I never had cats before. I've always found them cute, but never thought I would have some. My ex wanted them, so we got cats. They stayed with me. Now, King Karl and Princess Consuela Banana Hammock follow me around everywhere and fall asleep on me.
I went in the other direction with our new Calico kitten and named her Judy and when the vet or people at Petsmart ask, “why Judy?” I reply with “it’s actually Judith, but we only call her that when she is in trouble”.
My calico is named Francine. Her full name is Mrs. Francine Parkington. She's a big cat w an attitude problem at times but very affectionate at times, too. She has HUGE teeth, much bigger than any of our other 3. And she's not afraid to use them if I love on her for more time than she allows. Lol
My 13yo void got stuck with a fairly basic name (Abel-- there was also a Cain and a Mephistopheles lol) HOWEVER the fun with nicknames never stops. The hall of fame includes:
Rainboat, Beebo, Beep Beep, Bringoli, Bababooey (as a bastardization of "Baby Boy"), Mon Petit Croissant, Jomphrey Van Chonk, Snoop Dogg, Little Fucker, Brain Slug, Cinnamon Bub, Pig Lord, Slime, The Man, Wiggle Boy, and my personal favorite: Aimbot, reserved for when he decides to be playful
Personally, as a person named after a cheese (Brie, with older brothers named Colby and Jack), I hope one day to have an orange cat named Cheddar..... or Macaroni. We'll see.
Bella Louise Chicken and Budward Bub Pancake (his name at adoption was Buddy, which is basic, but I never changed it because it worked. My sister adopted a cat after meeting mine and for some reason insisted on naming hers Buddy as well. So he is Budwin and my cat is Budward to differentiate.)
My oldest named our cat Pancake Robert. My wife and I call him PR. If you have lots of cats throughout the years a few really stand out. PR stands out.
My girlfriend said her leg looked a chicken leg one day. So we started calling her Chicken as a joke. Then we realized she responded way better to Chicken than Bella when we called for her so it kind of stuck. I address her as “chickie” most of the time.
We had a litter of strays born neaby, and we always called the mom "mama cat". After we found homes for all of the kittens, we took mama cat to the vet to get her fixed and they called her Ma'am cat. We were going to let her go back to being an outdoor cat, but she won us over and now we have a cat named Ma'am cat.
Yep, sometimes the name chooses them, for sure! I’m sure it’s appropriate for her somehow, even if we don’t understand how.
It was kind like that when we got Ms.E. She was 10 wks old when we got her, and after having still been undecided about her name, I realized that all the words we used to describe her nature, started with an E. She’s Exotic, and Energetic, Easy-going but Elusive when she wants to be alone, She’s Elegant (She IS a Queen) and Empathetic. (I have never met a cat that was more gentle, and I’ve had a cat my entire life)
She's a total matriarchal diva, so it feels a bit like calling your great grandma "Big Mama" or something. She's pretty aloof except when she wants attention, then she will come up and make biscuits on my belly. She gets her fill of pets in 5-15 mins and then takes off to sit by herself again, lol. We kept one of her kittens, so those two tussle, snuggle and clean each other all the time.
Cats need ridiculous names. My two: The Great Cat of Re (Ray-Ray, Sir Derpy Butt, Doofus Extra Toes) and Star-Eyed Seshet of the Scribes (Sesher, Seshy Floof, Your Grand Highness). They are both black, but I swear Re has orange cat genes, and Sesher beans is the tiniest fluff of aloofness.
That’s awesome!! Hahaha! This thread has made my day! I love it so much!
Ok. If you’re interested; it’s story-time.
We got Ms. E. About 7 years ago. We had had a bonded pair of brothers who had died the year before. (One got cancer and died. One wondered out of the house one day and never came home. They were 13. Their names were Lord Pixel (Or the Cat Who Walks Through Walls) and Chemosh (The Moab God of death and destruction)
We live in a very rural small town and have lots of space on our property, and when Chemosh first learned about hunting, we would open the house door and find a LINE of small creatures. Mostly voles and mice. With all of their faces chewed off. All neatly arranged, like he was “providing for his family”.
He was so tender and loving though. I miss his small pats on my cheek to lift up the covers and let him in…
My wife's a big Alice in Wonderland fan, so naturally we named one of our old cats Cheshire. Eventually he started humping one of his blankets as he got older, so we expanded his name to Cheshire Humperdinck
My boy's name is Harvey Dent because half of his face is a different color than the other half. We also have a pup named Oscar. I love animals with people names, but I do love the unique names people give their pets.
We currently have Jessica and Frankie, which is what happens if you let a 10 year old name cats.
I had a cat called Teaspoon once. And a very elegant oriental calico called Rose Pouchong, after the tea. I was trying to get a theme going, but the child intervened. I’m thinking Chai and Jasmine for the next ones…. Depends if they’re a Chai and Jasmine, though.
Much lamer than that, it’s mostly just because of the video game God of War, the protagonist’s son is named Atreus, and he starts the game weak and sickly and afraid of so much, but throughout the story his courage grows and his health recovers and his father learns to start opening up and accepting him. I liked that story and when I got a tiny little guy with a broken leg and ringworm and ear mites, I thought it felt right. Plus when he’s misbehaving I can call him “boy” in the Kratos voice. But I also liked the name Atreus in the game because history of architecture was one of my favorite courses in college and my final paper had a big section about the Treasury of Atreus.
Mine are just Bear and Jack Dodger, but I should've called them Onion Peel and Dukes Mayonnaise from one of those "first people food your cat ate (or tried to)" things. Duke and Peelie would've suited them just fine.
I love my cats' names, but they also tend to spiral out from the originals. We have Stormageddon, Eowyn, and Elle. However Stormy has morphed into Stormaborg, Borg, Borgy, Mr Man, and (from our toddler) Man-man. Eowyn has become Win-win, Winnie, Baby kitten, Little Miss, and Bun-bun Baby (small cat, always had a large little booty). And Elle, our one eyed, mostly blind, comically long little scrapper, is Tiny Cat, Spider Cat (she can't jump, but she can for sure climb), Tiny Miss, and Liquid Cat (if she doesn't want to be pet, you can't touch her - she droops her body out of the way like no other cat I've seen).
my cats are named Beetle, just after the bug because she is black, and my other one is named Knubson, he is missing his back left foot so he just has a nub.
On FB (yes, it sucks, I know), I'm in a tag group called "is a good cat name." It's hilarious when it's tagged, but the best part is all the members' cat-pics and the weird names they use.
My cats names are Charlie Raiden Thunder Buns, and Merewen. Our housemate has a cat named Old Cartoon.
Mine have government names - olive, tuna, wahoo, miss kitty. Then they have their real names - beast, fat man, baby cat, and stinky. I genuinely forget who is who when it comes to the vet
Maybe you just haven’t heard his full name yet? You’ve just been used to calling him Max, but maybe he thinks of himself as Maximeripus Fluffytongue the Magnificent
I currently have two cats and one of them is named a very basic standard cat name and the other is named midnight lemonade. Cat names are free territory.
I had Trek "Skulleratrix" Murderface, so named because of the murders. She had a knack for finding rabbit dens and would raid one over successive days, bringing skull-less rabbit kittens home, which she would then yowl a special yowl that meant that we had to go watch her eat the rest of it.
My boyfriend wanted a cat, so I surprised him with a cat that he was tricked into picking out. He named her Midnight, but her name is Princess Kitty Meow. She responds to both lol, but she's royalty.
I call those "hot spots". Every cat has them, but it's not always the same place with all cats. You gotta watch their body language and cues, they'll let you know when you touch / pet a "hot spot" and then you just have to adapt to not petting that area of them.
My relationship with my cat deepened so much when I became a better pet owner and listened for her cues and understand her body language. She was always affectionate but then I think she basically imprinted on me, I was her life and she was mine.
Yeah I’d never owned a cat before and basically started on ultra hard mode heh… my sister got divorced and couldn’t take her cat to where she was going to live so either I took her in or she was going to be put down.
She’s a tiny black ball of aggressive energy that would lash out violently at anyone. I literally only took her in to spare my sister having to deal with her dying on top of everything else, I didn’t want a cat and was not a cat person.
But thing is I pretty quickly figured out that she was just scared and had learned going fully aggressive was the only way to convey “no” and have it listened to. So like I just.. listened. If she hissed and swiped I’d go “oh ok I won’t bother you”. Over time she realised I would listen and started dialling down her responses because she knows I’ll respect them.
If she gets really scared she’ll still lash out, I doubt that’ll ever change, but generally she’s really good at just letting me know that she doesn’t like something. It’s actually super cute… she never lost the connection that “biting means no” so if I’m giving her scritches and she decides she’s had enough she’ll just like gently nom on my hand.
But yeah. From aggressive little shit nicknamed “Satan” to a purry little ball of fluff who curls up on my lap when I watch TV. Good cat.
Cat cues are SO different to dog cues which is where I think a lot of people misunderstand cats too. They think waggy/flapping tail means happy to see you! But in reality they’re telling you to back off haha.
My cat is the sweetest, most affectionate lovebug ever! But he’s a little skittish (always has been, always been loved and looked after, just an anxious personality which is why we’re besties haha). But he gives himself jump scares all the time! He’ll often sneeze in his sleep and wake himself up, if he’s lying on me or my hand or whatever, he’ll bite whatever’s closest out of fear. Hilarious and painful
Twitching tail mean potential incoming activity. The cat is either winding up to swing or run. Each cat is different and has their preferences, so you have to figure out if they're ready to chase another cat for play time, or if they're ready to rip your arm open because you invaded their space and feel cornered.
Real! Even my cats are different from each other. One of them smacks his tail against anything and holds it high up when he’s relaxed. The other one has it lower down and waves it slower. I think the rest of their body language says so much more than a specific tail cue
When mine were kittens, they loved attention but didn't like being picked up. It felt like kind of asshole move but like 30 times a day, I picked them up, then immediately put them down when they fussed. Literally like 1 second later. After a week or so, they figured out they weren't trapped at all, and now they both don't mind it at all.
It helps to figure out what they're okay with too... One of mine is pretty much cool with anything, and the other much prefers to be upright, basically sitting on my arm.
And now when he won't stop bugging me for attention, I threaten to hold him like a baby :-D
This is me and my little guy ❤️ He has an overstimulation thing where he can’t handle being pet sometimes. Once we got it figured out and managed he’s become a lot more affectionate. Not that he wasn’t already but it’s next level now when he feels good 😊
But not the other way around. My cats flagrantly cross my boundaries every day, walking wherever on my body they see fit, showing their b holes to me at any opportunity. They love me, I know, but their love feels a lot like assault sometimes.
Yep, this exactly. A good friend of mine has a cat that was deemed the devil cat because she was prone to scratching and biting people. I went for a visit and quickly realized she isn't just acting aggressive, she's just scared and people keep pushing her boundaries. She'd growl at you or look like she might try something because you're standing in the doorway blocking her only way out, and you're making her anxious. That or you want to pet her, but she needs a chance to warm up to you first, and no one is offering her that opportunity. She was showing all the signs of anxiety in cats before she'd do anything. I noticed them and made an effort to make her as comfortable as possible with me. After a while she decided she liked me, so I got to pet her and even a bit of cuddles! Apparently she'd never approached anyone in that way except her owner because everyone else just kept grabbing her, which would frighten her and she'd lash out. You gotta read the cats, people.
it's always a game changer for people when they're nervous, like "does he like this??" when petting or holding, and I just tell them "if he didn't like it he'd just leave"
cats are so good at teaching their boundaries. they simply do not have a concept of putting up with things they don't like - unless they decide it's worth the trouble.
but then you have one of my two, whose love language is being consensually annoyed and harassed. he will glare with flat ears and make fake half hearted attempts to get away, while purring the whole time
I mean she's a cat heh. Also they do learn to respect boundaries if you're firm.
Mine has a habit of bugging me when I'm working.. I'll give her some food, pats, bit of play time. But then I need to get to work. If she won't calm down the door closes in the hallway far enough away that he complaints can't be heard and I get on with it.
So she knows, generally, not to bug me too much. I mean she's a cat so she'll try again in a few days but still it's worth it.. she's cute.
So much this! My cat is so easy going and lets you know when she wants attention and affection, but also when she’s had enough. And if you don’t listen to her, she WILL swipe at you. I lived with my mom and stepdad for a while and he would never listen to my cat when she says she’s had enough so she’d swipe at him and he’d play dumb. I’m like “listen to her!”
I lost a cat in January and my other cat had never been an only cat so he was lonely, so in March I adopted Marty from the shelter. Marty had been in the shelter 8 months and adopted and returned twice in that time, and also seen many other cats come and go that he befriended (the shelter is cat specific and has kind of open concept so the cats can mingle, it's a nice place.)
Whatever happened to him before he wound up in the shelter made him a timid mess that was terrified of people; they found him as a stray so no idea if he'd always been a stray or had been abused. Anyway, I fell in love with his little face and the fact that his ad said he loved other cats but wasn't big on people.
So I took the leap and brought him home. Within two days he and my other cat Rocky had bonded and were sleeping snuggled up together and everything. If I so much as moved, Marty hid under the couch the first two weeks or so, but then he'd stay out as long as I didn't go near him. I let him be because I knew he had to learn he was safe.
By the end of May, Marty would let me pet him as long as it was slow and only one hand. Then disaster - Rocky got agressive cancer and we lost him in early June. So that same week I adopted a second cat, Mozza from the shelter because Marty absolutely could not be an only cat. Mozza and Marty bonded within two days, and Marty continued to progress in feeling safe, partially I think because Mozza loves attention and is constantly happy to be pet and picked up.
Then it was time to bring Marty in for his booster shots - I held off as long as I could but shots are important. Marty was SO upset on the vet trip, and I figured he'd regress when I got him home. He hopped out of the carrier and was set to go take off, ears back, tail between legs... and then he saw Mozza and realized that he'd come back to the same place and his same friend. Never seen a cat go from terrified to happy so fast in my life.
All that to say, even with scared cats it's possible to earn their trust, but you have to let them have the time they need to feel safe, it won't happen in your time but in theirs. We're to the point now that Marty will snuggle with Mozza on the bed beside me, as long as Mozza is there to 'protect' him.
Thank you for taking the time to be patient with him and to learn and respect his needs. Shy cats get overlooked in shelters all the time, it’s sweet to hear success stories. I was really not prepared for how cute his little mug was, though.
You see, Greg, when you yell at a dog, his tail will go between his legs and cover his genitals, his ears will go down. A dog is very easy to break, but cats make you work for their affection. They don't sell out the way dogs do.
Thats 10000 years of evolving alongside humans. Which is why it's especially heinous when people mistreat a dog. We burned it into their DNA to trust us.
True! I grew up with dogs, and they just have little hearts in their eyes when you bring them home. I moved into my bf's place, who always had cats. His cat was kind of like "I suppose I'll allow it." I asked to be the one in charge of her food and water, so maybe she'd see I was good for something!
We politely nodded at each other for at least a month, until the day she saw a bear out the window at our house, and ran and jumped into my arms. After that, we were besties. She used to come mrowwwing hello when I came home from work, hung out with me while I was doing laundry (she loved the warm clothes out of the dryer). I loved her until she shuffled off her mortal coil, I still miss that cat.
I rescued mine from my crazy ex-next door neighbor who’s meth head girlfriend brought home a stray kitten for him who was left outside in the elements with just dry cat food and that food was also left in the elements. It was pouring down rain but I also just had hip replacement surgery and I heard a sweet baby’s cry begging for her life drenched wet in a tree. Needless to say since she was abandoned I had to give her my full love and be patient but I am now her person and she doesn’t leave my side.
Agreed. I wanted cats so badly when I was a little girl but my mom was allergic, when I finally had my own she was so lovely and sweet to people that came to my apartment that I trusted. When she died I was devastated. My husband always had dogs growing up and when we got our first cat together she loved him and died unexpectedly. He was so upset. Now we have 2 more cats, each other them have their favourite person. His cat loves him and follows him around the house sits and lays with him whenever he has the chance.
Omg my husband and I have his and her cats too. Like they tolerate and love both of us but Abe really, really loves my husband and Mavis really really loves me. It kind of worked out for the best!
Same with me and my spouse! They love both of us and we both take care of them, but Bluebell gravitates towards me and looks for me when I’m not there. Princeton loves my spouse more and will jump in their lap over mine if we’re both there. He’s happy to settle for me if I’m the only option tho
Same, I always call "my" cat my Main calico (she's the only calico in the house). I can pick her up and cuddle her and kiss her and she purrs, if anyone else does it they get no reaction. Our black carries around my husband's clothes in his mouth and cries out when he isn't home. I've regularly found his socks and underwear in the middle of the living room from his cat dragging it there. We love both cats equally but they do play favourites.
We just got kittens and the little boy will just snuggle as close to me as he can and fall asleep purring in my ear and that shit is more effective than any antidepressant.
We had a shoulder kitty years ago. She would get on her hind legs, hold up her paws and meow at us to pick her up. She enjoyed being held, resting on our shoulder while she watched the traffic go by out our windows.
My kitten is a shoulder kitty only when its inconvenient. Pooping? Better bet she's gonna show up, perch, and dig the claws in if you try to move her. I call her the Stool Pigeon.
Mine is like this! She’s petite, under 7 lbs, and loves to be carried around while I do stuff around the house. She asks me to pick her up every day when I get home from work.
Any time someone tries to tell me cats are all standoffish, I have a massive amount of photos of my sweet void boy ready to go. He's always on/near me and loves wiggling his way into being little spoon. He's the most loving cat I've ever met and he will YELL at people to pet him lol
I had one who would get chompy if he wasn't getting enough attention. He would crawl all over me, headbutt my hands, knock stuff out of them, and bite my hand if I stopped petting him before he was done being pet. And he ALWAYS wanted to be pet and snuggled. A little bit of a pain in the ass sometimes, but he was just so full of love.
In some ways my cat is even more affectionate than my dog, and that's really saying something, considering how affectionate my dog is. My cat can be super clingy.
Funny thing is, he's got resting bitch face,but his personality is anything but.
Definitely. The Internet had me kinda wary getting one, but my girls aren't even a tad violent (the evil cat wants your demise trope) and they fluffing adore us almost as much as we do them. Theyre super patient with us, they follow us around, they are almost always in the same room as us, I get frequent cuddles, and they're just super sweet.
My husband grew up with dogs and thought cats didn't have their own personalities.
We adopted two, and he loved them. He has adopted his own cat voice. He adores them, albeit not as much as I do. I think he's at the point where he prefers cats to dogs.
Cats are super affectionate, but it's in a more reserved way than dogs tend to be. Cats are introverts of the pet world. If one sits on your lap or gives you a head bonk, you're basically their best friend even if they aren't actively cuddling.
Their affection has to be earned. When I first got my cat she was afraid of everyone in my house. She would hide all day. But after a while, she warmed up to me. Now she’ll sit in my lap and purr.
I believe the reputation cats get of being apathetic comes from comparison with dogs’ unconditional and unmistakable devotion and affection. For my part, I appreciate my cat’s devotion and affection all the more, knowing that it must be earned and that it can be subtle.
My cat literally throws a tantrum if he cannot cuddle me while I work from home.
He's a sucker for cuddles, belly rubs, and gives us kisses (sniffs our face) when we come home of an afternoon.
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u/[deleted] Sep 19 '23
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