Pussy

Today

I can't believe it! Paul has committed us to the ownership of two new kittens! I feel sure that if the bootee had been on the other paw, so to speak, he'd have vetoed it on the grounds of the new level of responsibility etc etc. Not that I mind; I can't easily resist cats and would feel a bit bereft without one or two trundling around.

"Albinoni and Agnes", he proclaimed, incidentally also clarifying the fact that one will be male and one female.

In My Day

The naming of Barrett cats with initial letter "A" is one of those traditions that grew slowly to the point of being now considered by us to be mandatory.

My first cat (see Aug 02,2006 entry) was named by my flatmate with much the same sort of flourish that Paul gave today. "Ariadne!" she suddenly said while in the middle of doing something else. Ariadne gave birth to a litter of five kittens; we named them all from A-E.
Unfortunately they were not a healthy lot and all but one died before they were two weeks old. The remaining one happened to be named Algernon. Algernon was given to my sister and he lived to be fourteen years old.

Annalise, a delightful tabby-and-white with very good manners was named after the pretty four year-old daughter of a friend. Said friend also had kittens to get rid of so we acquired Ajax, a mackerel tabby named for his cocky masculine manner.

We had Alphonse very briefly just to find a him new home and Annabelle was a frightened mature tortoiseshell from the Cats' Protection, who couldn't deal with Annalise's playfulness.

Annalise and Ajax were lost while staying at a friend's house and we then got Amelia (see April 22 2008 entry).

Agamemnon came next - he was half Abyssinian and we searched for names beginning with A. Paul rebelled at the suggestion that he might have to call "ashur-banipal" out of the back door so we settled for the more acceptable but still Middle-Eastern alternative.

Amadeus was named for his musical mew - he was a very smart black-and-white - like the Felix Cat Food cat - and died early of a blood clot in his spine.

His half-sister came to us with no name and it was Lizzie who proclaimed that she be called Arietty. She died in 2005 and was quite the cutest cat I've ever owned.

Which leaves the current inheritor of the enviable A-list, Abby. I hope she copes with the newcomers.

I guess the number of available A-names will outlast us and any cats we may have.