Can you rename a cat?

[RStar]

Originally Posted by Kevy Baby

But how do you know if the cat likes champagne?

If he licks it off himself! At least mine did!!

I'm with Alex. If you tell a cat:

"Come here Snickers, it's time for dinner!"

The cat wil hear:

"Bla bla bla, bla bla bla bla!"

They respond more to tone and body language than anything and will get use to any name you call it. It's also probably much easier when a new family uses a new name than the same people who were calling it one thing for two years and then changed it.

I put my cats out into the enclosed patio every night. I announce "Out" in a loud demanding voice. The cats get up and go directly out onto the patio, or to the door if it is closed and wait to go out. I bet that if I did the same thing only saying "In", I'd get the same reaction. And some nights they know it's time and will just go out withought me saying anything.

The point is, the pet is for your enjoyment. Name it what you want. I don't think it will be tramatized or anything by the change.

[alphabassettgrrl]

Congrats on your new addition! As far as renaming a pet, we've done that once. Our first dog was Marge who came named. Next was Ottis, who also came with his name and he knows it. Next was Penelope, who was a junkyard dog and nobody knew her name. The people at Basset Rescue were calling her Patty but that really didn't seem to fit her. So P was renamed. She didn't seem to mind and responds to her name.

I'm of the opinion that cats have their own names and may not care what we call them. Sometimes they deign to respond to us. Your new baby sounds adorable! I'd live with his name for a day or two and see how it goes. If it's not right then see what seems more right.

[Gn2Dlnd]

My cat had been named, by the crackheads who abandoned her, Smokey. I didn't care for the connotation, so I renamed her Sophie. I assumed that if she responded to Smokey, Sophie had enough of the same sound to be ok. And it was. Go for a name with the same hard consonants and number of syllables as Snickers and you shouldn't have any problems. Stinker, Crackers, Snicket, Wicker, Flicker, Tracker, Cricket, Mickey, Pancake.

I like Pancake.

[CoasterMatt]

Our kitty Johnny used to be named Perry.
He still likes hard liquor and unfiltered cigarettes, but he responds to his newer name on occasion.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Munchkin gets a new name seemingly every day.

[Strangler Lewis]

We renamed both our cats because we didn't like their pound names. We had the breeder change our dog's name from Max to Moxie during "training" because there's a boy on our street named Max. Zelda rabbit kept her shelter name, because it seemed apt.

[Tref]

I suppose you can try, but the taxonomy of it may be a bit tricky -- they have been called cats for quite some time now.

[Morrigoon]

Shouldn't be any problem renaming. It'll probably only take a few days to catch on to the new name. Hell, when my mom was adopted (back in the 40's), they made parents change KIDS' names (yes, the first name too). So I think a cat can handle it, inasmuch as they give a damn what you call them, as long as you feed them and change their litter.

Remember, cats don't have owners... they have staff.

How about Mongo?

[Strangler Lewis]

Indeed, Gerald Ford was born Leslie King.

[Kevy Baby]

Originally Posted by Strangler Lewis

Indeed, Gerald Ford was born Leslie King.

John Wayne was born Marion Morrison