Let’s Name a Cat

Ann H GabhartAnn's Posts, One Writer's Journal 25 Comments

“If cats could talk, they wouldn’t.” –Nan Porter

This is my sister’s cat. He has a name her granddaughter gave him years ago when she was a little girl. Something like Fluffleupaluff. She’d been a Sesame Street watcher and the show used to have a muppet character called Mr. Snuffleupagus that nobody saw but Big Bird.  Anyway, the Fluff name really didn’t stick. My sister’s cat was not a sweet fluffy anything. He’s got behavior problems as many cats do. You rub him at your own risk. That’s true even for my sister although she has learned the cat’s moods and knows she shouldn’t try to rub him if his tail is waving back and forth. He has her trained. Cats do that well you know.

“Dogs come when they’re called. Cats take a message and get back to you later.” –Mary Bly

“The cat is above all things, a dramatist.” –Margaret Benson

So the cat never embraced his name. Nor did my sister when her granddaughter wasn’t around. She gave him a very apt name – CAT. Usually spoken in those capital letters. I stayed with her a few weeks ago after she had eye surgery. Cat was relatively nice and let me rub him although I did so very cautiously. Then that night he settled nicely on the bed when I lay down. I’m thinking he is such a sweet cat and he must have reformed. Alas, that was before he attacked my hair when I fell asleep. This cat knows how to time his attacks for best results. I had to defend myself with a pillow.  With a victorious smirk (I’m sure), he went to lay sweetly on my sister’s bed.

“Cats can work out mathematically the exact place to sit that will cause the most inconvenience.” –Pam Brown

“The problem with cats is that they get the same exact look whether they see a moth or an axe-murderer.” –Paula Poundstone

“In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this.” ~Terry Pratchett

All these cat quotes and so forth are because I just introduced a cat into my work in progress. I don’t think the cat will have an important part in the story although you never know. Once you throw a character into a story whether the character has two legs or four, you can’t be sure that character won’t jump up and do  something to keep from being ignored.

I don’t have a name for this particular cat. I think my cat, unlike CAT, is a female. I’m okay with picturing her gray and white like my sister’s cat or perhaps all gray. But my cat is much, much sweeter than CAT. This cat lives in a flower garden. So, I was considering a flower name, but nothing I thought up seemed right. I can’t use Rose since I’ve already thought up a different character named Rosie.

Since I came up empty, I decided to throw it out to you all. I know you can come up with some good names. And the more I think about it, I believe there will be two cats in this story. And no, it isn’t a cozy mystery. However, there may be some mystery  and even suspense.

A cat like my sister’s cat might make a good detective if it wasn’t his naptime.

Newsletter Prize Winners

My newsletter givewaway ended at midnight last night. I’ve picked the winners by giving each entry a number and then picking three numbers online through random number generator. I sent emails to the three winners. I’ve heard from two of the winners so far. Tracy from Tennessee got back with me right away. She was a second place winner and won one of my books. She chose An Appalachian Summer.  I also heard from Julie, from Missouri, the other second place winner. She picked Along a Storied Trail for her prize. I’m waiting to hear from the first place winner,  Janet Gould. I’ll give her a few days to respond. If I don’t hear from her, in a week or so,  I’ll draw a different winner. So, Janet, check your email boxes.

So what would you name a cat? Try to come up with a name for a sweet cat and another name for that cat that never even considers sweetness.  

Comments 25

  1. Post
    Author

    Thanks, everybody, for your great cat names. I’ll ponder them all and wait to see what kind of personality the second cat, if he makes it into the story, has. You all are the best. I’ve been out of town, well, out of state, since I posted the Name the Cat post. I was in St. Louis having fun at the JustRead Rendezvous for writers and readers. So I didn’t get you all individually answered, but I really appreciated all the names. Love it when you help me name my animal characters. Maybe I’ll post more about that on Wednesday or next Sunday.

    Reply

  2. Good cat I would name Smokey for the color you picked and for the bad cat I would name Mystique. I love cats and have had a few through the years but not now. Have a dog who is a Yorkie named Zoey who is the best dog 🐶 I have ever had. Can’t wait to read your book

    Reply

  9. Sassafras, or Sassy seems like a good female cat name. And Ghost is cool for an aloof cat that wanders in and out of a story.
    I’ve never been a cat person much, but my daughter had a big black cat aptly name Bagherra. He was the king of our farm…none of the dogs went near him. He was huge, measuring nearly 3 feet long from nose to tail. My neighbors have cats, Jack & Jill that terrorize my Ollie. All they have to do is look at him and he goes the other way. The three of them have regular, funny showdowns with the cats always winning.

    Reply
    2. Post
      Author

      Love hearing about your cat that was king of the farm, Lavon. I need one like that to put Frankie in his place and then maybe I could get a garden cat to stick around during the daytime. But poor Ollie with all those bully cats.

      Reply

  10. I am laughing at your cat quotes because they ring very true, but our cat Henry acts like a dog at times as he greets us whenever we come home. So every day when he hears my husbands truck pull in the driveway after work, he will run to the top of his claw post and pose showing his belly and acting cute until my husband pays attention and gives him a belly rub. He is known to use his claws though if he decides the belly rub is over. Cats really are funny and think they rule the roost and my husband would agree that Henry has me trained, but I saved his life when his mamma wouldn’t feed him as the runt of the litter and he managed to find his way into the vent of our home and I heard him crying and had to tear apart the register to get to him. I dropper fed him and he is my baby and has a small stuffed bear that we gave him as a kitten that he still sleeps with in a crate in our room at night and he “walks” his bear around it every night before going to sleep, carrying it around in his mouth He won’t sleep without his bear, so he is really sweet. My daughter also has a cat-Zoey who isn’t quite as smart and sounds like a siren when she has to take a car ride to the vet. She is sweet but demands a lot of attention. She made me think if your cat in the story was like her and needed a flower name then it would be Daffodil with Daffy as a nickname. 🙂

    Reply
    1. Post
      Author

      What a lucky cat Henry is and maybe all that TLC changed him to a dog personality, Hope. I guess I’m showing my prejudice with that remark! Or it could be Henry thinks he’s your baby. Your person baby. 🙂 I love him giving his bear a walk around every night. See, a blankie bear just like a baby.

      Thanks for the name suggestions.

      Reply

  11. My family had one cat when I was growing up…my parents got him when they got engaged, and my mom named him Toots. He was a nice cat, looked like Morris from 9-Lives commercials, was trained to a leash, and let all of the dogs that we had while he was alive know that he ruled the roost. He was 15 when he died, and that was when Mom found out that Daddy was allergic to cats (his nose stopped running).

    My son is also allergic to cats, so we just have dogs (our oldest one reminds me of your Frankie). One of my best friends has the sweetest cat whose name is Lizzy. She is gray, long haired, and is 14/15 years old. She gets a haircut every year before summer starts…they leave fur on her feet and tail, so she looks like she has “go-go” boots and a pom-pom for a tail. Other names of cats that other family members have/have had include Abby, Koko, Tux, Bella, and Ebony. They are/were anti-social, would disappear when visitors came.

    Reply
    1. Post
      Author

      My sister has had several anti-social cats that nobody saw if they went visiting, Angie. You see my other sister’s cat that is in the pictures. But you never know what kind of mood he might be in. Good thing your dad didn’t figure out he was allergic to cats until after Toots passed over the Rainbow Bridge. I always think it would be awful if I found out I was allergic to dogs.

      Thanks for all the great cat names.

      Reply

  13. For the sweet cat who hangs around in flower gardens.. Willow, after the pussy willow. The meanest cat I ever had, I named Kitty Boy Floyd but that’s probably too much for a story character cat. I’ve had numerous cats over the years but only two were nasty customers. The other one was named Growler. It’s hard to think of a name for a mean cat.
    Maybe he should be named something that sounds gentle so that his mean streak is a big surprise to his victims. How about Precious or Angel or Bunny? I’m glad you’re putting a cat or two in your story.

    Reply
    1. Post
      Author

      Love the name Willow. Might use that. Sharon suggested that too. I like the name you picked for your mean cat, LOL. But it would be a lot to typed every time the cat made an appearance. I love the names you suggested and how my cat might surprise its “victims.”

      Reply

  16. We’ve always had many cats on our farm which has meant a wide variety of names. Two of our mean cats that we have currently are Cap’n Jack and Pirate. Some of our current sweet cats are Coriander, Cara, Bernice, Barb, and Midget. We used to have a 3 1/2 legged cat named Captive.
    One of our previous mama cats (Pudge) had several litters which we named by first letters: (Jay, Jace, & Jamey), (Cara, Clementine, Curt, Clayton, & Casey), (Barb, Bernice, Beaumont, & Buford), (Andrea, Amos, & Arnold), (Dunkin & Donut).
    Other litters have been spices (Coriander, Cumin, Ginger, & Mace), interjections (Aloha, Bravo, Cheers, Danger, & Eureka), and fire-related (Ash, Smokey, & Cinders).
    There have been MANY others through the years! 😊

    Reply

  18. The spots on the front paws are pretty cool… how about “Pawsie”; sort of a play on the paws and the reference to flowers- Posies?

    Reply

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