Since it has been another slow, uneventful news day, I thought I would share some pictures of one of the kittens that Seth (Boghan sort of made the call, really) is going to keep. He needs a name, and despite my offering up the choice “Gary,” Seth told me no and that I am an idiot and I should ask my readers.
Throw your suggestions in the comments. Although I think Gary would be a great name.
Spanky
Give it up. He looks nothing like a snail.
The Lodger
OK, but his middle name has to be Indiana.
Planetjanet
Alexander. He looks like an Alexander.
Spanky
Rocco.
margit moses
How about Seth, Jr.?
kindness
Looks kinda elvish. How about something from Lord Of The Rings?
JanieM
Pippin.
Aleta
@The Lodger: Yes!
Or Pete
Aleta
Horace
MaryRC
He looks like a Pookie to me. I had a cat who looked just like him named Pookie, a long time ago. Gary — no offense to the Garys out there, who I’m sure are all wonderful people — sounds like a car salesman, not a kitten.
Wapiti
Spike
gene108
Victor
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@The Lodger: and his last name Jones?
sphouch
You can’t go full CATS with a name, of course, but in the spirit of T.S. Eliot, Prufrock seems like the right name.
Mike in NC
Just so adorable…
NotMax
Take it that it is a male.
Montague.
Gandalf.
Xander.
Haimish.
Prospurro.
Or, in keeping with the Irish theme (Boghan), either Peader, Seamus or Cillian.
Inventor
Jimbo
Aleta
@MaryRC: I had a Pookie too.
Aleta
@MaryRC: I also had one.
BigJimSlade
Cutie Pie
Inventor
Hmmm, I’m being moderated for my suggestion: “Jimbo”. I can’t imagine why.
Aleta
Weird, the name Pookie went into moderation. Why?
NotMax
Moderation for a harmless list of names? It’s come to that?
BigJimSlade
In honor of all the fine foodwork recently undertaken by the blogfather: Pickles.
BigJimSlade
@Aleta: it had poo in it.
Gustopher
I don’t think one name is going to be enough for that regal beastlet. How about Charlemagne Chutney Chaplin Chirptopher?
NotMax
Trying it again.
Take it that it is a male.
Montague.
Gandalf.
Xander.
Prospurro.
Or in keeping with the Irish theme of the pooch’s monicker, either Peader, Seamus or Cillian.
John Revolta
I hated it for like ten seconds and now he looks totally like Gary.
Tom Hamill
@Aleta: Rumpole?
Jackie
Boghan calls him “my little buddy” so it’s Buddy or Gilligan ;)
NotMax
@John Revolta
Got to gussy it up a bit.
Glengarry Glencole.
;)
feebog
MacKenzie, MAC for short.
CaseyL
That face! Those ear tufts! (Good lord, does he have some Maine Coon in his bloodline?)
If he’s Bogham’s cat, shouldn’t Boghan name him?
There’s a great suspense novel by Thomas Perry, “Metzgar’s Dog.” Metzgar is a cat, and the dog is a fierce junkyard dog his humans have kidnapped/rescued. Metzgar decides the dog is his, and the dog agrees.
So how about “Metzgar”?
Mike J
How does the cat feel about vacuum cleaners? Could call him Nate. Short for Nature. Which abhors a vacuum.
brendancalling
Mr. Pickles is a good name for a cat, because then you can call him Mr. PICKLEton, Pickles Mcgee, Scratchlby McSkronkles, the Pickler, Tinkle Tonk, Mr. Bonkles and all the other names you call cats because they don’t answer when called anyway (despite being wonderful).
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
Rambo
NotMax
Anything but Tralfaz.
:)
(Young’uns may not get the reference, too bad.)
Duane
@Aleta: Okay but it has to be pronounced “Harse” like my great-uncle.
JCJ
My daughter has a gray kitty she named Cinereous. Definition: (especially of hair or feathers) ash-gray.
He is called Cinna for short.
HRA
The only kitten I had as a child was Smuts named for a soldier. Jan Smuts was his full name.
Another Scott
“BoGHAN, bò”-han, n.m. the calf of the leg the ham.”
Obviously, the kittens name should be “Uibheacha” because nothing goes together better than ham and eggs. Right?
;-)
Cheers,
Scott.
Anne Laurie
Since he’s Boghan’s personal kitten, Proinsias. When he’s being annoying / petty, the humans in the household can yell DAMMIT FRANCIS at him (for all the good that will do). And it sounds / reads vaguely ‘elvish’, which will most certainly be appropriate for a cat with the ‘Maine Coon’ genes.
guachi
Dennis.
Gretchen
I like Gary, cousin of Steve. My son’s cat is Dr. Juicy for reasons unknown.
Anne Laurie
@MaryRC:
Only if you claim he’s a pooka — which might be true!
When I was a teenager, I named a little black rescued kitten Puck, after the hockey version. Only problem was when he got out of the apartment, once… it’s not optimal to be hanging around a Bronx street corner calling ‘Puck! Puck!’…
Mary G
Mick
Loki
Paddy
Streak (for the white down his nose, I had Whitey, but that could be a bit problematic)
piratedan
Ambrose….
Steeplejack
@Duane:
Way back when I worked with an old Southern guy whose name was Carlyle, pronounced “Kay-rile.”
sukabi
Smidge MacMittens
sfinny
I like Buddy. Maybe Percy. Don’t know why.
JWR
I read somewheres that cats and dogs respond more quickly to names that begin with a consonant, or something sharp to their ears. Like T-Bone! I dunno, I always had cats even though I’m extremely allergic to both cats and horses. Dogs, no problem. And when I say allergic, I’m talking about eyes and lips swelling shut. It’s very uncomfortable.
Now back to your regular kitty post.
ETA No, I can’t adopt a cat. Sorry.
RepubAnon
How about Calvin? As in Calvin and Hobbes? Of course, an orange kitty would need to be added to the family.
Mary G
Ohh, John said on Twitter that Boghann and the cat-to-be-named-later get along like peas and carrots, and now I think the kitty should be called Peas.
Steeplejack
@Wapiti:
I like Spike! It has a slightly pugnacious simplicity that goes well with the little cat and with the slightly more formal name Boghan.
mrmoshpotato
No one’s done this yet, so I will.
Kitty McCatface
Sorry, not sorry.
emrys
Dickens
Mnemosyne
I’m still giggling because Seth didn’t get a kitten, Boghan got a kitten.
thruppence
William. Fun to call – Will! Yum! Willy!
Mnemosyne
Also, too, since this is Ye Olde Open Thread, I want to say that my CPAP seems to be working quite nicely so far. The nasal pillows have made my nose hurt the last two nights, but I’m not sure why. I’m still figuring out how to (carefully) sleep on my stomach without dislodging the mask and have done pretty well so far.
The one adjustment I had to make was turning on the heater on the built-in humidifier. Once I did that, my API went from 5 to 1 (lower is better).
sfinny
@thruppence: I did not consider the calling after my new cat when I named her. So now I am left calling “Boo” down the hallway when she gets out. Have scared a couple of my neighbors already.
Steeplejack
@Mnemosyne:
That’s good to hear. My “sleep hygiene” (wretched phrase) spontaneously improved a bit since I came back from Las Vegas last week, and I’ve been trying to build on that.
Another Scott
I try, honestly I do, not to be a lookist, but OMG, BoJo and Donnie.
:-/
Cheers,
Scott.
Jager
My girls love cats, their kid cats were Hilliard, Puffin, and Beau. I have no idea where they came up with the names. They still have cats as adults, I can’t remember the names, but one lets my kid’s German Shepherd hold it’s head in the dog’s mouth.
lahke
Looks like a George to me.
My sweet George,,,,
prostratedragon
@Mnemosyne: CPAP does tend to dry one out, something I didn’t notice for several months in the first rush of relief at being able to sleep. Saline spray and a little dab of vaseline can help.
Mark
@mrmoshpotato: I like that. Or just plain “Kitty”.
joel hanes
Mister Jinks
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
Gromit.
Or Wallace. But he looks like a Gromit.
BQuimby
Toonces (The Cat Who Could Drive a Car)
cain
I like Alexander, if you want an Indian one:
Laxman – “he who has the signs of fortune”
Or of course, you go norse:
Baldur
hopes that helps
Ronno2018
https://youtu.be/8jYgctXpajs Ronnie! (or any of the small faces…)
James E Powell
Iggy
zeecube
Lancelot.
Ann Marie
With my kitten Harley now at the teenage stage, I suggest something that sounds good in front of “Stop it!!!” Harley’s at the scratching and biting everything stage.
TS (the original)
Jeremy
Rusty
Pink
spudgun
I like sticking with the Gaelic theme:
Finn
Fitz
Duncan
Dougal
Seamus
Angus
Ronan
Rory
JaneE
That marking on his nose makes me think of Flame or Candles.
mak
Richard
Steeplejack
@spudgun:
Finn is good. I think it needs to be short, one syllable, to go with Boghan.
Dave
Paul McCatney
laura
Nigel
I’m so happy Boghan has selected a wee boon moggie for his companion.
NotMax
@Mary G
As one per has an Irish name, naming the other Mick may not be the most copacetic choice. Just sayin’.
;)
Chris T.
@Mnemosyne: Excellent!
I set my humidity thing to 4 or so, most of the time. Am in Humidland at the moment though so I’ve turned it all the way off.
Mary G
NotMax
@NotMax
One pet, not one per.
Chris T.
@JaneE: Hmm. Irish for flame = Lasair (per google translate)
Duane
@Ann Marie: So Dammit it is.
Redshift
Tiny. Even (or perhaps especially) if he doesn’t stay that way.
themomcat
Spike
Sister Golden Bear
@Mnemosyne: It may be the angle and/or tightness of the strap that putting pressure on your nose throughout the night.
Mnemosyne
@Sister Golden Bear:
Yeah, I realized earlier today that I think I’ve been pulling it tighter the last two nights. I have to take the strap off in order to wash the whole apparatus (it’s the Phillips Dreamwear that’s mostly hollow, so it has to be washed every day) and I was re-fastening the strap to where I thought it ought to be rather than actually putting it on my head before tightening the straps. Live and learn!
SectionH
Um, my Pickles was female so that doesn’t work for me. At all. I like Kindness’s suggestion of Pippin – name goes back long before LotR – but he has a wide-eyed sweet face that Pippin fits. And Peregrin (Pippin’s full name) fits if Seth needs a “you’re in trouble now” name.
Or, maybe Perry – that would work for him.
It’s not just the white blaze on his nose, it’s the incredible white accents around his eyes. He is beautiful, and doesn’t look remotely like a Gary.
Wth, call him Beau – because he is, and don’t insist on how it’s spelled.
Beeb
JC, you said not-Gary is one of the kittens Seth and Boghan are keeping. So how many are staying, and what sex(es) are they?
SectionH
@Mnemosyne: Oh that’s great news! Hope your learning curve the new machine isn’t much more than a speed bump.
Eric Schneider
Gary seems fine.
CapnMubbers
Snippet from a thread in January:
different-church-lady: OK, this is really getting my goat.
Omnes Omnibus: You have a goat? Does it have a name?
d-c-l: William.
OO: Excellent. Traditional and yet dignified.
d-c-l: His friends call him Butthead.
Charles Erkelens
Billy
Anne Laurie
Or if you wanna make Boghan feel special: IGOR.
JWR
Wonder if Colbert’s gonna open his show tonight lounging on the stairs, smokin’ a cigarrette? I could dig it.
Amir Khalid
@Eric Schneider:
Gary is all right as a human’s name. But a cat needs a name out of the ordinary, and a kitten needs a name that hints at the cat he will grow up to be.
NotMax
@Amir Khalid
Not even a good name for a guitar.
A bassoon, maybe…
(Of course in this household any feline would be named Gone, because that is what it would be, lickety-split.)
;)
Mnemosyne
@Steeplejack:
Interesting thing I read in a book by Michael Breus MD (aka the Sleep Doctor): having a consistent wake-up time is more important than having a consistent bedtime. That’s why trying to sleep in on the weekend almost always backfires and makes you even more tired during the week.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
Ƭ̵̬̊
Mel
@zeecube: Good choice! I was going to suggest Gawain.
Whatever the name, he looks like a kitty that is worthy of a ballad about his bravery and handsomeness!
Cathie Fonz (formerly Cathie from Canada)
What a sweetheart — love the little flame on the nose.
I just looked up the Boghan crest and it has 7 lions on it. Since Boghan picked the kitten, maybe something lion-ish, like Gruff or Growler, or something from the Lion King, like Simba.
NotMax
@Mnemosyne
Prefacing it by saying that while it may well be so for some people, my own experience labels that a hill of horse puckey (for me). Sleeping in is one of the cheapest and most delicious pleasures there is.
NotoriousJRT
Popoki (po-po-key) – Hawaiian for “cat”
NotMax
@NotMax
Will add (again, personal) that one of the pure joys of retirement is being able to sleep in on any day of the week, as well as is being able to sleep on a non-regimented schedule. Finally nodded off around 5:30 a,m. yesterday and didn’t wake up until 3:30 in the afternoon. ‘Twas wonderful, and a tonic for the 2½ hours of sleep had been barely managing to get for a few nights beforehand.
Never having been in any way, shape or form a morning person, the ‘standard’ hours between which one ‘should’ sleep has never worked for me.
NotMax
@NotoriousJRT
Curiously close to popopo (rotted or decayed; worm droppings).
;)
Elie
@Mnemosyne:
So glad you got your cpap and are sleeping better. The small discomforts will work out
rikyrah
Absolutely adorable ???
How about Egbert??
rikyrah
@Mnemosyne:
You got the cpap!
Yeah???
OzarkHillbilly
Bogart.
terben
I once had a cat whose name was taken from a piece of construction equipment that I happened across. The spelling was changed and the 2 words became one, but the pronunciation was the same. From Ditch Witch to Dychwych.
Just One More Canuck
@NotMax: ro-ray, Rorge
Nellie
I think another Irish name, Eamonn, Seamus, Liam.
monoglot
Gary is a great name.
He looks like a Gary.
lizzie
Smokes.
Bacho.
Thelonius.
Stanley.
Marc
Giovanni would be a good name for such a handsome fellow!
Juju
Lionel would be my first choice, although Iggy is kind of cute.
I’ve always thought Otis is a cute name too.
MomSense
Seguin. Seguin Island Light Station is one of the oldest in the country. Seguin Island is not far from Wiscasset, which is where the Maine Coon Cat lore places their origin. It’s a beautiful place and it’s in the process of being converted to solar power. It may also be haunted by an axe murderer which in a way is perfect for a cat.
Pika
Pickle, Michael Peach (aka M. Peach), Waffles, Doorknob, other food and household items
Spanky
@CaseyL:
Woof.
Ruff.
Spanky
My one and only true Maine Coon was named Spike. There can be no other, so I will recuse myself on that name, though it obviously has its appeal.
One of our now 2yo kittens earned the name Jesuschrist Godammit, though that name has fallen in to disuse as he’s become (slightly) less hyper.
SealDeal
Gary is a perfectly fine name.
So is Phil.
He should name him Phil. Because, that too is a perfectly fine name.
Or maybe Perfectly Fine. PF for short…or just ‘pfffff’
Or maybe I should go get some coffee and wake up completely.
biff murphy
SHADOW
biff murphy
I like BIFF, or MURPH too
terraformer
I look at that face, and I’m seeing “Winston”
Mike E
I thot Alice Cooper for some reason… Cooper.
CCL
Another vote for Finn…just seems right.
Though, this comment is coming from someone who just recently named a female rescue….Handsome Henry Thud.
Ohio Mom
I’m skipping to the end of the line because I don’t have much time right now — has anyone suggested White Stripe?
Bex
@Amir Khalid: So kitten should be named Laptop!
Miss Bianca
@Ohio Mom: No, but looking at that white stripe, I’m now thinking “Jack”. (After Jack White, natch). Or maybe “Blaze”.
Kattails
Went downstairs for some coffee and brain delivered: Tiernan: “Reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic O Tighearnain “descendant of Tighearnan”, a diminutive of Tighearna, a byname meaning ‘lord’, ‘master’.” (Ancestry.com) (ps sorry to Gaelic speakers, didn’t bother with the proper accents not enuf coffee.
I suspect he will be a little lord.
pamela miller
oliver. because that face makes me think of oliver twist saying, “please sir, may I have some more”
Ohio Mom
@Miss Bianca: That was a joke that fell flat. White Stripe was the temporary, placeholder name Seth gave him when he first took the cat family in.
Anne VT
@spudgun:
Finn. Yes!
Damned_at_Random
Spanky
or maybe Grundoon
suezboo
@NotMax:
Tell me about it, NotMax. I have become almost entirely nocturnal, unless one counts those naps I just fall into when sitting in my chair which can last up to three or four hours. This seems to be the optimal sleep pattern and length for me which is cool.
daryljfontaine
Bodhi. Because it sounds like “buddy” and has the extra h to match with Boghan.
D
Mai naem mobile
Pepys
Twain
Tristan
Tug
Pierre
Sherlock
ET
I looked at the white on the nose and thought Splinter. I don’t know why.
Robert
@SealDeal: Riffing on PF: Piffy
misterpuff
Tucker ’cause he has a bib!
NA
Gary!
Shana
Blaze! Look at the white marking on that nose, it has to be Blaze.
LeftCoastYankee
I’m late but kittens always have bat ears. A good vampire name maybe?
Nandor the Relentless.
Seth Cole
This is Seth. Thanks for all the great suggestions. Several were names I considered (Iggy, Victor, Finn, and several others but not Gary). Right now I’m leaning towards Bodhi with a long O but I’m I’m still considering.
As far as the sexes of the kittens there are three males (White Stripe, Grey Feet, and Black Star now Kweli) and one female (White Feet).
As of now I’m planning on keeping Kweli and White Stripe as they like Boghan and me the most. Momma is not very happy here and spends most of her time under the bed. She’s sweet and will come out for some loving at times but quickly goes back under. She is not a fan of Boghan at all. I think she is going to need a very calm home where she is possibly the only pet.
I don’t know how easy it will be too find homes through the rescue I am working with so if anyone is interested in any of them I will have John (JG to me) share the link when they are ready to be adopted. I know I would be very pleased to have a juicer adopt them as I know you all love animals and will treat them well. I am not going to give them up easily.
suezboo
My late cat was called Zinzi after Mandela’s daughter. I think it’s a fine Xhosa name. Rolls off the tongue. Maybe?
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
Boghan can love him and squeeze him and call him George.
Howard Beale IV
Hrothgar.
WaterGirl
So many great kitty names in this thread! Maybe I should save this one in case I ever get a new kitty.
Mostly, though, I am just so happy to know that they are keeping this little one. From the very first photo, this little guy and Boghan have been so clearly bonded that they are meant to be together.
*I wrote this on the morning of the 24th and only just now noticed that I had never pressed post comment.