Francine's Muses & Creations

On the Naming of Pets

When we get a new pet, I usually pick a name that starts with an 's'. I had a cat when I met John and I had named her Princess.  She was a stray and I coaxed her in. I didn't realize that she was old enough to come into heat and ended up with her and five kittens.  I was able to give away three of them and kept two that I named Shadow and Storm.  Princess was hit by a car when she was only 3 years old and that solidified the naming with 's'. 

As a child the first cat our family didn't lose to coyotes or cars was Sud-sa-Ming and the next one was Sak-da (both Siamese names "Ghost of a Tiger" and "Fierce in Battle")  

After Princess was killed,  we adopted Sarena (a half-Siamese) and an Illinois barn kitten named Seasar (I frequently change a soft C to an S to meet my superstitious naming routine.) 

Once we got a black kitten in Illinois that I named Merlin - he didn't even make it to a year old - he got into some blending filament I was using in embroidery and I didn't realize he was sick due to stressful times at work. I took him to the vet who operated (the filament had punctured his intestines all over.) He survived the operation only to die during the night. That taught me not to bring my work worries home at night (but didn't stop the stress.)

Then I found a cat that a little girl was trying to take to school (afternoon kindergarten.)  I put up signs but nobody called or anything so we had another cat.  She was long haired and black-and-white.  I named her Sugarfoot because she had white feet.  

Later, after we put Sarena down (at something like 16 or 17 years) we got two more cats at a PetSmart in Albuquerque.  We renamed them Shitani (a clan of African Demons) and Shiriki (Pawnee for coyote.) Shiriki lasted for 8 or 9 years but developed kidney failure and we had to put him down. But after we adopted Shiriki and Shitani, Sugarfoot was gone and we got another black-and-white cat. This cat had been returned to the shelter several months after her original adoption because the owners "we allergic".  Those people had named her Panda.  I immediately changed her name to Syche (Psyche - but the 'p' is silent so I just dropped it.)  Sometimes we call her Sycho - She and Shitani have a hate-hate relationship, or maybe I should call it a hate-ignore-avoid-hate relationship.  

Over the years we've had several dogs - John had Duchess, a Malamute-Shepherd cross (which he said made her a Malerd.) Then we had Keshond-shepherd mix we named Sassquash but called Sassy, followed by Mollie, one of my daughter's friends' dogs. Then we got Sisco (rescued with a sad background of her master dying, the master's son dying and a friend rescued but had 4-5 dogs of her own so she was giving the dog to a new home at the local Smith's. The mistress was in a nursing home and passed away the day or day after we adopted Sisco.) Sisco was a smooth-hair prick-eared border collie. Sisco developed cancer after being with us for 5 years or so.  We treated her for six months and she was declared cancer free. Then we went on a vacation for a week, came back and week later she was sick again - the cancer can come back with a vengeance so we had her put down.  

Then we got a golden retriever mix named Peaches - we officially changed her name to Sweet Peaches but call her Peaches. The only thing golden about her is her color.  She's about as crazy as they come but was very subdued when we met her at the Fetch-a-Palooza in Albuquerque.

Finally John found out about another dog with a sad story. (Master died 4 years previous, mistress had a stroke 4-6 months previous and moved to Santa Fe from TorC into an assisted living place that said she could have her dog but she felt she couldn't properly take care of her. Son took dog in but then had to move to Santa Fe to be near his mother but he had a wife, three children and another dog and they moved into a rental.)  The dog, named Daisy, broke house breaking and they needed to find a home for her. John asked if I was interested and I said we'd try her out for an afternoon.  We did and the following day we adopted her. We haven't changed her name and she has fit in beautifully.  She's a small standard poodle, black, and 8 years old. she took to me immediately - so much so that two weeks after we took her in when I went to California for two nights she developed vomiting and diarrhea.  Since we were going to be boarding all our pets in two days I called the vet and they prescribed canine immodium and probiotics.  That took care of the vomiting and diarrhea.  Now i can't leave for long or she starts getting worried again.  But that's okay. We love her and no trips are planned for the next 8-10 months.