My first pet as an adult, was a beautiful grey Tabby named BC. It had a couple meanings, but first it was a nod to archaeology as in BC for dating, like 68 BC.
BC's other names became "Big Cat", "Mr. C", and "Mr. Buddy".
My second cat was a brown Tabby named Bastet. Cats were a very important part of Egyptian culture and religion.
Bastet was a goddess in
ancient Egyptian religion, worshiped as early as the
2nd Dynasty (2890 BCE). As
Bast, she was the goddess of warfare in
Lower Egypt, the
Nile River delta region, before the unification of the cultures of ancient Egypt. Her name is also translated as
Baast,
Ubaste, and
Baset.
[1] In
Greek mythology, she is also known as
Ailuros (Greek for "cat", αἴλουρος).
Bastet was very cat-like - aloof and a little princess. Her main nickname was "Stetty".
Sophie was my first Whippet, who was black. Her main nickname was "Soph". Her full name was Dreams on the Sofa, that's how "Sophie" and "Soph" came about.
Next was Carmen, a blue Whippet. Her main nickname was "Carmie". There is a long story as to how she got the name "Carmen", but that is for another day...
Then came Cleopatra, a female black Tabby. Like Bastet, Cleopatra was borrowed from Egyptian history.
Cleopatra VII Philopator (
Greek: Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ; 69
[1] – August 12, 30 BC
[2]), known to history simply as
Cleopatra, was the last active ruler of the
Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, briefly survived as pharaoh by her son
Caesarion. After her reign, Egypt became a
province of the recently established
Roman Empire.
Her nicknames were "Clee", "Cleo", and "Kiki".
Next is my male orange Tabby originally named "Zinger". If you've ever seen the 80's movie Real Genius, there is a guy who mysteriously appears and disappears in a closet. His name in the movie is Lazlo Hollyfeld. Zinger does that, he just appears out of nowhere, so his real name is Lazlo. Occasionally he still goes by just "Zing".
Last but not least is my white female Whippet named Ochenta. Her coat has a very distinctive black number "8" on her left side, and a "0" on her right side. When seen from behind, it is a very obvious "80", and "Ochenta" is Spanish for eighty. Sometimes she goes by "Chentie", or just "80".
