What's in a Name?

You may have noticed at this point that I refer to my ferals as "my ferals" or "my girls."  You might be wondering what their names are and why don't I use them when writing about my kittens.  I do not use their names because they don't have them yet.

Many foster families use themes to name their kittens like characters on a TV show, colors, flowers, states, etc.  After you have had over 100 kittens come through your house it starts to get hard to think of new original names and themes just help get the ideas flowing.  Other families just pick random names they like.  We use a combination in our home.  Usually there is one name that seems to "fit" a kitten's personality or looks really well and we will name that kitten.  The rest of the litter will get names that go along with that name.

But I am one of those people that believes I need to have an idea of a kitten's personality before I give it a name.  To name a feisty, hyper kitten that does not like to be picked up something like Snuggles is false advertising and just annoying in my opinion.  So my family and I usually take a few days to get to know a new foster litter before picking names.  The problem with a feral kitten is that they are so scared and shut down when they first arrive they are not showing their real personality.  A feral that is initially really swatty and "aggressive" might turn into a real sweetheart once that initial fear passes.  Just like an extremely shy feral could turn into a cuddler.  So we wait until they start to show at least a little bit of their true personality before trying out names until we get that fits.

So what did we decide to name our current ferals?  Well, since it is close to Halloween, we decided on names from a kids TV show, Monster High.  If you are not familiar with Monster High, don't let the fact that it is about monsters fool you into thinking it is not a good show for your tween.  Don't get me wrong, it is silly and annoying at times just like all kids show can be, and the characters sometimes act in ways that we don't think are all that great.  But we just use that as an opportunity to explain to Paige (my 8 year old niece) what the character should have done in a given situation.  The reason her parents and I are OK with this show is that it is a relatively benign way for a tween to experience the paranormal craze that is currently in fashion.  And because the tag line of the show is "Be Yourself, Be Unique, Be a Monster."  And that is a message that we can support. 

So here are the Monster High themed names for our Halloween ferals:
 

The dilute tortie girl will be named Twyla (the boogeyman's daughter and instead of scaring humans like her dad she snatches humans bad dreams so they won't be afraid.) 

The long hair tortie will be named Frankie Stein (the frankenstein monster's daughter). 


What about the newest arrival I mentioned a few posts ago?  Their sibling who had been waiting out a bite quarantine at the shelter?  Well the quarantine is up and we are happy to announce - it's a boy!  We did not know the sex of the kitten until I picked him up yesterday because he was just too scared to handle.  The girls were as well, but since almost all torties are girls, it was a pretty safe bet they were girls.  Their black and white tuxedo litter mate was a mystery.  But the foster coordinator and I took a peek "under the hood" as we were using a towel to safely get him out of his cage at the shelter and into a crate to come home with me.  Yup, we have one scared little boy.

I have some ideas for names for him that fit the Monster High theme but none of them fit because I do not know him yet.  So only time will tell what his name is going to be in the long run.   He is settling in well right now so I will give you an update on his integration process soon.

And if at this point, you are wondering why I took on Twyla and Frankie when socializing ferals is so much work, let alone added another one - well what can I say?  I love my little monsters.  :o)