My wife had a little dog that got out in the road after a windstorm snapped a gate post. Sadly, she was hit by a car.
As I somehow always end up being the sucker that takes care of the pets, I wasn’t terribly keen on getting another animal. But Lois had her heart set on a Boxer, and well, you can easily guess the rest of that story…
After an overnight trek to Grants Pass through a snowstorm (it’s NEVER easy), we got the pup home, and Lois made the mistake of asking me what we should name it. After I once suggested we name a German Shephard Barfly,I’m surprised she was foolish enough to ask again.
I had two suggestions. Kitty, and Xena.
Xena was immediately vetoed.
But I found that the pup’s sire was named Mi-T something or other. So I was able to convince her to name it Ki-T (kitty).
We also have a Persian cat named Maddy.
And we had three grandchildren, ages 2 and 3 at the time. (now 3 and 4)
My intention was to confuse the grandkids with a dog named kitty. Especially since there was also a cat in the equation.
But I never anticipated the confusion it would also cause with the animals themselves. Maddy also thinks she’s a kitty, so when anyone calls kitty, Ki-T and Maddy both come running. They don’t care for each other much, so the simple act of calling kitty generally results in a spat.
I’m pretty damn proud of myself for that.
I think my pet naming rights have been permanently revoked.
And more… (added one week later)
We got the grandkids a stegosaurus for Christmas. It’s big enough for them to sit on, and it’s somewhat interactive. They can feed it leaves which it chomps, and then belches. It growls back when you growl at it, etc.
We didn’t get to see it assembled on Christmas, so when we went over for dinner at a later date, the kids were excited to show us their new pet.
After they demonstrated their new toy, Lois asked Tyler what they named it. He hesitated, so obviously they hadn’t.
After a moment his eyes lit up, he looked grandma square in the eyes and said, “Cat. His name is cat.”
I nearly pissed myself laughing.
My victory is complete!
