Thank you for the good wishes of everyone who (at least tried to - it was bad) consoled me on the demise of Louis The Big Orange Cat. He will be missed, as it turns out, by a whole lot of people besides us.

He was so sweet tempered and mellow that everyone fell in love at first belly rub. One of the techs at the vet told me that once, when he was in for the day, they put him in a massive dog cage. People went in over the course of the day to sit with him and give him hugs. A couple of them ate lunch in a dog cage with a cat..... I was crying when she told me, of course, because I could just see that happening.

We should all inspire such devotion.

We have another problem, though. Ella Bo Bella, Little Miss Busypaws, Cat of Indeterminate Parentage But Impeccable Breeding, Queen of the Most Expensive Chair in the House, is miserable. She's lonely, she's bored and she's genuinely upset when I leave her alone in the house. When I come home, she races to the door, which is so NOT Ella that I'm concerned.

The vet warned us about this. She recommends kittens. Two, in fact and they should both be males, because Ella is an Alpha Female (whatever that means). It seems that Fate has conspired against a long mourning period for the people in the house for the sake of the cat.

Sigh. It always seems like such a good idea at the time, as Tonto will agree. It isn't until you get the cute little darlings home that you realize just what you've gotten yourself into.

We need names. We don't like cutesy names, like "Muffin" or "Sparky", we're more inclined to use people names. (Or something oddball. We once had a kitten named Urban.)

Any ideas?

Name the pet for a famous writer, but use a familiar nickname in your cutesy voice.

The original was a dog named Chaucer, known affectionately as "Jeff."

Hemingway = Ernie

Shakespeare = Bill, Billy Bob, Billy Boy, Good Will Hunting, etc.

Other good names: Fang (better yet, White Fang), Katt, Lips, Crouching & Hidden, Judy, Gilbert, Dinah, Walker & Texas Ranger.

Ooh, or Tonto.

We have had males cats named

Spike & Rat Bastard

Do the kitties show any certain personality that reminds you of anyone?

Our cat is named Shadow, not because she's black (which she is) but because she jumps at the shadows on the wall.

Our dogs (brothers) are named Tom and Huck (Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn) - hubby named them. If you're into literature, you may want to go that route (fav. writer, character, etc.)

DB makes a great point regarding personalities.

Monster says he knows of the greatest name for a cat that has ever existed in the entire history of the whole universe

and he'll tell me what it is when he damn well feels like it.

the boy kitties from the Aristocats?

Oscar and Felix.

Laurel and Hardy.

Martin and Lewis.

Mutt and Jeff.

Starsky and Hutch.

I'm sure there are plenty of similar pairs.

The Boy is considering "Buck" for one of them, but I'm thinking it will become Bucky, which is all right, except for the association with a nasty cartoon Siamese....

Bill and Ted....

Apollo & Starbuck!

I like Buck - as in Buck Rodgers. The other one could be Flash Gordon. If I didn't already have Tank and Dozer (the brothers from the Nebechenezer), I'd pick those two, for sure.

Yabbut, Stabuck's a chick! :-)

Sadly, he's thinking "Buck" as in Jack London. Sigh. I told him that in that context Buck is a dog's name, but he wasn't listening.

Oh, and in original television version of Battlestar Galactica, Starbuck was a man. Dirk Benedict, in fact.

She said it doesn't matter what their actual NAMES are. For the first couple of years, they're going to be called "Oh Hell", and "Now What".

I think she has a point there.

modified for this purpose:

What do you call a house cat?

Doesn't matter, it's not going to come to you anyway.

That being said:

Ignaz, but you can't use that because my friend J has dibs.

Smedley

Spookie.

KA