An announcement of near earth-shattering proportions rocked the children’s book world recently: the discovery of an unpublished manuscript by Theodor Geisel, known to many a kid (and parent) as Dr. Seuss.
The book, due July 28, is titled What Pet Should I Get? I can't begin to imagine the types of pets that will romp through its pages, considering the strange creatures that populated Dr. Seuss' many published works -- including the Bombastic Aghast of Scrambled Eggs Super and the Zizzer-Zazzer-Zuzz of Dr. Seuss’s ABCs.
But I’d be willing to bet whatever pet you get might cause you to fret -– or at least have a discussion -- over what to name the new family member. Why not turn to the good doctor as a great source for pet names?
As a service to Catster readers -- and in honor of Theodore Geisel's birthday today (March 2) -- I took it upon myself to pick out a few names from Seuss’ books (with a little help from a list of Dr. Seuss characters on the Super Childrens Books site) that could be just the name for your next cat:
- Fredric Futzenfall (The Cat in the Hat Songbook)
- Gretchen von Schwinn (Oh Say Can You Say?)
- General Genghis Kan Schmitz (I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew)
- Miss Fuddle-dee-Duddle (On Beyond Zebra)
- Kitty O'Sullivan Krauss (Oh, the Thinks You Can Think!)
- Quincy Queek (The Tooth Book)
- Dr. Timpkins and Dr. Tompkins (You're Only Old Once)
- Gertrude McFuzz (Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories)
- Zooie Katzen-bein (I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today! And Other Stories)
For those who want more simple names, you could turn to the Fuddnudler brothers of Oh Say Can You Say, any one of which would make a perfect kitty moniker:
There are Bipper and Bud
And Skipper and Jipper
And Jeffrey and Jud,
Horatio, Horace and Hendrix and Hud,
And then come Dinwoodie and Dinty and Dud,
Also Fitzsimmon and Frederick and Fud,
And Slinkey and Stinkey and Stuart and Stud.
And, down at the bottom
Is poor little Lud.
But if Lud ever sneezes,
His name will be MUD.
Because it is often recommended to adopt kittens in pairs, there are many Seussian duos to consider:
- Sneedle and Spazzim or Nazzim of Bazzim (& Nutch) (On Beyond Zebra)
- Mike McCobb and Mr. Glotz (The Tooth Book)
- Dr. Timpkins and Dr. Tompkins (You're Only Old Once)
- Skrink and Skritz (I Had Trouble Getting to Solla Sollew)
- Gack and Gox (One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish)
- Fibbel, Flummox and Foon (If I Ran the Circus)
Some of us already have incredibly creative names or nicknames for our cats. My cousin and his wife named their kitties PJ Pocket and Tuppence Sinclair. A friend of mine fondly remembers Melvin Mittens Kitowski. And I know a certain Mr. Fuzzmeister McWhiskers who is known far and wide for his toilet-paper-unrolling hobby. And my cats? While their names are pretty tame, I will admit I have been known to refer to Calvin as Calvin Tiberius Katz.
Seussify your current cat's name
For those who don't already have fun names for their cats or would love a touch of Seuss in their homes, my poetic pussycats and I came up with a way to Seussify your kitty's name.
Replace the first letter of your pet’s first name with the fifth letter past it in the alphabet (skipping the vowels.) My cat Calvin’s first name begins with C. Five letters from C is H. So that makes Halvin. (If you get to the end of the alphabet -- if your cat's name begins with V and beyond -- continue to the beginning, counting on from A.)
If your cat is female, add “O',” and if he’s a mancat, add “Mc.”
Then add the name of your cat’s favorite toy of the moment, replacing the first letter of the toy with same letter you already used to start the first name.
Calvin likes crinkle paper today. So he becomes Halvin McHinklepaper.
If your cat’s name begins with a vowel, put the letter in front of her name. And if she already had multiple names, change out the first letter in each name. So my Elsa Clair (whose favorite toy of the day is a catnip banana) become Jelsa Jair O’Janana.
Do you know a cat with a Seussian name? Tell us in the comments, or tell us how you Seussifed your cat’s name.
And check out Dogster for how to Seussify your dog's name!
Read more about cats and names:
- 5 Names for the Common Kitty Position Known as "Cat Loaf"
- I Confess: I Change My Cats' Names All the Time -- Do You?
- How Many Names Does One Cat Need, Anyway?
About the author: Susan C. Willett is a writer, photographer, and blogger whose award-winning original stories, photography, poetry, and humor can be found at Life With Dogs and Cats. She lives in New Jersey with three dogs and four cats (all rescues) and at least a couple of humans -- all of whom provide inspiration for her work. Refusing to take sides in the interweb's dogs vs. cats debate, Susan enjoys observing the interspecies interaction among the varied inhabitants of her home -- like living in a reality TV show, only furrier. In addition to Life With Dogs and Cats, you can find more Lilah, Jasper, and Tucker (and the rest of the gang) on Haiku by Dog™, Haiku by Cat™, and Dogs and Cats Texting.