My cats do that too. I think it’s more like “now, remember, we’re friends, right? This isn’t going to be a real fight, this will just be a play fight, because I’m not mad at you, see, because I’m grooming you, remember?” Then the licking turns to biting turns to rassling turns to chasing each other madly from one end of the apartment to the other, with occasional breaks for more licking. The kitty version of the play bow. You know it’s all in play when there’s no vocalization, just silence broken by the occasional thumping of their hard little heads on the floor.

It’s an interesting fact that fewer than 17 % of Real cats end their lives with the same name they started with. Much family effort goes into selecting one at the start (“She looks like a Winnifred to me”), and the as the years roll by it suddenly finds itself being called Meepo or Ratbag.

– (Terry Pratchett, The Unadulterated Cat)

Theo, no, not really. Spot sounds quite normal It even has a meaning in Czech although it is a loanword (e.g. TV spot)

And yet, normal Czech names sound so *exotic* to my American-English ears.

Does “Spot” sound exotic to Czech ears?

Believe me, the names are really pretty normal. In Czech. They are

My cats do this at least three times a day. Lick, lick, love, swat, hit, hit, lick. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Awww. Mine do that too, but I’ve never managed to catch it on film. Excellent picture-taking, Lentilki.

Pheas, OMG!!! I now know what my cats should have been named. See I’ve thought for a long time that my cats emit some kind of sleep ray, because I can hardly stay awake if they come and lie on me. So clearly Valium would have been a good name. Or Pentobarbital. Or for the more classically minded, Hypnos (the god of sleep).

I love the names. My cats have food names. “Gravy.” “Snack.”

But essential-state-of-mind-abstractions are SOO much better.

I’m going to name the next one “Ennui.”

I think that food names for cats are the best. I have a large orange Manx kitty whom I call” The Cream Puff. I’ve always wanted to name a cat Burgers or Buffet, too. That’s funny.

just like my babies at home!

Total Fatal Attraction. If I can’t lick you no one can!!!!!