What’s In a Name? The Wednesday Cats of Catster’s Nicknames

Welcome to the Wednesday Cats of Catster! Every month, we ask our cat-loving Catsters to weigh in on a new topic. This week, we asked them about nicknames: What do you call your cat, other than their real name? Here’s what they had to say:

Crystal & Ivy

Giving your pet a nickname is serious business – nothing is off the table, and they need at least 3. Hey – I don’t make the rules!

Ivy is a kitty that goes by many names. Her original, full name is actually ‘Ivara’ – my fiance got to name her. However, she’s only called this when she’s been very naughty! Much like your parents only calling you by your full name when you’ve REALLY stuffed up!

Over the years, she’s accumulated quite a collection of nicknames!

Here are some personal favorites:

• Kitty: Good for everyday use, always gets her attention.
• Kissie: Derived from ‘Kitty.’ Used when she’s being especially cutesy.
• Skarmunkel: Loosely translates to ‘scoundrel’ – used when she’s being cheeky, or slinking slyly around the house.
• Klein Baba Ivy: Loosely translates to ‘Little Baby Ivy’ – because she is, in fact, just a little baby.
• Skunky: She looks a bit like a skunk scurrying around at times.
• Biskitty: Her beloved biscuits. It’s only fitting that she has a nickname honoring them.
• Cookie: Used every day, ALWAYS gets her attention!

These are but a few of the nicknames we’ve made for her, and she reacts to all of them impressively!

Giving your kitty 50+ nicknames isn’t easy, but someone’s gotta do it! Does your cat have any especially unique nicknames?

Isabel & Milly

I very seldomly call Milly ‘Milly’. Only when referring to her in conversation. It’s ironic, isn’t it? We give our pets names only to name them everything but their chosen title. I think it happens because they are just too darn cute to have only one, socially acceptable name.

They need more. They deserve more. And it needs to be either humorously fitting or completely outrageous.

Pet nicknaming is an art form. One doesn’t actively try to think of a nickname for a pet. It just comes. It’s a beautiful process, really. Pet nicknames usually play on their characteristics or what makes them unique. They can also be completely random and 100% unrelated to them but still feel very fitting.

Allow me to take you through Milly’s nickname timeline.

Her first nickname as a kitten was “Milandrie,” a rather common female Afrikaans name. It just came to us while she was causing havoc in our student residence apartment. It felt very fitting because you feel like a mother scolding a child when saying it in Afrikaans – “Milandrie, klim nou van die balkonreling af! (Milandrie, get off the balcony railing now!)”

Since then, it has evolved into many different things:

•  “Mielie,” which is Afrikaans for corn. Totally unrelated. It just rolls off the tongue.
• “Mielie-muis,” which isn’t an official word. In English, it would be “Corn-Mouse.” Again, completely unrelated – she just is, in fact, sometimes a “Mielie-Muis.”
• Then it morphed into Mini-Muis (Mini-Mouse) because she sometimes looks like a small mouse. See photo above for reference. This is the most frequent one.
• Then some more outrageous ones are used for special occasions like:
  • Pof-mielie (“pof” is like puffy or fluffy in English)
  • Pof-duif or Pofduifie (fluffy dove or small fluffy dove)
  • Hoender-nekkie (little chicken neck)

And the list goes on. Check in next month for more about Milly! And let us know in the comments below what you call your cat.

Cheers vir eers!

(Cheers for now)

Wes & Raphael

I’ve always thought pet nicknames are a humorous thing because, supposedly, we already chose the perfect name for them. Nevertheless, we can’t RESIST finding something that is shorter (or sometimes longer) and fits even better (or sometimes worse). Needless to say, I’ve also fallen victim to the curse of the nickname when it comes to Raphael. I thought I’d take you through just a few from the collection:

• “Raphy” – an absolute classic. For when Raphael is going to take far too long to get out of the mouth.
• “Beautiful boy” – not only the truth but very important that he knows it.
• “Stinky boots” – probably the most heavily used in our place. Does he wear boots? Never. Does he smell? Often. Either he smells incredible or terrible; there is never an alternative.
• “Rapha-smell” – a fantastic pun; see above for any further clarification required.
• “Little scooch” – even if he could understand what this means, he wouldn’t get it because, frankly, I don’t either.

Based on the pictures you’ve seen of my beautiful boy, can you let me know your recommendations for a new nickname? I’m always open to suggestions!