Name the kitten! (and lagniappe)

February 2, 2015 • 4:00 pm

Reader Joe from Bristol, England sent this gorgeous photo of his new kitten, and is searching for a name. The information (I’ve chosen one photo to show) is below. I’ve never seen a Bengal like this—it looks like a tiny snow leopard.

We picked up an new addition to our family on Saturday (you’ve featured our Malaysia kitten Roo before on the website) and a couple of photos are attached. Sorry about the quality – he’s not brave enough yet for me to get out all the camera gear.

He’s a Bengal kitten.

He’s a spotted Seal Lynx Point, which means he has spots, instead of marbling, and expresses the “snow” gene inherited from Siamese cats. His eyes will also stay blue.

I don’t know if you already know, but Bengals come from crossing domestic cats with Asian Leopard Cats (f. Bengalis).. although he is a few generations away from being wild. He also has webbed toes, and Bengals love water (especially showers)

We don’t have a name for him, current favourites are Ozzy or Orion, but open to suggestions.

o1

Joe agreed to let readers help, so pitch in with your names. (There’s no guarantee, of course, that any suggestion will be used.) Each reader can submit two names; if yours is chosen by Joe and his family for this kitten, I’ll send you an autographed copy of WEIT with the kitten drawn inside. Deadline: Thursday, 5 pm Chicago time.

*******

As a special treat, I give you some information on the cat Bumper, who is served by reader Randy. First, the background. I had previously received a picture of Bumper sitting on a warm car in the garage:

Can you spot the cat in this picture?  Yes, and that would be Bumper at one of his winter homes on top of the Subaru.  Cats are very smart and well acquainted with the lighter hot air rising.  He would never do this in summer.

Bumper

When I asked if the poor cat lived in the garage, the response was this:

The car is in the garage.  A heated and insulated garage.  I think you can see one of the garage door openers in the picture and the rails the door travels on.  The car is not moved without the cat’s permission.

Lest I think that Bumper was mistreated, Randy hastened to send me the following photos and information:

Likely that I am wrong but got the idea you may have thought Bumper’s digs in the garage may not be up to standards.  Anyway, thought I would send a shot of his normal diner menu and a picture of him today to indicate his conditions even on this very cold day.
You would have to consult the chief on the details, but here he has three different dry foods, a canned entree, some treats and since it is winter, there is some catnip and a grass to chew on.
2 Feb. 2015 Cats and Outside 005
 Yep, all of that is for Bumper, and here’s the spoiled moggie himself:
2 Feb. 2015 Cats and Outside 007
I think we should have a campaign to Bring Bumper Inside. 

80 thoughts on “Name the kitten! (and lagniappe)”

  1. Bumper doesn’t look too hard-done-by:-))

    I don’t think that Ozzy’s an elegant enough name for the other gorgeous creature!

  4. I think whether Bumper comes inside should be up to him.

    When my Charlie was still alive, and a young girl, I once tried to bring her in. She did NOT want to be in the house, but rather in the barn with HER goats, so I let her back out and didn’t try to force her.

    When we moved, she was ten years old. My vets’ advice was to move her with the goats. She adapted to the new barn immediately, since HER goats were there.

    She lived to be 23 years old. I think she was fine in the barn. L

    1. Don’t think Bumper would like it either. Plus, there is another cat in the house and they do not get along. We had a cat for 17 years but 23 is really something.

    2. Such a lovely story! I’ve taken care of lots of barn cats. Being safe, well fed and fixed are really important. Cuddles the barn cat had to be with her foals.

      1. Charlie was black and white, with a Charlie Chaplin mustache, hence the name.

        During the time I had her, one of the bucks I was using threw a lot of black and white kids. Charlie would hang out in the kidding pens with does in labor, and more than once I mistook her for a newborn kid.

        I also came home one day to find two does in the yard asleep, back to back, with Charlie curled up, and equally asleep, in the well between their backs. L

  8. – and then we should have a, “put Bumper on a diet!” campaign; doesn’t he know there’s street cats starving in India?

    1. Isn’t that name normally applied to grains of dried nasal mucus excavated by children from their nostrils?

    1. It wasn’t.

      If you like Ozzy, since it looks kind of like a snow leopard, Ozzy could be short for Blizzard of Oz – an early Ozzy Osbourne album (and a very good one). And as long as we’re on the subject, how about Axl?

      2. If the ended up as Ozzy, then I was going to have his pedigree name as Jayuzuri Prince of Darkness (Jayuzuri being the breeder)

        Jayuzuri Blizzard of Oz sounds better!

  15. Orion is a pretty cool name and the myth bloke fits into the stereotype of a cat as a ruthless slayer of animals (i’m going by wikipedias description of Hesiod’s writing of the myth). I agree with Merilee above, Ozzy isn’t elegant enough for a cat like this. Then your cat could make Ozzy into an elegant name.

    Since Joe from Bristol is from Bristol, with the very awesome Clifton suspension bridge, Isambard would be a cool name for a cat. Paul Adrian Maurice Dirac is a local bloke and a decent chap. My suggestions are Maurice and Isambard.

  17. Lovely kitten! Such a beautiful kitten needs a beautiful name – Astral is my choice!

    Bumper looks quite happy. One of my cats lives in the garage, too. He hates the other cats and won’t get along with them. He was apparently under stress as I caught him spraying his scent in the house so out to the garage he went. He has a nice recliner and a cat bed to sleep in, a rug on the floor and a window seat to watch the birds and squirrels. He eats well, but not as well as lucky Bumper!

    1. That’s a good story there Kansas. If your cat had been “fixed” that will often correct the problem, well, lots of problems.

      I must confess Bumper started in the garage as his mother, initially a wild stray had the kittens somewhere in one of the buildings and then she brought them into the garage herself. It was kind of like, here I am so how about some help with the kids.

      1. Bo, the bad cat, has been fixed – he is just one of those cats that wants to be an only cat and lets other cats know it! He was a stray that appeared at my back door one day all beat up. He looked like he had been in some bad fights, and had been declawed by someone, so he was at a big disadvantage in the wild. I suspect someone must have dumped the poor guy. I fed him and took him to the vet to get stitched up, and he’s had a good life in my house ever since…as long as he doesn’t have to be around other cats!

  18. Mooncat. You could address him as Moonaboona if the need arose.
    Or
    Silver.

    That is a beautiful cat. Congrats! Spooky, in a foggy night way, not a plastic pumpkin way. And porcelain-like.

  20. Bah! I got nothin’ for names.

    I also think Bumper likes it in the garage & no one is going to force him inside.

      1. I already have another cat called “Smeagol”, the neighbors already think I’m a little strange from yelling that at night to get him back in..

          1. Try watching LOTR after 10 years of serving a cat called Smeagol. Every time someone talks to Gollum, I just smile and feel good :op

  28. Hmm, what a great looking cat!
    Cerberus? Technically a dogs name but that gorgeous coloring requires something powerful and proper I think. Serby for Short?
    Other names: Walter, Malibu, wysteria, Cyan.

    1. In keeping with the cross species literary reference, perhaps Bucephalus would be appropriate. It certainly doesn’t lack for grandeur. Or, given that he is such a handsome kitty, maybe Archie in honor of Archibald Leach, which was Cary Grant’s real name.

  31. Since the name ‘Bumper’ is already taken, I’m going to suggest Aja and Bijou for the lovely Bengal.

    Bumper’s story is fantastic, love his expression in the last photo. I always think that an orange tabby is the quintessential cat.

  35. As Joe already has one cat called Roo, then he just has to call this one

    Kanga.

    Can you imagine him calling them both in at the same time. 🙂

  36. My suggestions, both considering his amazing color

    1. Mojave (moe HA vee) I like to name my staff after National Parks. So suggestion one is from Mojave National Preserve, a desert but hauntingly beautiful.

    2. Aspen. A tree with white bark with black accents (and a ski resort in Colorado)

  37. Phantom

    Because that describes his coat pattern and it was also the name of a rather famous Asian Leopard Cat.

  43. If your other cat is named Roo, then naturally this completely sqwee-able kitten should be named:

    “Joey”

  45. I was thinking Frankie (after Sinatra) but looks like someone beat me to it.

    How about Paul? (As in Newman, also known for his beautiful blue eyes, as well as his acting talent and philanthropy.) I’d say Newman, but people might think of the “Seinfeld” character instead.

  49. My suggestions (relative to this beautiful kitten’s origins):

    Ashok Meaning King; One without Sorrow; Without Grief.

    Naresh Meaning Lord of Man; The King; The King of the Country.

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