Have you ever changed your pet's name?

Our cat had two or three names... if she was in the mood she answered to any of them just fine. If she was not in the mood to be bothered by humans she answered to none of them. Name him Koby Dobbie. Some call him Koby, some call him Dobbie and some call him That %&^% [HASH] fuzzbutt.

We got our first dog from the animal shelter at 6 months old. She came with the name "Mini." We didn't think the name fit her, so she became Padme. She took to get new name quickly.

Our old neighbour had a cat named Lexus. When she sold the house, Lexus kept coming back from her new home, so the new owner said she could live there and called her Maggie. She seemed to like that name. DD called her Lexus-Slash-Maggie.

My cat has had multiple names...mostly by my ex. I took him when he was a little over a year old and his name is Momo (Moe Moe). His name at the time of neutering was Uncle Leo. My ex has no recollection of naming him that, but the vet records say that was his name. Momo is about 9 now, and he answers to his name.

We adopted our dog from the shelter. He was named boomer which I loved but DH changed it to Gibson. He adjusted quickly.


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We share a cat with the neighbors.  They call him Cinnamon and we call him Bo.  He comes to both names.

We took our Shadow from a rescue family who had realized that they couldn't keep him.  They had named him Sheldon.

Our Frodo came to us with that name but when my friend adopted him some 10 years ago, his name was D.J.

Who knows what Tucker and Dixie's name was before.  We don't really know where they came from.  Same with my mom's dog Melvin.  He was also found roaming the streets.

They all adjusted to new names easily. 

When DHs brother died Ina car accident 25 years ago, we adopted his dog. She was a bull terrier named "Felony"
We changed her name to "Ellie"
She was the sweetest, biggest lapdog. Unfortunately, she had hip displaysia and had to be put down when she was only a few years old. :-(

She didn't mind her name change at all.

I say go for it! especially with a cat!

When I adopted Lacey, her shelter name was Mia, but she didn't really answer to it.  I understood she was surrendered to the shelter in NM and asked why they hadn't kept her original name, whatever it was, since they must have known it.  They explained to me that shelters always rename the pets (new life, new name).  She seemed like a Lacey to me, so that's her name now.

Also, when I first adopted Kayley, it took me a good couple of weeks to decide on her name.  The shelter she came from hadn't even given her a name.  In the meantime, I called her "Baby" and it took her only a few days before she started figuring out that was her name.  When I finally decided on Kayley, she soon figured out that was her name.  It was no big deal.  Each time it only took abut 3 days before she figured it out.

In other words, pets regularly get renamed and it's just fine. If he seems like a Dobbie, call him that.  If you use it every chance you get when you refer to him for a few days, he'll figure it out and be just fine.

Our dog's name was Timothy when we found him as a puppy at the shelter. We changed it to Buddy when we took him home.

Yes. Our first dog was found by our vet and they had given him a name we couldn't pronounce and we had a name already picked out for him. It started with the same letter, though.

With out second, he was found as well and they didn't know his name. The rescue named him Ben. We didn't think he looked like a Ben and had a name we wanted to use. So, we named him Nawiliwili (An area in Kauai), but left his middle name as Ben. At first, we called him Wili Ben while he got used to being called Wili. It took no time at all for him to respond to his new name. He also comes to many, MANY nicknames. LOL

Several times. Striker to Gino, Hail to Hank, Goose to Vinny. We would call them by both names at the same time "StikerGino" for a day or two then eliminate the old name. Quick adjustment.

4 of the 6 cats I have all had different names (I am assuming they had other names since they were strays, abondaned or left their previous homes) and all of them have the names we gave them that they respond to. I think they figure things out pretty quick! I also had a dog from the pound that was 6 when we got him who was called Scampy by his first family. Totally did not fit him as he was very dignified, handsome and polite, he accepted his name change in a matter of 24 hours.
If you don't like the name I would change it!

I have no personal experience, but I have a funny story relating to this. My grandma got a rescue cat that just happened to have exactly my daughter's name (the cat was a calico and was called Callie Anne.... which is exactly what I named my daughter (who is not a calico cat

Grandma thought the other great grandkids would get worked up if she had a cat named after one of them, so she decided to call the cat "Pam" (?)

Anyway, the cat got out about a week after she rescued her. She couldn't get the cat (who was now roaming the halls of the retirement home) back in, so she called my Aunt to come over and help her get the cat back in. Grandma said she kept calling for Pam and she wouldn't come. My Aunt started calling "Callie" and the cat came in and never left again.

They decided that she was revolting against the name change, so Grandma had a little conference with all the Grandkids telling them she didn't favor my daughter, but she was going to have to call her cat Callie. Nobody cared. My daughter (at age 8) was the youngest grandchild (and the ONLY Great Granddaughter)- everyone understood. Grandma died a few years ago and a cousin now takes care of Callie. Every time we see the cat, I make sure to call her Pam. I swear she bristles at me every time! Guess she wasn't a Pam.