Welcome to Sphynxlair! Connect with Sphynx owners & enthusiasts around the world!

Ettiquete on changing a cats name?

Oliando

Lairian
Joined
Oct 15, 2009
Messages
20
Points
14
Hello lovely forum-ers :Laugh:

I should update my intro post to say that the breeder got in touch and said they would be happy for us to adopt the Sphynx baby that was previously marked for another family. But she's coming home in 7 days! :ThumbsUp:
7 very loooong days!

She's a bit of a surprise as we were hoping for a darkish male later in the year, and I had a name picked out for "him" - I was going to call him 'Ghibli' as in Studio Ghibli with all their excellent cute little characters, black cats and soot balls :BigSmile:

Oddly, the breeders chose the name Kiki for her, which is in fact the name of a Studio Ghibli character, Kiki's Delivery Service about a little girl who's companion is a black cat! It seems like a cute coincidence but I don't entirely love the name Kiki. She isn't home yet so I don't know what suits her, but I was wondering - is it...rude? To change the name your kittens come with? She will be 15 weeks old when she comes home to us.


What do you think? What did/would you do?




eta - so sorry about the spelling mistakes in the title! Typing one handed
 

Brooke

Banned
Joined
May 4, 2009
Messages
1,767
Points
0
Yay!! Congrats! 7 days will be here before you know it!!

No, I don't think it's rude or unacceptable - at all - to change your kitten's name!
 

georgehairlesson

Senior Lairian
Senior Lairian
Joined
Sep 8, 2009
Messages
318
Points
88
It's your kitten! You should get to name her what ever you want. Plus she's way too young to even know the name the breeder is now calling her.
 

Mews2much

V.I.P Lairian
V.I.P Lairian
Joined
Jun 14, 2009
Messages
4,564
Points
0
Most breeders give thier kittens call names and the name is changed when they are sold.
You can change the name.
What color is she?
Are you going to show her?
 

Oliando

Lairian
Joined
Oct 15, 2009
Messages
20
Points
14
We've always renamed rescue cats, but they were always younger and not coming from homes that 'wanted' them as such. It seemed a bit rude when I feel so lucky to be getting a kitten at all!

She is a blue mink with aqua eyes, these are the photos I have of her at the moment....


2a.jpg


2c.jpg


2d.jpg



I don't know anything about showing cats but it might be fun. Would her breeder name come into consideration if she was being shown?
 

georgehairlesson

Senior Lairian
Senior Lairian
Joined
Sep 8, 2009
Messages
318
Points
88
We've always renamed rescue cats, but they were always younger and not coming from homes that 'wanted' them as such. It seemed a bit rude when I feel so lucky to be getting a kitten at all!

She is a blue mink with aqua eyes, these are the photos I have of her at the moment....


2a.jpg


2c.jpg


2d.jpg



I don't know anything about showing cats but it might be fun. Would her breeder name come into consideration if she was being shown?

Cutest pictures!
 

Mews2much

V.I.P Lairian
V.I.P Lairian
Joined
Jun 14, 2009
Messages
4,564
Points
0
She is beautiful!!!!!
I love her eyes!!!!
You have to have permission from the breeder to show.
It is fun showing and I can explian it to you.
I show in CFA and TICA.
How old is she?
The cattery name goes on the entry form.
People at the TICA show knew where Cleo came from just by looking at her.
 

PitRottMommy

Banned
Joined
May 28, 2009
Messages
860
Points
0
I don't think its unkind at all.

Our story is sort of odd. I bought Baldwin from a breeder in May 2008. He was from a litter of 4. I found his direct brother and sister from that litter in a rescue about a year after Baldwin had come home to us. I adopted them and added them to our family. Their names, previously, were Dexter and Juno. I loved the name Dexter but I wasn't a big fan of the name Juno. And, aside from that, we have "hairless" names. So, I changed Dexter to Buck and Juno to Buffy.

I think everyone likes this arrangement except the previous owner (with whom I was able to make contact, through the breeder). I don't mean to be offensive, of course, but they're my own cats and this is their forever home--and their "forever names".
 

gizmo6370

Banned
Joined
Apr 7, 2009
Messages
3,599
Points
0
You can give her any name you like.....sometimes i'll keep the name the breeder gave....and sometimes not....depends on weither you like it or not....
I think your little girl is a blue torbie mink...very cute :ThumbsUp:
 

CoolSphynx

Lairian
Joined
Aug 18, 2009
Messages
186
Points
36
What a beautiful baby! Absolutely go ahead and pick a name you think suits her. (I've had many adult cats in foster whose names were changed when they went to safe, wonderful forever homes. One of my adopters said it was like a rebirth for the kitty and she didn't want him to remember his former abusive home anymore than he had too.) There are some tricks you can use to help older cats learn new names, but she's so young you can start calling her by her new name right away without confusion. Don't worry if she doesn't seem to respond to her name -- it'll take a while for her to associate the name with herself and after that, well, a cat is a bit of a selective listener to their humans. :BigSmile:
 

ilovemysphynx

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Feb 2, 2009
Messages
4,987
Points
271
Of course you can change the name. We breed and always give them A name while the kittens are with us, but its almost always something silly and nothing I would expect the new owner to keep! When someone gives A deposit I have them call me if they pick A name before they take their new baby home that way we start calling it by it's forever name as soon as we can.
I don't think it does much being they are so young but helps me not get to attatched.
Best of luck with your new baby:ThumbsUp: can not wait for all your stories.
 

Sam lewis

V.I.P Lairian
V.I.P Lairian
Joined
Jun 8, 2009
Messages
1,567
Points
198
No I think its ok to change her name, at 15weeks she probably isn't that used to it that much anyway! I have seen the film kikis delivery service and quite like that name! But there is no reason you can't change it. Is it a pedigree name? Mo's pedigree name is Ramses, but I call him Moses. My mums dog was called Winnie when she got her from the rescue centre and she was 1year old but we changed her name to Libby and she is used to it now! Maybe you could pick something a bit like Kiki? She will get used to her new name though!
 

harley

Senior Lairian
Senior Lairian
Joined
Jul 8, 2009
Messages
375
Points
88
I agree change the name to suite you. heck I changed Harley's name 3 times before i settled on one I like. The breeder had him as snake eyes, My daughter called him plunger(because of his tail), and we settled on Harley because of his Purr and the cute Harley Davison collar he was wearing when he came home the first day. So yes pick what you like. and what a beatiful baby she is...:ThumbsUp:
 

kalliee129

Senior Lairian
Senior Lairian
Joined
Apr 7, 2009
Messages
893
Points
88
There's nothing rude or weird about it. Meecho has had three names. The breeder called her something in russian, and the people who first owned her for a month called her Mocha and I changed it to Meecho. Oddly enough when I went to pick her up we were calling her Mocha and she never acknowledged it. Then I called her Meecho and she looked me right in the eye. I think even she knew it was meant to me:BigSmile: Only now it doesn't matter what I call her, unless it's with food she doesn't answer:LOL:
 

Oliando

Lairian
Joined
Oct 15, 2009
Messages
20
Points
14
Thank you for the responses :Smile:

I love the naked names - Bald/Buff/Buck, very clever. :LOL:

a blue torbie mink huh! I'm only good at spotting pretty basic colours - ie black/white/red :Laugh: She looks a lot like my first cat, except well - naked.

Aww Snake Eyes is not the right name at all - Harley is beautiful.

Yes 15 weeks is still young, I think once she gets here we'll figure out her name, it might stay Kiki or maybe as we get to know her something else will become apparent.

It's so hard to wait!! I think I'm being really reasonable in not asking the breeders for new photos every day :Wink:

lol @ Meecho. She's a smart kitten, if you don't have offerings why should you get her time?
 

harley

Senior Lairian
Senior Lairian
Joined
Jul 8, 2009
Messages
375
Points
88
I know waiting on Harley to come home after he was born was one of the logest waits in my life, i felt like I was pregnant all over again:LOL: then when the three new one's came it was the same all over again....You have my deepest symphathy waiting on your new baby to get here....
 

Fountainrunner

Lairian
Joined
Oct 12, 2009
Messages
114
Points
26
Hello lovely forum-ers :Laugh:


What do you think? What did/would you do?


eta - so sorry about the spelling mistakes in the title! Typing one handed

When the breeder names a kitten it's just so they have sometime to refer to it as before it is sent to its new owner(s). They don't want to go around calling it kitten #1 or whatever so they'll give it a proper name. My cat was given a bland boring name and I was quick to rename him when he arrived home. It's not rude at all, it's actually expected! That is why when the breeder sent his paperwork to get him registered they didn't fill in the space where his name was to go. As the owner, the name is for me to determine and fill out. Best of luck. :BigSmile:
 

Mews2much

V.I.P Lairian
V.I.P Lairian
Joined
Jun 14, 2009
Messages
4,564
Points
0
There are exceptions.
My sisters Bengal was already named and the name could not be changed.
He had already been shown 2 times by his breeder.
I also have a friend that is a Persian breeder and judge in New Zealand and she names all her cats.
Most breeders in the USA do not name them but in other countries a lot do.
 
Back
Top