Naming your pet?

[Scott H]

Just wondering what thoughts you guys have on naming your pets. Do you name them after celebrities, fictional characters, people you've met? Do you give them proper names or maybe just a descriptive name ("Smoky", "Precious", etc.)?

I ask because my sister is considering getting a cat, and at one shelter she met a cat named "Pizza Party", which seemed a little weird.

[WendyJo]

I usually have something in mind when naming a pet. Though I have to admit the name can change
as I get to know the personality of the pet.

Wendy

[Janie Boulware]

I know. Even though I haven't changed my pets names officially sometimes they are called by their nicknames more than regular names. Joey, my bird, for example is the scrambled egg because when he's acting crazy I tell people it's because his mom must have shaken his egg too much.

[WendyJo]

I had the terrible experience of finding an abandoned cat last week. I have been looking to buy a house so I had gone to a house a few weeks ago. There was along haired cat on the porch in a basket sleeping. I joked I wonder if the cat comes with the house.

Two weeks later I again went to see the house. Now mind you this is Maine, in the dead of winter. Below zero is very cmmon here. As I walked up to the house a very matted and emaciated cat came out from under the porch. Meowing very loudly. I couldn't believe how thin she was. We let her into the house as we walked around. She followed us barely able to stand she was so weak. I lokked in the cupboards to get her some food, there was no cat food anywhere!

When we were ready to leave I looked at the realtor and said I'm taking the cat,she said if you don't I am! We picked her up and I almost burst out crying, she was all bones, I mean I've never felt anything like it. She purred, and purred when I put her in the car she just laid down and went to sleep.
I took her to the vets and he couldn't believe she was still alive. She weighed 4.2lbs. He said at 4 lbs they are dead. She woudn't have made it through the night. He saithe only thing wrong with her was lack of food and water. So after a few days she is gettig stronger and much more uppity! She puts the dogs in their place.

I'll have pictures soon, you won't believe it. My thoughts are even if she only lived for a few days, she was warm had food and love.

Wendy

[artistlee]

thank you thank you from the very deepest part of heart . thank GOD for people like you.
you are # one in my heart.
God Bless YOU and YOUR FAMILY
your friend / artistlee

[conversational-hypnosis]

Good for you Wendy & your new kitty.

About my earlier post on names - I should add that each cat actually has numerous nicknames - I don't know how they keep from getting confused! Somehow, they seem to know ALL of their names.

[catwhispers]

I also want to second the thank-you's and kudos to those who take in and care for abandoned, stray, neglected, abused, and sometimes difficult-to-adopt animals.

What happens to so many of them simply breaks my heart and sometimes I just start to cry thinking about them. I wish I could find a way to save them all.

Someone mentioned nicknames, and it made me laugh to think of some of the silly nicknames I have for my guys, and yes, as someone else said, they all seem to knowall their names.

Deja Vu: Mummy Tummy, Cutie Deja Booty Patootie

Rockybeans (who has the most): aka Jelly Belly, Peanut Nose, One Crazy Peanut, Kitten of the World, and Ooh Ooh Ah Ah Tushie Tushie (a takeoff from the Toucan in George of the Jungle)

Both of the above (mother and daughter) will respond together to: The mommy and the baby and the baby and the mommy

Little Big Man: Mr. Handsome, Man of the House, Twisty Pretzel Head, Silly Head Chicken Legs (due to his uncanny resemblence to "The Colonel" when he looks at you straight on.

Snowflake: Scaredy-Cat, Prettiest kitty in the world

[mary]

when you see the pet what ever comes to your mind

[Doug]

I named my dog Casper, because I like the cartoon Casper.

[Tamara]

Oh wow...great question, I can't wait to read some of the answers!

All of my parakeets are rescues...technically Peridot wasn't, but she was the last bird left in a family-owned pet store that was closing the next day. I was not leaving her to an unknown fate. I think they were selling her to some other non-chain pet store. If it's the one I think it was, Peridot was definately a rescue!

I have kept parakeets for most of my life since I was 13 years old. I'm just a bit older than that now...heh.

But I'll tell about the guys (and girl) I have now.

Isaac was a rescue who came from a bird rescue 5 years ago. He was "officially" neglected and abused. It wasn't a case of unknown history. He came to me with the name "Rico". "Rico" was a bird that was bought as a gift and not wanted. You can imagine his life until I found him. I know some of it, dont' want to know any more. He still has some emotional baggage.

His name made me gag. It still does when I tell this story.

The first night he was with me, that night I had a very clear, vivid dream. I am a fan of the designer Isaac Mizrahi and he was in the dream. Isaac Mizrahi had a tv show on Oxygen Network at the time. When I woke up, I **knew** this bird's name had to be Isaac.

I was wary of changing his name. But he did not respond to the name "Rico" at all. Not a bit. So I started calling him Rico-Isaac. After almost a week, I sat down with him and we had a little talk. I told him he was a big boy now and he needed a big boy name. So his name was going to be Isaac. I swear the little guy's eyes lit up! He responded to Isaac right away, I could tell he liked it.

Peridot is the little girl I rescued from the pet store. She was a bright, beautiful green color. We brought her home in November and she was 3 months old. So that would mean she was born in August. Peridot is August's birthstone, hence the name Peridot. We also called her Peri alot. ANd you know how when you want to get your child's attention and you call him by his full name? Peridot was doing *something* one day, I dont' remember what. But this just popped out of my mouth..."Peridot Marie"...in that mother tone of voice. So that was her full name!
Peridot, my beautiful angel , passed away last summer. She had a hernia on her crop. She had surgery and came through it beautifully. But got sick after she was released from hospital after 4 days. We rushed her back, but she passed away in the hospital overnight. I still miss my Peridot Marie (I called her that alot...) terribly...

Then we have Pulsipher. Oh boy, I get alot of questions on that name!
I am a huge baseball fan. We brought Pulse home in Oct. 2004. TEN years, yes, TEN years earlier there was a trio of pitchers coming up in the New York Mets organization that were supposed to be the next big pitching phenoms. Jason Isringhausen, Paul Wilson, and Bill Pulsipher. I did not have a bird at the time, but I thought, "Pulsipher" that would be a good name for a bird. Over the years I would "store" names I thought would be good bird names.

We drove 4 hours one-way to rescue him from a shelter in Independence, Missouri. (Petfinder is a dangerous thing for me!) I was originally going to foster him, but when I saw him I knew I was keeping him. I called him Spiderman for a few days because he liked to climb the cage bars.
When I admitted I was keeping him, I figured I better find him a name. I sat down with him (he was in quarantene) and said, ok, we have to pick out a name for you. So he was sitting there paying no attention preening his feathers. I ran some names by him, and when I got to "Pulsipher" he looked up at me. So I said that's your name then! His middle name has turned out to be Independence, after the town we got him from. Pulsipher Independence. That's my boy...

We rescued Ming-Ming this past November from a shelter near Chicago, another 4 hour + drive ( I said, Petfinder is dangerous for me!). After Peridot's passing, it had been a few months and I needed a girl budgie in my life. And also the boys were doing well, not getting along, they needed that female influence. (they are all housed separately, so no breeding is going on!) I could not find a single female budgie near me at all. There were male budgies, and bonded pairs, but no single females. Until I found Ming-Ming.

The name the shelter gave her was "Farrah". I was originally going to keep the name because it seemed to fit her. She is a beautiful recessive pied, mostly white. The name did fit her when I saw her at the shelter, but the longer she was here with us, it did not fit her. She was named after the duckling in the little cartoon "Wonder Pets". (The birds get cartoons everyday and they, and I, love Wonder Pets.) I thought it was so appropriate because there are three wonder pets, and now they, meaning my flock, were 3 again after Peridot's passing. I also call her Ming and Mingy. She also seemed to really respond to the name change. Her middle name has turned out to be Gwen. Yes, Ming-Ming Gwen. After Gwen Stefani....

[Tamara]

ok Here are the nicknames i have for my guys:

Isaac is : Little Man, Monkey, Monkey Head, My Special or just Special

Peridot was: Peri, Peridot Marie, and most of all, Princess. She was definately my Princess. Very feminine and sweet.

Pulsipher is: Pulse, Pulse-Pulse, Fur Head, ArnoldZiffelPig (all one word), because he makes snorting noises

Ming Ming is: Ming, Mingy, Duchess (after the cat in "The Aristocats") Ming Ming moves very gracefully like Duchess the cat and is (almost) all white like Duchess the cat.

[Jerry Sue Martin]

I am getting a Golden Retriever puppy and I have worked with so many names and repeated them to friends to see their reactions. I have names in the movies I liked - names in songs I thought I liked -
names of other animals in my past that I have loved. I finally came up with a name of a horse that I used to compete against with my horse and I have never forgotten that name and I dearly love it. When the puppy gets here and we see her personality she may give us her own own name through that personality. It may be entirely different. Names in the past of Movie characters, songs, actresses and more have come to my mind. The name you give should suit the pet.

[Rosanna]

Most of my babies are named after alcohol. My min pin is Guinness- My cats Zima- Kahlua- Buca (sambuca) I had a tequila. Then there's Champ- My husband and I surprised my daughter when she was 8 with a him and we let her pick his name. I guess at 8 kids don't know any alcohol names.
Before you get to think that we have a drinking problem, We don't. Kahlua was the first and I loved that word so I named him Kahlua and then we just kind of stuck with the theme