Stories behind naming pets

[Duffyjr]

I just read the thread about the gentleman having to put his dog down but he mentioned there was a funny story behind how he came up with her name so I thought it might be interesting to hear some stories or reasons why people name their pets, plus I was hoping it might cheer him up.

We rescued a cat a few years back. He had some digestive problems and kept throwing up his mothers milk but he also couldn't open his eyes they were like glued shut. So we decided to take him to the vet to see if they could fix him up. When we picked him up his eyes were open so I said joking around we should name him Seymour but that's what we ended up naming him.

 

[Shannow]

My first dog was Akasha (Norwegian Elkhound, named her after Akasha, queen of the [censored] in the Anne Rice books).
Second dog, huskyxSamoyed was Bonnie Jean Mirlu.
Wifes first cat was "Jewels" after they worked out he was a male.
Her second was Curly Bill (Brocious)
Her current, and 19-20 year old cat is Lestat the cat.

 

[Rick in PA]

We've got a dog, "Bandit". He may be old but he still lives up to his name, snatching food off the kitchen counter if you don't put it back far enough on the counter. Bread & rolls are his favorite.

The latest two, rescues, both chihuahuas, kept the name they came with:

"Ruby", full name "Ruby Dee", named after the famous actress from Philadelphia, PA. She was a sweet dog, with just enough chihuahua spirit to keep her sassy. Sadly, she passed away last October.

"Nacho", we were advised (jokingly) we could name him after our favorite snack food, but the name Nacho stuck. He's can be a little stinker sometimes.

 

[mrsilv04]

When I was leaving the county pound with my first dog (I've never had a dog that wasn't a stray or rescue), I looked down at him and said "Well come on Buster, let's go".

The gal at the front desk responded "Well that's cute". I asked her what was cute? She said that I'd called him "Buster".

At that moment, he became Buster. I had named him, and hadn't even realized it at the moment.

 

[Shannow]

Originally Posted By: Rick in PA
We've got a dog, "Bandit".


My brother's Jack Russel was Bandit.

 

[BobsArmory]

Had a Golden Retriever we called Hoover, named after the vacuum cleaner. He could down 2 dozen spicy chicken wings and clean the plate in the time it took to answer the front door.

 

[andyd]

We had a Tuxedo cat with white paws. We called him Sneakers. My niece and nephew didn't want to be copy cats so they named their cat Slipper

 

[larryinnewyork]

Don't have a dog myself, but how about-
Dee Oh Gee (pronounced as DOG)

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Only had pets since 2009.

First was Alley. He showed up in the alley between our house and the neighbors. I was afraid of cats at the time. Turns out the poor little Siamese guy had no teeth and was declawed. We only has him six months ... Turns out he had bad kidneys. We kept him alive and gave him a good home for his last few month. Having him put down was one of the hardest things ever.

My mom is allergic to cats but not oriental cats. We found a pair of ragdoll / Siamese at the shelter named Frankie and Bullet. We renamed Bullet to Johnny. They are good cats.

I moved out and ended up getting my cat from a shelter. She is named Mara because she has a M on her head. I usually call her woman or "stop digging that" or "don't knock stuff off the table" or "please don't kill me" . She's crazy

 

[Bud]

We have a cat named Mr Hosey. Was found as a kitten hiding in our hose cart one cold winter morning 14 years ago.

 

[LoneRanger]

The stray cat we adopted in 2009 is a gray tabby. Behind our house is a long wooden privacy fence, which as is common, has grayed out over the years (because the homeowner assoc doesn't get it treated). First day he was here he was in the back yard. Couldn't find him. Then noticed he was crouched at the base of the fence. Blended right into it like a chameleon, gray on gray with just enough stripe definition to make it the perfect camouflage pattern for that spot. He was named Camo after that.

 

[John_K]

Originally Posted By: andyd
We had a Tuxedo cat with white paws. We called him Sneakers. My niece and nephew didn't want to be copy cats so they named their cat Slipper

We adopted a tuxedo kitten, I said "he's quite a chester" (white chest) and his name was born.

We had a gold colored kitten jump in the car with us, we couldn't think of a name so we were calling him "the gold one". One day I fiddled with "gold one" and came up with Goldwyn.

 

[CT8]

I had a dog that had a runny nose when he was a puppy so we called her sniffles.At one time we had a horse that had runny stools when we first brought him home. He was names splash. I called him splat though.

 

[MinamiKotaro]

Four cats

Pinky is so named because he has a pink nose.

Treize is so named because he was the thirteenth cat born on our porch. (And also from the character Treize Kushranada from Gundam Wing, which was on Toonami at the time he was born.) We finally caught the Momma Cat and got her fixed after his litter.

Snickers, I dunno, I got her from someone else.

Ripley is named after Ripley from the Alien movies.

 

[Inspecktor]

Originally Posted By: larryinnewyork
Don't have a dog myself, but how about-
Dee Oh Gee (pronounced as DOG)
My wife's friend named her first dog D.O.G. I thought it was Deogy, but she said it was simply DOG, because she couldn't come up with a name.

 

[Jarlaxle]

I has 2 strays...named for book characters, Vierna and Maya. When the third showed up, it was easy: the third sister, Briza.

 

[sleddriver]

My last cat of 17yrs was found under a lakehouse toolshed, with three itty, bitty kitties. She was down to fur and bones. It had been several years since my previous cat, Hobie, had died so I adopted Momma Cat. The IBK were wild, but not MC. She was already box trained.

After getting her dewormed, and shots, and regular feeding, she blossomed into this big, beautiful, furry cat. She turned out to be a seal-pointed Ragdoll. Never heard of them.

She took to hiding behind hallway corners, chair legs, couch, etc. when she'd see me coming. Very much like Hobbes waiting for Calvin. I might see one eye & a chocolate ear with fuzzy face stick out. As I'd walk by, she pounce, attack-cat bonzi style, and swat my ankles. Then return to her hiding place, waiting for me to come by again. Like she was playing hide & seek. Well, that's too long for a cat name, so I dubbed her Peekaboo.

I also seriously considered naming her Dasher or Blitzen, due to her habit of tearing about the place, in crazy-cat mode. Probably chasing away ghosts.....

 

[supton]

Wife was big into Harry Potter at the time, so our rescue was renamed Luna after one of the characters. We soon found out it was an apt name, a shortened version of Lunatic--she has separation anxiety, and is a bit high strung at times.

We learned that we can't say "walk" or "out" as she knows what those words are. But we can no longer spell out the words as she now knows that too!

 

[OneEyeJack]

Teddy a 185 pound Tibetan mastiff, short for Teddy Bear because when he was a puppy found in the local animal shelter he was just one big fluffy bundle of love. The people there had no idea what kind of dog he was and later DNA testing confirmed his breed. He's now the guard dog. If you want to break into our house you must discuss your plans with Teddy. He's our family teddy bear but to outsiders he's potentially a real problem. You don't have to know anything about the breed to get the idea that you'd better not cross him.

One Eye Jack a feral cat with one eye torn out in a fight with a coyote. The toughest cay you'd ever want to meed. Eventually became blind but still taught our dogs how to correctly respect a cat. He would climb into my lap while I worked in my home office.

Nermal a cat, short for abnormal from the movie Young Frankenstein. He never figured out how to be a cat.

Buddy a 90 pound black lab that sleeps in bed with my wife and I and thinks he is a purse dog.

Toby, a unisex name for one tough female Australian Cattle Dog found out in the desert east of San Diego. Our vet thinks she might be an ACD/coyote mix. She hunts for all her own food, mainly rabbits, squires, mice, rats, gophers and sometimes doves. She also visits an old lady down the street that still lives on her own. Toby gets a lot of grooming and sometimes sleeps on her couch but never accepts food. The lady says her whole day revolves around Toby's visits. On Sunday's like today we wheel her over to our house to visit our pets. It's almost the only outside contact she gets because her kids are too busy to bother with her. The dogs and cats really like her especially Toby and Teddy.

Dolly a rescued female coyote, hit by a car and now has a damaged hip. Got the permit to keep her because she could not have survived back in the wild. She was very young and we did not tell her she was a coyote. We lied and told her she was a dog. Toby the ACD brings her rabbits in the morning and slept with her and groomed her during her recovery. They hang together around the house now.

MLB (mommy's little boy), a rescued kitty found screaming in a closed dumpster in a tied pillowcase and never recovered completely. Sleeps most of the time in a drawer next to my wife's side of the bed.

Annie, (as in little orphan Annie) a rescued feral kitty with a bad leg found living on her own. One very tough kitty learning how to be a domestic cat while we're trying not to be a blood donor. Progress is slow and she hides in various places in the spare bedroom. Caught her with a bit of food and a large towel. It took almost an hour. When I finally threw the towel over her is was like setting of a bomb.

Jason, a raven with a broken wing. Our neighbor found him with an arrow in his wing and called me. I fixed him up. We don't keep him in a cage. He is free to come and go so no permit is necessary. He limps and can just barley fly, does not go far. He sleeps in a nest in the garage. Toby sometimes brings him mice and rats.

Charlie a turkey vulture. Found him out in the back property with a piece of plastic stuck in his throat. Had a hard time getting it out. He was hissing and spitting and really upset. He was also nearly dead. We nursed him back to health and released him. It took almost a year. He lives with the rest of the turkey vultures but comes back every few weeks or so to visit when no one else is around. He really likes having his under wing area and belly scratched and likes to perch on the deck railing with his wings extended. Usually I examine his wings and belly and pick off any flees and tics. He also likes digging through the cat's litter box and the cats disappear when he shows up. Close up he's really scary looking but when his flying he's graceful and majestic making lazy circles in the sky.

...and many others.

 

[KitaCam]

Had a pair of kittens...Sox and Lox.

Sox, short for Socrates, had 4 pair of white booties.
Lox was a Tabby the color of smoked salmon.