Feline Frivolity

Our three little hoodlums, oops I mean cats (Ahem* clears throat), keep us entertained most days with their antics. Their names seem to fit their personalities. Percy, is quiet, anxious, and likes to eat way too much. Each morning he throws up near, or in, his food bowl because he has over-eaten. He is the prettiest one, but is also not the sharpest tool in the shed. Doesn't the name Percy just seem to do him justice? His nickname is pelt. He has a lovely pelt and would look great as a stuffed cat someday on a fireplace mantle. Ok, I know what you're thinking. I wouldn't really....Then there is Truffle, aka: Truffle-buffle or little pisser. He's our bad boy. Let's just say there is a good reason for that second nickname. Last year we bought him a leatherette bomber jacket for Christmas. His given name is descriptive of his color, that of a chocolate truffle candy, but his other names fit his personality much better. Daisey Mae rounds out our little family of felines. She is my son's cat and is spoiled rotten. She is a precious ball of soft grey fur with tan markings around her little muzzle and spots on her belly. With her tiny little fox-shaped head and her extra wide seal-shaped body, she is just too precious for words. It is no wonder she is a spoiled brat! I call her Daisey-cakes. You just want to eat her up in all her sweetness.

What are some of your cats' names? How did they come by them? What do you suppose is their secret name only they know?

The Naming Of Cats

by T. S. Eliot

The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,

It isn't just one of your holiday games;

You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter

When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.

First of all, there's the name that the family use daily,

Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo or James,

Such as Victor or Jonathan, George or Bill Bailey--

All of them sensible everyday names.

There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter,

Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames:

Such as Plato, Admetus, Electra, Demeter--

But all of them sensible everyday names.

But I tell you, a cat needs a name that's particular,

A name that's peculiar, and more dignified,

Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular,

Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?

Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum,

Such as Munkustrap, Quaxo, or Coricopat,

Such as Bombalurina, or else Jellylorum-

Names that never belong to more than one cat.

But above and beyond there's still one name left over,

And that is the name that you never will guess;

The name that no human research can discover--

But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess.

When you notice a cat in profound meditation,

The reason, I tell you, is always the same:

His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation

Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:

His ineffable effable

Effanineffable

Deep and inscrutable singular Name.