Huddlefuzz, Spud and Pumpkin

You might remember the account in the Bible of the three Hebrew boys who were thrown into a fiery furnace for refusing to bow down to a pagan idol.  Well, did you know that they all had two names?

The boys Hebrew names were Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.  The Babylonian chief court official, Ashpenaz, by order of King Nebuchadnezzar, then changed the boys names to Babylonian names. They were then known most commonly as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

So, why bring this up?  What's it got to do with cats?  Well, it seems pretty common that in most households, animals may have a given name but based on their antics and behavior they often receive silly names or "pet" names as well.  Thus, the account of the three Hebrew boys got me thinking.

We have three cats named Baby, Piggy and Sassy.  Baby is really a baby in the sense that he feels he should be treated and coddled as if he deserved everything.  He's needy.

Piggy was named for his curled tail which resembled a pig when he was little. He's very loving, protective and adventurous.

Sassy is the only girl.  She's calico and when she was born she gave early indication that she would be in charge, be first and everyone would do as she said. Thus her name because of her sassy attitude.

Over the years that we've had them, they have all received other silly names.  So, while we were sitting playing cards the other day, new names popped into our heads based on their current activity.

Baby was outside in the cold looking in the window.  He was huddled tight trying to stay warm when the name Huddlefuzz popped into my head.  Then we saw Piggy laying in front of the fireplace. We laughed and said if he was named potato we could call him a baked potato.  And then the name Spud came to life.  And over the last year, Sassy has gotten bigger and lazier.  Being a calico, she has the coloring's of a pumpkin.  Thus, the new name Pumpkin became reality because she really is rounder than she used to be.

As any animal lover knows, pets can have multiple names that they answer to and that we know them by.  Years ago a so called "expert" said animals did not comprehend their names.  How untrue that is! Our cats know all their names and whether one person calls them one thing and another calls them something else, they know who they are and come running when called, most of the time!