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My first dog was called Bully, because he was the biggest of his litter and bullied all his brothers and sisters. At some point I had a floppy-eared goat called E.T. and a blue-tongued lizard called Tillie (from the genus name Tiliqua). I now have a grey and white kitten named Narnia, she has bright green eyes, and I wanted a 'foresty' name for her! <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

The peacock is "Fancy Pants" - it seemed to suit, given the tail feathers.

Cats are: Morris (orange tabby), Scurry (B/W long hair), Spot, Tiger and Munchkin.

Dog: Max.

Fish: Dorothy, Elmo and Oscar

Pretty much any pet I've named has had a human name. The rabbits have been Peter, Benjamin, Flopsy (already named), Lucy, and Quincy. The fosters we named were Cody, Maisy, Harvey (changed to Harvard), Fletcher, Nigel, Murphy and Kirby.

Can't tell you how many people would ask "is Peter your son?" Now if I can just figure out to claim them on my taxes... <img src="/images/graemlins/rolling.gif" alt="" />

I have a friend who really likes the name Sammy. At one point she had two guinea pigs and a rabbit all named some form of Sam/Sammy/Samuel all at the same time! We tease her about it all the time.

Here's my pets' names (with a bit of each animal's history):

Natasha (Tasha) - she is a 14-yr-old calico, and was named after Lieutenant Natasha Yar from 'Star Trek: The Next Generation (my son was a huge fan of the show back then). She came to us after my sister and her husband had been walking their dog in the woods during some rather nasty weather. There huddled under a bush was this tiny little cat...she was just a mere hint of a cat, soaked to the skin and with every rib showing. They scooped her up and were going to take her to the shelter, but it was closed, so asked if I could take her temporarily. She was wet, half-starved, and full of fleas...but she rumbled with the most enormous purring as soon as I picked her up. That was 13-1/2 years ago, and she's still with us...

Fritz - big blue 12-yr-old cat, came with the name when I took over ownership. When he was about a year old he was hit by a car and was severely injured; his owners didn't want to pay for surgery and were going to drop him off as a stray at the animal shelter. I intervened and asked if I could take him...wasn't working at the time, but I begged and borrowed for the money to pay for his surgery. Today he's happy and healthy.

Kaya - my 10-yr-old dog, came with the name. She's of questionable breed, I adopted her from the Humane Society when I was a volunteer dog-walker there. I swore I'd never have another dog after the heartbreak of losing my last one, but a year and a half into volunteering, and one day I saw her sitting there in a cage. Our eyes met, and I swear it was as if we knew one another. She's been my constant companion ever since.

Anna - she is an agouti bunny of no known breed, and age is guessed at being around 2 years old. She came with the name when I adopted her from the Humane Society last spring.

Raphael (Raph) - he is a blue English lop, will be 2 years old next February. I purchased him from a breeder who was several hundred miles away...actually I purchased him sight unseen over the Internet, going only by a picture the breeder had posted on her website. When I got Raph his 'official' name was Cletus, but I knew I wanted to change that. We picked him up at the airport (had him flown in) and within 5 minutes of seeing him I knew what I was going to call him. He is named after Archangel Raphael, the angel of healing...not sure how to explain this, but - as with most of my other pets - I felt a strong spiritual connection between us. The first thing I saw when they brought Raph's carrier to the counter at the airport was this beautiful huge brown eye staring out at me, and the feeling that passed through me was so strong, that he had come into my life for a reason. I had been dealing with some pretty enormous health issues myself over the past few years, and I felt strongly that Raph was there to help me with them. Interestingly, the reason I got Raph in the first place was because I woke up one night after having a dream...in it I was walking across a University campus, and noticed a rabbit sitting on the ground. It had a large hole in it's forehead, and at first I thought it was injured. But as I approached it I realized the rabbit wasn't hurt at all; the hole was supposed to be there (sort of like an indication of the 'third eye'). In the dream I scooped the rabbit up and took him home. That dream prompted me to decide to have a rabbit as a pet again, and I began searching online for English lops. That's how I found Raph. And it wasn't until several months after I had him that I noticed something. I keep an online journal of my dreams, and was looking through them one day when I noticed my entry for the dream about the rabbit...and what really struck me was this: the date that I had that dream was the very same date of Raph's birth, as listed on his pedigree. I do believe he was meant to come into my life, and I into his.

(Sorry for the long post...I tend to get chatty sometimes...)

Welcome, wondering!

It sounds like you have your hands (happily) full.

Thanks Denise! Yes, I always seem to be surrounded by furry friends (oh, and I also have a 30-gal aquarium...my dog is terrified of the pleco). Growing up I had a rather rough childhood, and I think that's why I wound up with a connection to animals...they proved to be my closest friends through many bad times. I don't think I could ever live without any pets. Did so once during the first part of my marriage...went almost six months without a pet, and I almost went crazy! So my (then) husband felt sorry for me and came home one day with one the most adorable little kittens I've ever seen. And Snooch became one of my closest soulmates. He passed away 16 years ago, and not a day goes by that I don't miss him...or any of the others I've had come into my life, and then leave. I've often considered writing a book about them. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Gwendolyn and Lancelot
{ Gwen and Lance }



They are such tiny, little things I wanted to give them a little weight with bigger names. Hahahaha

I picked Other, as I always name my pets after literary or film characters that are meaningful to me. Usually sci-fi and fantasy related, or from interesting mythologies. :-)

I've used Frodo, Ghani (Ghanima) from Dune, Danu, Kaylee, Geordi, Callisto, Maru, Turtle, Dingo and a host of others.