TBT: A couple weeks ago, I mentioned changing"Loki" to "Taz" and there were a few questions about that which I meant to answer sooner.
When I got him from the shelter last November, they had named him "Pumpkin", which I couldn't live with. But imagination failed me, so I found a list of cat-names online. I didn't want a color or seasonal oriented name. Human-type names have never appealed to me. Personality-type names were a possibility, but I didn't see any I especially liked.
There was a group of mythological names and I like mythology. But most seemed more like dog names or very powerful names or female goddess names. And he was not particularly strong or brilliant. So, not "Thor' or "Hercules" or "Apollo". And nothing long like "Prometheus". But I saw "Loki" and that appealed to me. So I settled on that. And I mean "settled" (as in not what I really wanted but was "OK").
While "Loki" fit his personality (destructive, food-thief, trouble-maker), the name never seemed quite right. I found the name uncomfortable to say both in the house and while calling him in from outside.
So I decided to change it. First, I tried non-names that would make a connection to Binq (since they arrived together. None felt right (Dinq, Pinq, Zinq, Winq?). And I was often accidentally calling him "Laz", which brought up sad memories.
So one afternoon, I was sitting around watching him run around like crazy. And I thought "Taz".
And here is where 2 comments afterwards come in. . Yes "Taz" is partly for "Laz" in honor of a cat I loved but who couldn't manage life successfully any more. And yes, it is partly for "Tazmanian Devil" (from the Warner Brothers cartoons). And partly because it is short and also has no meaning to neighbors when I call him in from outside.
I still say "Loki" sometimes, but am getting better with remembering "Taz" most of the time. Not that he seems to care what I call him. "Name" seems to be a concept beyond his understanding anyway, LOL!
