  We hand not named her right away and she came walking into the bedroom and my Husband said she looked like a Fox Kit. We looked at each other and I told him you just named our dog.  The only other animals I have had were horses and fish and I guess they are not really pets.

[fiona cook]

The most historic naming for one of our cats has been 'Pippy', a black and white moggie, rescue cat who lived 21 years. She was named after a soft toy dog of my Mum's that I have inherited, which was given to her by her father in the 1920's. The toy was named after a British cartoon character 'Pip' of 'Pip, Squeak & Wilfred' (Before my time!).

We've had two cats named after our favourite English F1 world champion drivers, Lewis and Jenson. The latter was a huge cat and he had possibly the same condition as Carole's Pouce (Polydactyl) extra digit on each paw. Nearly all our cats have been rescue animals, even one of our Maine Coon pedigrees, prenamed 'Connie' who is currently ruling the roost. This is my photo of her created using 'Into the wild' mask from Jessica Dunn (Digital Scrapbook.com).

[fiona cook]

On 2/28/2024 at 9:58 AM, Ann Seeber said:

I can start with my current kitties: Adam, my black "Hauspanther" and Eve, my "Tuxie" (Tuxedo cat).

Adam was adopted from the Warwick (NY) Animal Shelter after we lost Miss Kitty, who was a dark "Tortie", at the age of 20. Adam was already 2 years old when adopted and had spent his whole life in the shelter. We kept his name as he knew it and answered to it. They say black cats are always the last to be adopted, probably due to myth and prejudice. He chose me as I walked into their cattery, reaching out a paw from his perch on a tall cat tower.

Eve was adopted 2 years later at the age of one from the West Milford (NJ) Animal Shelter. She had been picked up as a pregnant stray, had two kittens at the shelter, and was waiting for her "forever home." 

Eve was delighted to meet Adam, but he was not all that enthusiastic. To him, she was an annoying little sister! There was no fighting, but he avoided her, if possible. Black cats are usually very mellow personalities whereas, Tuxies are feisty. He managed to make her cool her enthusiasm by planting a paw on her head occasionally. 😆

Adam was initially brought to the shelter with a sister, named Eve. They were tiny kittens, just weaned. Eve was soon adopted but Adam languished. When we added the Tuxie to our family, we were sort of forced to rename her "Eve" to match him; plus her shelter name was not appropriate. They called her Mango. (Mango is actually a cartoon cat that is orange.) And she didn't respond to it as her name so "Eve" she became. 

I almost forgot the origin of his name. Adam and his sister were born in Pine Island, NY, and the local "mountains" were dubbed "Adam & Eve." They were really no more than hills. 

Black cats are beautiful. So slinky.

[Peggy Dyar]

My current rescue kitten is Adira. Rescued from a very dirty and hostile animal "shelter". She'd not been properly weened, was caged with cats with massive infections - ear mites, eye infections, open wounds, and more. She weighed 1.1 lbs when I got her - we cleared up most issues within the first 3 months AND gave her the only home she will ever know. This is OUR forever home.  Here she is at 1.5 lbs three months after her rescue. Her name Adira means "Strong", since she needed to be to overcome her beginnings. She's now 1 1/2 years and 7 pounds of active, intelligent, crazy Bengal Kitten madness.  

Previously I had an all-black rescue I named Margo Polo because she was always looking for a new adventure. When I first got her, she could not use her back legs; I thought she had a congenital issue or had been injured (the rescue had her for 5 years in a cage, and had no idea she couldn't really walk). With daily "therapy" of playing and massages she started using her back legs to stand, eventually walk, then was running around my apartment with the zoomies fully cat-possessed :-)  Unfortunately after having her for 2 years, a vet visit found 8 cancerous lesions on her liver and I decided to euthanize her since her quality of life was quickly degrading. But - during her 2 years of freedom, she made the most of every minute. I had her trained to walk on a leash and she had a 15' lead that allowed her to explore the outdoors. GREAT cat. She found the "new" every place she went.

My photo is of Adira at 3 months trying to sneak up on me while I was "reading".