Pet names

My mom says that I pick weird names for my pets. (No, Mom, a weird name would be Ulysse Nardin. ;-)) For example, I named my second cat Autumn. Her original name was "Dr Pepper" but after trying to explain to several Peruvians what "Dr Pepper" was I nixed that idea and changed it to Autumn. Of course, naming her after a season that doesn't exist in Peru probably wasn't the greatest idea either. :-)

When I got my two most recent cats, I set about for a long time to figure out a perfect name. I always wanted to name my cat "Whiskey". I thought it would be such a cute name for a little kitty! My mom told me a missionary kid shouldn't have a cat named Whiskey. Her suggestion was "Oreo" for the male and "Cuddles" for the female. Well... Those are nice names, Mom, but I was looking for something a little different. :-) I was thinking an author would be nice... My first thought was Tolkein, which didn't seem to be a good cat name. I moved on to C.S. Lewis from there, and thus got the name for my kitty Lewis. I'm pretty satisfied with that name, and I think it fits him!

Ebony's name was a bit easier because she was all black, and the Ebony tree is known for its black ornamental wood. That fits her too; we usually call her Ebbie. (And Lewis is often shortened to Lewie.)

With Jera, we picked her name from the white "J" on the back of her neck. We had a friend by that name, and it seemed to fit. I like naming my animals unique human names. (Misty, Autumn, Lewis, Ebony, Jera, Zoey) We got a lot of strange looks at the dog park, though, when people would ask us about Jera's name. Also, Paul's brother is named Jeremiah and nicknamed "Jer" so sometimes it was confusing. ;-)

With Zoey we picked the name after the TV character, and also I really like how it's Greek word meaning "abundant life". I think it fits a beagle puppy very well! Also, I think Zoey is a cute name for a puppy. I chose to spell it with a "y" because I thought it looked prettier.

So how you do choose a good name for your pets? Do you pick an old classic - Rover? Fluffy? Kitty? Rex? Or do you come up with something unique and unusual?

Meet-and-Greet-Monday

Originally published at twentysixcats.com

The Natural Mommy is hosting a meet & greet today, so I thought I’d play along. I’d like to introduce to you my three children.

This is Lewis, the sole male. He’s a cutie, and a little pudgie. He’s also REALLY loves to eat, and reminds us of upcoming mealtimes constantly.

This is Ebony, Lewis’ twin sister. She is beautiful and sleek. It takes a long time before she warms up to strange people, but she can be very cuddly with us.

And the newest member is Zoey, who is 4 months old. This picture was taken almost 2 months ago, so she has grown considerably since then! I need to get some more pictures of her. She weighs 15 lbs now, as of last Saturday!

Oh! And we also have a betta fish who was originally named Rusty, but I think we’ve changed his name to Zeke III. (I kept calling him Zeke, and finally I decided to just give in to pressure. ;-))

Mountain cabins

When we were planning our honeymoon, I looked into Pigeon Forge vacation rentals. To my surprise, a lot of them allowed pets! I was so excited; I'm sure you can imagine Paul's reaction when I informed him that I wanted to bring our two darling cats with us on our honeymoon. He nixed it pretty quickly, and so I had to put up with just being alone with him. ;-) Just kidding; I love my husband.

For his birthday last March, I planned a surprise weekend trip up to the mountains of North Georgia. We stayed at a place called Cabins and Coffee. It was a great place! I decided at the time to leave Jera in Atlanta with a friend. However, the place was definitely dog-friendly. Whenever we go back (and I would like to return, perhaps when the weather is a bit warmer!) I'd love to bring our puppy with us. (Paul's shaking his head right now, wondering what sort of person he married. ;-))

How about you? Have you ever taken a vacation to a mountain cabin with your pet?

The Animal Rescue Site

I'm sure all of you have heard this before, but I thought that I'd repeat it...

The Animal Rescue Site is having trouble getting enough people to click on it daily to meet their quota of getting free food donated every day to abused and neglected animals.

It takes less than a minute to go to their site and click on the purple box "fund food for animals" for free. This doesn't cost you a thing.

Their corporate sponsors/advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate food to abandoned/neglected animals in exchange for advertising.

Oh, and I want to get this. It's purple and it has kitties on it! Maybe I can convince Paul it would make an ideal birthday present. :-)

WFMW: Backwards Day!

Yesterday I went to get some more cat litter for the litter box. I was noticing all the different types of litter. Cheap stuff, clumping, crystal, natural, etc.

My question: Do you have a favorite brand? I have always used Arm & Hammer multi-cat, but I want to make sure that's the best option. I prefer something that clumps - makes it easier to clean. I tend not to be very good about scooping the litter box daily. :-)

Should I go for the "natural" litters? I don't want to get litter that is going to leave me needing to spend hundreds of dollars skin care products for my cats later on! I also like the idea of minimizing my footprint on this world, but right now I don't have an extra arm and a leg to spend.

What is "crystal" litter?

Your advice would be most appreciated! You can read more Works For Me Wednesdays here.

Please pray

Please pray for my friend Ann who is putting her 18+ year old cat, Duchess, down this afternoon. Duchess' health has been failing for the past few weeks, and Ann has been struggling with this decision. I can't even imagine how her heart must be breaking right now.

Misty pictures

So I found two pictures of Misty on my computer, for your enjoyment.


This one is Easter, probably in 1994. I would have been 11. What do you think of my PINK glasses? :-) And of course the braces. I used to put morning glories from our front yard in my hair. It was really long back then - I cut it to my shoulders the next year and that was quite a change!

Misty when she was about 5 years old. She was always a little tubby. I think we fed her too much. Isn't she cute?

Thanks, y'all for letting me share my memories of Misty with you. It's been more fun than hitting a winning streak at Caesars Palace. ;-) I love going back and walking through memory lane.