Animals and Nicknames

If you've ever had a pet, you've likely named the pet and it's then ended up with one or more nick-names.

Our first pet as kids, a teddy bear hamster we received for Christmas and promptly christened Nikki, never actually received a nick-name, but all the other pets I've had since then have received at least one.

Buddy, who we got the Christmas after Nikki died, had several: Budweiser, Budster, Bud.

PV, the lovely Norweigian Forest cat I got as an adult, as "my" first pet: her name actually came from a term from Amway (which Maxx and I were involved with at the time), product volume; however, she became known as Princess Vicious, and Princess.

Shep, our wonderful black lab/border collie/husky mixed breed, who was picked out from an animal shelter for me by Maxx and his mother: he was very shy at first as he'd been beaten and abused, so he quickly got nick named Boo, then we added BooBoo, Shep-a-roo, Sheppy or Sheppy-Shep-Shep (mostly me, not Maxx, for the latter names).

Merry and Pippin, our pair of black and white cats, likely Maine Coone or a cross: they received nick names right at first, as they were actually named after Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took from the Lord of the Rings (and yes, this was long before the movie came out, back in 1997, as we are both Tolkien fans).  Merry then had Mer-Mer, Muffin, Muffin Man added, and Pippin gets called Pippy-Lip, Pip-Pip.  Together, we called them "The Meepers".

Jinx, who adopted us after being tossed out a window, another black and white cat who looks as though he could be Merry and Pippin's love child if same-sex couples could reproduce: I originally wanted to name him Motorboat but got vetoed.  Jinx gets called Jinky, Jinky Wink, Winky, Winkers, and Jinxie.

Trouble, our black cat who was left in our car by her dying feral mother cat when she was just a week kitten: full name is actually Car Trouble; she gets called Trub, Trub-Trub, and Troublesome.

DJ, our little silver tabby, who was a member of a litter left locked in a shed in a cardboard box at three weeks of age -- without their mother -- left to die as the family which owned the mother cat went on vacation.  All were rescued, and DJ adopted Maxx when he was over at the home of the friend who rescued the family of kittens.  DJ actually stands for her full name, Duchess Justine; we often call her Deej, Baby Girl, Tiny, and Squeeks (she has a tiny wee cry).

Angel, my lovely little maltese-poodle mix (so named because she was born on the day Shep passed on, and when I first met her was coloured just the same except for the tip of her tail, which was white): she gets called Angelkin, Kinny-Kin, Kinny, Kin-Kin, and Angelicious.

Hobgoblin, who we rescued from the SPCA down in Victoria: when we originally picked him up, he was named BeeBee at the time, which got changed to Hobgoblin almost immediately (partly because Maxx calls Angel our "Nose Goblin" since she loves kissing inside noses): he gets called Hobs, usually, or Hob-a-loo, Hobson, or Hobby.

When I had my little Lady Gouldian Finch, his full name was Rainbow, but I called him Beau.  My two remaining parakeets are named Buttercup (yellow one), and Summer (white with bits of blue and yellow), but they actually don't have nick-names ... at least not yet!