Whether you’re newly adopting a pet that’s already got a name, or have decided the name you have for your cat just isn’t doing the trick, when it comes down to whether or not you can rename a cat, my answer personally is a resounding – yes!
In my opinion, it doesn’t matter if the cat is young or old, has had days of being called a previous name or has been called and even known a name as theirs for years or even over a decade – you can absolutely rename a cat, and I believe your cat should have no problem learning their new name either.
I say this with absolutely no hesitation because of my experience with quite a number of cats with a lot of different personality types over the years. Out of all the cats I’ve had under my care, or even had experience with in general, I don’t think one has had an issue with being called something besides their original name, and all of them have learned new names (because I just can’t help myself as far as nicknames go, if I’m honest).
I’d go so far as to say that it wouldn’t even take too long for a cat to learn their new name – as long as you go about it the right way. But I’ll touch on that a bit in my more drawn out explanation for why I think cats should have no problem with you giving them a new name at any age, even if the name is nothing like their old name.
Why Cats Can Definitely Be Renamed & Learn a New Name After Any Amount of Time & At Any Age
1. All of the cats I’ve taken in have learned my new names for them without problem, and quite quickly.
All of the cats I’ve had I’ve adopted from my garden. Well, not technically one garden, as one happened to find me when I was living in my home in Toronto, then when I moved to Portugal (the cat from Toronto is still with me here in Portugal by the way!), and all the other cats I’ve taken in or adopted out found us when we were living in our house in Portugal.
While 2 or maybe 3 of these cats likely were young and had no previous home, my guess is that at least 2 of the cats, one I took in, one I adopted out, were adult cats that had previous names that they either learned or did not, but of course because I had no idea who their previous owners were or what they used to call them.
These cats were very likely abandoned by their owners, and definitely were not well taken care of at all, so I felt a responsibility to take them in so I could handle their pretty drastic health issues.
All of them knew the names I called them as their own names before even a month or two had passed.
2. All of my cats respond to ridiculous nicknames I make for them, and there are many.
Out of all my cats, the one that I generated the most nicknames for is my lovely cat Athos. While sadly, he’s now passed away, when he first stumbled into my life in my garden, I did start off calling him by his name, Athos.
Then the months and years passed on, and I kid you not I cannot keep track of the number of crazy nicknames I’d come up with for this little dude.
He learned “Athos” was his name, then later that a string of random, really ridiculous nicknames that came over time.
Some (phonetically) that I can name off the top of my head: “Ah-soo-soo” “Ah-soo-sii,” “Ah-soo-sii-toots,” which later sometimes became “Ah-soo-sii-too-see-tootsie-roll” miscellaneous starting with “Ahh-soo-soo” or “Ah-soo-sii” and ending I felt fit at the moment, plus of course his regular name – “Athos” interspersed here and there.
He responded to all of them.
My cat Bjorn goes by “Bjorn” and “Bjornie.” My cat Avery goes by his real name as well as “puppy cat” (yes, he responds to that).
A cat I adopted out to my brother who I called Aramis I’d given the nicknames, “Mish” and “Mishu” to. Oh and “Sheepie.” Because she’s so stinkin’ fluffy and white that I just think that nickname suits her. She also responds to her name plus all nicknames.
My brother’s cat Kalista, who he brought with him from Canada, I’ve also given a nickname to. I often drop the entire first syllable of and call “Lista” – which she also responds to as well as her name. Why not Kali? It just doesn’t really suit her.
The nicknames rabbit hole – for me – is endless. But it’s not ever been a problem.
Cats understand that you are talking to them first, and when they hear something over enough they associate that with your bid to give them attention or affection or play or food or whatever else happy thing you’re after giving them in the moment.
Then when you use it to scold them they understand by the tone that that was a comment about them being naughty by your tone and the context (oh yes, they do know when they’re not supposed to be doing something.
3. At least 2 of the cats I gave names to were many years old. One I’m guessing was over 10 when we found him.
Athos is the one I think was the oldest. He passed away 3-4 years after we brought him into our home, and my guess now is that he was over 10 when he found him. He had no problems learning his plethora of new names.
My guess is that Aramis is the second oldest at the point where we adopted her in. And again, she has had zero problems learning her new name and the new nicknames I developed for her.
And I’ll take you one farther, because for a fact I know…
4. My cats know each other’s names, and each other’s nicknames as well.
How do I know? Well for some reason, silly little kitty cats that are independent and headstrong won’t often come if I call them by name. They don’t wanna do something, they won’t be doing something.
But one surefire way to guarantee a cat will come in my household is if I call another cat. Because the FOMO sets in and they be like “WTF U FEEDING THEM?? U PETTING THEM??? U GONNA GIVE THEM CUDDLES AND NOT ME?” and then even if I was literally ignored a second ago when I repeatedly called over, “Bjorn,” he hears me switch gears and call “Avery” and he’s bouncing over to investigate what opportunity he missed.
If I’m just calling Avery, he won’t respond, but if he thinks I’m about to hand over the happy goods to Avery because he just passed up on my offer – it’s another story entirely.
I think a lot of the reason people believe cats don’t know their own names is because they don’t respond to them. But they often don’t respond when they know their names cause they’re happy where they are, doing what they’re doing, so if you give them something they love – play, cuddles, kibble – often enough after responding to their own name, and call them it often enough, they are not dumb at all, they get the picture.
Should You Rename a Cat?
In my opinion – when it comes down to whether you should rename a cat – my answer is always “why not!” If you don’t like their name at all and want to have it legally changed at the vets, go for it. If you want to give a plethora of nicknames because you don’t like calling your cat by their “full” or “real” name – go for it. Whatever way you want, it’s totally fine and your cat I’m very confident will catch on.
Your Turn: Thoughts on Renaming Cats?
What do you think about renaming cats? Do you feel like you’d hesitate to do it? Have you ever done it yourself?
Do you think all cats can learn new names, or some can’t depending on personality or age?
Have any stories on this topic you can share with me?
Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section down below!
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