I just adopted to ragdoll cats and have renamed them Clover and Bumble. They are five years old and had different names prior to me owning them, possibly different names before that because the owner I bought them from only had them for 6 months.
Do you have any tips for helping to train a cat to learn its name?
We currently have two cats. Wooly, who's real name is Lulu. She came with my hubby last year. He got the name Lulu from a comic strip. Somehow her name changed to Wooly over the years. I don't get that, honestly! He also had a dog who's "official" name was something other than what he called her!
My kitty's name is Tia....short for Tiamat, and of course I think it's unique and clever! That name came from a book we read with our kids when they were little. Supposedly "Tiamat" means "Queen of the World" in dragon language. Since cats tend to do as they please and rule the roost we thought it a very appropriate name for a cat!!
I find it very funny that you put this post up today....because I was just thinking this morning about Tia's name and where it came from! Good luck naming your new friend!
We have two cats. One is a calico named Lizzy and the other is a long-haired black furry thing named Cleopatra, or Cleo for short. They were already named by the shelter when we got them, so that made things easy. Prior to that I annoyed my wife by making ludicrous suggestions that made her roll her eyes, such as Port and Starboard, or Lenny and Squiggy, lol.
My cat's name is Fred, but when I call out to him I usually shout "Ferdy, ferdy, ferrrrdy" and he will come running to me. He was a rescue cat so I don't know what his name was before. I named him Fred because he is just a plain ordinary type of cat to look at, but I address him as Freddy, Freddykins or Ferdykins, because to me he is so sweet and special.
I don't think it matters what name you give to your cat, and I don't think you need to teach a cat to learn its name. If you always use a specific type of sound to get its attention, a cat will know you are addressing it.
With my cat we really didn't have any issues naming her, we have given her the name of Kiki. Since the name sounds sort of like kitty kitty, she knows it and comes running when we call her. I have seen someone mentioned something about specific sounds when calling your cat, I think this to be true as they learn your voice and know when to come if they are used to it. Cats are smart creatures believe it or not and can learn pretty fast when it is meal time for them or when you are trying to get their attention, however sometimes they will ignore you just because they don't want to come or pay attention, the thing with felines is that sometimes they just want to do their own thing.
I usually spend a lot of time coming up with grandiose titles, like Lord Renholder Mercutio Blatz, First Of The Name... for my fish.
My cat came from the shelter with the name Roxanne, and responded well to "Roxy", which is also a character from a comic I read. So Roxy Lalonde it is.
On a side note, I've noticed that there's usually two factions to pet namers: those who go for distinctly non-person-sounding names (Fluffy, Beans, Oreo), and those who give distinctly human-sounding names (Sarah, Benny, Misty). Though they can be used as human names, I'm going to lump sound-names (Mimi, Kiki, Mew) into the former group.
I wonder why that is, and if it relates to how we view our pets.
My cat's name is Squeaks, but she rarely responds to the name. She definitely is more responsive to "Kitty!" or anything with two syllables, like "furry" or "cutie." My cat tends to take notice when you say something to her in a high-pitched voice or say something in a sing-song manner. We only really call her "Squeaks" when she's up to something bad. My old cat's name was Max, and he was the same way. The one-syllable names don't seem to get as much of a response, at least in my experience.
My cats name is Boba. When we picked her out at the animal shelter, she was quite the energetic and hyper Calico. My son decided he wanted to name her after Boba Fett. He's a big Star Wars fan. She actually responds to the name.
In the past, I've had cats named Lucy and Jitterbug. Lucy was named after I Love Lucy, and Jitterbug was named after the Wham! Song "Wake me up before you go go". I like the name Calliope and would use it if we ever get another cat.
That name came from a book we read with our kids when they were little. Supposedly "Tiamat" means "Queen of the World" in dragon language. Since cats tend to do as they please and rule the roost we thought it a very appropriate name for a cat!! 