Kitten name ideas? and some questions!

catheetiem

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Good morning everyone, hope your friday is going well! I just adopted an 8 week old kitten last weekend and I'm having trouble finding a good name for him, I was hoping you guys could help out! He's a light orange tabby with white feet, and he's your typical kitten. Likes play, runs around, and especially likes to pounce on things. He loves all the toys he has, and even some things that aren't his toys (his favorite thing is probably plastic bags!)

I'm in CT, he's a rescue from South Carolina. The shelter I got him from said he was in a kill shelter, a day or two away from being put down (I guess this is true, although hard to imagine; he wasn't as friendly as the foster cats the shelter had, but he's by no means feral, he loves to be pet and doesn't mind being picked up, I can't believe that there was no demand for him or his adorable siblings).
The shelter had named him O'Malley, which I'm not planning on keeping but I don't mind sticking with the Irish theme, he does look like a leprechaun! My boyfriend and I had thought of Jameson (Jameo for short, but like do we want to be the basic couple that names their cat Jameo lol), Finley (I think my favorite so far), and Pickles (I think it's cute but idk if he's silly enough for it, Pickles to me is a name for a cat that is over-the-top silly). I'm pretty picky about names, I obviously don't want names like Fuzzy or Cookie or something like that haha, and I'm not a big fan of human first names for animals.'


I also have a couple questions about his behavior. He seems to like me well enough, he is definitely more comfortable with me than with my boyfriend (I am home all day with him, boyfriend is at work most of the day). He asks me for attention and to play, he will climb into my lap to be pet and is comfortable being picked up and pet. He very clearly enjoys being pet and will actively seek me out to climb into my lap, he'll roll around and purr. But oftentimes, when I extend my hand to him, he sniffs it and backs away. He clearly doesn't like the smell of it, but I think he likes me? I'm just curious what this might be about, I don't think it's the hand soap I'm using, I've used multiple soaps over this time, unless he just doesn't like the smell of any soap at all but idk that seems a little strange haha.

Also, this might just be something that comes with time, but he is pretty scared of us walking around! He now has the run of the house while I'm there to supervise, but he runs back to his safe room when one of us walks by him. He has no problem approaching us if we're sitting on the ground with him, but when we're upright he's scared. I don't remember this happening with my other kittens, but I haven't had one in over 10 years now! Is this something he just has to learn to get used to?

Thank you guys so much for any help, I'll attach some pictures of the new boy to this thread! My favorite is the one of him crying on his scratching post on his first day home lmao
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verna davies

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Hi catheetiem catheetiem and kitty, welcome to the site, so glad you joined. Your kitten looks like a Murphy to me, a good Irish name. Cats sense of smell is extremely sensitive so try rubbing some catnip on your hands to attract him. Everything is new to him at the moment, new home, strange smells, people. He will settle in time, just be patient and he will settle. Thank you for taking him and giving him a forever home, he is adorable, I love his big ears. Let us know what name you choose and how he is getting on.
 
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catheetiem

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Hi catheetiem catheetiem and kitty, welcome to the site, so glad you joined. Your kitten looks like a Murphy to me, a good Irish name. Cats sense of smell is extremely sensitive so try rubbing some catnip on your hands to attract him. Everything is new to him at the moment, new home, strange smells, people. He will settle in time, just be patient and he will settle. Thank you for taking him and giving him a forever home, he is adorable, I love his big ears. Let us know what name you choose and how he is getting on.
Thanks so much! And oh my god, that's too funny, Murphy is the name my dad suggested! He said he's calling him that no matter what I name him haha. Well, another vote for Murphy!
And thanks for the advice! I think I was spoiled with my last cat, she adjusted in like literally a day and a half! It's good to have a reminder that she was really a special case haha. Thank you, and will do!
 

Norachan

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OMG he's gorgeous! He looks like he's going to be a typical ginger boy, full of energy and mischief.

I like Murphy too. Or sticking with the Irish sounding names how about O'Malley, after the ginger alley cat in the Disney movie?

I have a ginger cat called Fergus McGinger and a ginger and white called Toby Terror.

:redcat::redcat::redcat:
 
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catheetiem

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OMG he's gorgeous! He looks like he's going to be a typical ginger boy, full of energy and mischief.

I like Murphy too. Or sticking with the Irish sounding names how about O'Malley, after the ginger alley cat in the Disney movie?

I have a ginger cat called Fergus McGinger and a ginger and white called Toby Terror.

:redcat::redcat::redcat:
Thank you! And yes, as he's getting more and more comfortable I'm seeing a lot of both! He's a very funny guy! He loves running up to and pouncing on plastic bags-they slide on the wood floors and take him for a ride lol

And ohhhhh that makes so much more sense now! O'Malley was the name the shelter gave him, I didn't know it was from a movie!! I thought they just picked a random Irish name haha. My boyfriend threw "Dexter" out of left field and I'm not really hating it, but still undecided!! I'm hoping he'll show some more unique personality in the next couple days, so far it's just been playful kitten, which is great for playing, but not great for giving him his lifelong name!!

And hahaha I love Toby Terror!
 
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catheetiem

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Well there has been minimal progress on coming up with a name! My boyfriend has vetoed Murphy; he doesn't mind the name but doesn't like it for the kitten. I have vetoed his suggestion of McFly.

We've been going back and forth between Dexter and Quincy, let me guys know what you think of those! And I'll bring Rufus up to him, I kinda like it (although i'm sure it'll only be a day or two before we're calling him "Roofie" :flail:

He hasn't been too interested in our people food. We recently moved, so we've been eating at the coffee table while we get the dining room set up (but honestly, we will continue to eat at the coffee table, I'm trying to make us sound like normal adults, it's not true). He's just kinda played around during our dinner most nights. But last night, oh boy, he was DYING for our dinner! He was all over us, trying to get on the table, jumping on our laps, meowing and literally begging for some of our dinner (I picked him up and brought him to his dinner-he was not fooled). It was tortellini with italian sausage and spinach with marinara and wine sauce. So now my boyfriend wants to call him Sausage, which I don't mind too much either, but he's not Italian!!

I've attached some pictures cause who doesn't like kitten pictures? He's a total lap cat so far, hoping he stays this way! Got a nice one of him totally knocked out on my stomach last night :p
And his eyes are so gorgeous right now, I'm really curious what color they'll end up!

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catheetiem

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I like Quincy, Quin for short. Easy for him to get to know. He's gorgeous.
Thank you! I'm rooting for Quincy too, my boyfriend prefers Dexter. Actually, everyone I've spoken to prefers Quincy except for him! Trying to decide whether I should give him a win or stick to my name :p
 
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