Hello everyone. I have a year and a half old blue tabby male, and he is lots of fun. Coming from owning persians, he was definitely a change!

When I got him, it was for a pet. I have never had the ambition or desire to show a cat. However, I have always had a question about the CFA, etc.

How do people come up with these names? They are always so elaborate and showy. E.g. Rascoon Flower Feline Duchess of Scotland or something like that.

When I sent in the paperwork, I simply called him Monster the Coon Kitty and the CFA folks OK'd it. Am I way un-hip or what?

Thanks everyone, I need to go play with the coon cat he is chirping at me...

Dave

-- Anonymous, November 02, 1999

Answers

That's a cute question, Dave! I will try and explain how these strange names come into being. For pedigree cats (that is, cats where we can definitely trace their heritage and these cats have been registered for several generations with a cat association), the first word you will see in their long name is the name of the cattery of the breeder of the cat. The middle words(s) are the cat's own name and, if you see "...of [word]" that means that the cat is now owned by another cattery. So, given the example you cited, "Rascoon Flower Feline Duchess of Scotland", Rascoon would be the name of the breeder's cattery, Flower Feline Duchess would be the actual name of the cat, and of Scotland would indicate that the cat is now owned by another cattery called Scotland. Of course, in the owner's home the cat would probably just be called Duchess or something else much shorter and more "realistic"! In the association to which I belong (TICA), the whole name is restricted to 35 letters, including the spaces between the words. I suspect the same happens in CFA too. For registering a household pet (i.e. a cat without a pedigree) you can be quite creative! Only thing is, the whole name cannot duplicate an already registered cat so if someone else wants to register THEIR cat as "Monster the Coon Kitty", they would be out of luck! Hope this explains it all well! Good luck with Monster!

-- Anonymous, November 03, 1999