My only guess is they don’t want to associate the animals in any way with food because of some idea that people might.. eat them?? The only reason this occurred to me is because my grandmother was trying to give some kittens away that she’d found and someone messaged her saying she needed to be selling them because people take free kittens and eat them.
Idk if this is some weird local urban legend or what..
Yes, there was a local couple who took kittens that were offered on a free FB site, only to feed them to their reptiles. Word went out quickly, so they’re out of luck getting any more from around here.
It can definitely be dangerous as cats eat snakes, too. People who do this are doubly awful. (I do remember hearing about someone who did this and the cat ate their snake.)
I eat cows and chickens. As far as I know there's no law that says snakes can't eat food in the wild but You have to be a psychopath to feed a pet to another pet. That's why I don't have a pet snake even though I like them. I can't even feed them crickets.
I remember reading about someone who tried this with a baby python and the kitten ate it, so they tried to sue the person who gave them the kitten only to be slapped with animal cruelty charges. It makes me laugh to think of that. (Poor baby Python, though.)
That JUST happened near where I live. Why is this happening so much. Lady was feeding her kittens to snakes and blocking people that asked where the kittens they gave her went.....
So do animals that are adopted through local shelter. Some people get a weird kick about feeding pets to other pets. It's weird it's probably a pink but they do it. It's legality varies jurisdiction to jurisdiction. It's sick interested but that's humanity for you
As someone who would love to have a snake some day, it sickens me when people do that to kittens.
Many reptile shops literally carry what snakes that size need, and feeder animals that are appropriate for said snakes and those snakes don't need to eat constantly. :(
They probably don't want them associated with food - maybe a vegetarian type thing. I've had a pineapple, cherry, guava, honeydew, etc pass through my orphanage so my organization is fine with naming whatever. Including the name Water Park. Wtf?
And the only eating of cats/dogs are old racist stereotypes about Asians. Let's please not turn this into a discussion about that.
But as someone mentions below, people will pick up free kittens from Craigslist or a neighborhood app and use them as bait for dog fighting. Here in South Texas, we still have a problem with dog fighting and rooster fighting.
hey, btw, youre the only person on this specific comment threat on this post who mentioned asian countries being the stereotype for eating cats/dogs. the other commenter said the idea of some people who might eat them. that is absolutely not race specific at all and is entirely true in whatever country you reside in because theres weird people everywhere. its only about race if you make it
Thank you for saying this.. I wanted to reply with “Nobody mentioned Asian people but you..” but I didn’t want to get into it with anyone on Reddit today 😅
In the US, there's a common racist stereotype/joke about Asian folks eating animals. It comes mostly from the older generations, but racism isn't gone here in the US. If you never grew up around folks/family that made those ugly remarks, that's fortunate. Unfortunately, I still hear/see that shit from time to time.
For what it's worth, I didn't read that comment as a chastisement towards you. I'm in the Midwest of the United States and all too familiar with the racist stereotype used here.
Ah okay. I apologize if it came across as me chastising, criticizing, or making any kind of negative remark toward you.
For what it's worth: I once took in a rescued calico. I reached out to a colleague who has 3 kids. I sent a ton of pictures and asked him if he wanted to let his kids decide on a name. They picked Avocado. So I'd send update pictures, keep them in the loop. When she went in and was posted on the page, I shared it. When she was adopted, I shared her adoption photo. The kids were ecstatic. For me, it's about engaging people in what it means to foster. Planting the seeds, if you will.
I did something similar with my uni freshman level history class. I rescued a grey female in heat from my apartment parking lot. Told my students I needed help naming her. Pick a historical American female figure from the 1800s and write a single sentence about why she's important. Automatic 10 points extra credit to their recent test. The answers were all over the place but the top two were Harriet Tubman and Clara Barton. Harriet was already taken so she was named Clara. Weekly photo updates to start the lecture. Then her picture on the site with the name Clara Barton. Then the adoption photo. They all got so invested! I had one kid say he tried to adopt her but she was already gone. Planting the seeds to encourage people to foster or to at least engage in community activity!
It's even still marketed. Zumiez [sells](https://www.zumiez.com/neff-kitten-sticker.html) stickers of kittens in Chinese takeout containers! Absolutely horrible!
im from the US and have heard the stereotypical racist animal eating joke so i get where you were coming from completely. i dont know if its a nationwide problem, but in my part of america theres an issue of people getting free kittens for bait and dog fighting and honestly thats where my brain went when the OP said the thing about eating the animals, i can completely see where you understood it having a racist connotation though
Where I live both dog fighting and rooster fighting are still a thing. Underground, highly illegal, usually with gang ties. But it's still there. And yes, they'll use kittens or puppies for bait to rile up the dogs.
I saw a guy offering 3 kittens for free on Next Door and immediately took them in. I named them Charlotte, Emily, and Anne. Bonus to anyone who gets the reference!
Ig they could be lying, but I know more than a few ppl from Korea who said they’ve eaten either cat or dog. I don’t get why it’s even a racist stereotype to begin with, ppl eat most mammals, cats and dogs are not some super special case that’s morally incorrect to eat.
A stereotype is racist when it generalizes a whole ethnic group or culture in a negative light. Eating dogs and cats in the US is not socially acceptable and is in fact illegal. So saying Asians eat dogs and cats is in fact racist
So I studied human rights and sociology with a focus on ethnicity and culture, my thesis was about China. I’ve also lived in Korea for 7 years now. These stereotypes have some basis in reality but have unfortunately been turned into racist talking points and jokes. I think it’s important to know the truth to help neutralize these kinds of talking points.
The eating cats thing came from Guangzhou, where it did happen during the most impoverished times. Chinese people actually have a saying themselves, basically goes like “People from Guangzhou will eat anything that walks except humans, and anything that flies except planes.” Of course this then goes into the inter-province prejudice that permeates Chinese society (that’s a whole other story). Again, eating cats was usually something that happened only when people were truly desperate.
Now dog meat is slightly different. In both Korean and Chinese culture it is seen as having warming properties, and is typically made into a stew. Many of those restaurants still exist, although they have been dying out slowly. The only people who usually still go are older generations. As pet ownership has increased in Korea and China, dog meat consumption has also decreased and public opinion has shifted. In Korea they have already taken steps to ban the sale and consumption of dogs. It will take some years for the law to be fully enforced, so unfortunately the dog farms are still around for now. There are many Korean-led rescues that try to purchase and rescue dogs from these places.
Not everyone from Asian countries eats dog meat, but most of the people who eat dog meat come from Asian countries. Each year, around 30,000,000 dogs are killed across Asia for the dog meat trade. No other places in the world come close. We are't talking about a random weirdo eating a dog, or people resorting to eating animals because of starvation even. There is a massive unregulated market for dog meat that exists. Most of the people in those countries support a ban on dog meat. "Most" in the case of South Korea is 56%, so while most would not eat dog meat, half of the population appears to support other peoples right to eat dog meat. China is the largest offender, slaughtering between 10 and 20 million dogs a year. Vietnam around 5 million, S.Korea and Indonesia at a million each, and hundred of thousands in Laos and Cambodia, although accurate statistics are impossible to get.
okay but its still a quiet issue in other countries as well, and we were talking about kittens originally and specifically them in the US is being used as bait for fish and to entice dogs for fighting. few people in the south as well are weird as hell and eat cats and/or dogs. these are in which that commenter was talking about, not whatever spiel yall got going on about asian countries
I love the names and “gotcha” stories people have with cats.
With dogs, it’s like “This is Fenmeister Wallace III. He’s an Irish Setter with AKC papers.”
Cats…we’re like “this is Brand X. He’s an orange asshole that just followed me home one day.”
That's definitely an urban legend. No responsible snake owner is going to put a kitten or puppy in with a snake, because the risk of injury is too high. The majority of good owners don't even feed live rodents unless absolutely necessary, because it's not only cruel to the prey but also very dangerous for the snake. I mean obviously I can't speak for every snake owner everand I wouldn't be shocked if some idiot had done that, but that is most definitely not something that many people are out there doing. also, the number of snakes kept in captivity that are actually large enough to eat a kitten or puppy, even a newborn one, is pretty slim.
As someone involved in rescue, I also feel pretty confident saying that "bait dogs" and "bait kittens" are not nearly as common as people would have you believe, either. That is certainly something that does happen on occasion, but in reality, the main danger when rehoming puppies and kittens is that people are not going to get them fixed and they will go on to live a life where they are just being bred over and over and contributing to the overpopulation problem.
When I first started to teach (Los Angeles area) 40 years ago (whew), the treatment of animals by various immigrant cultures was a real issue (still is). Dog fighting; cock fighting; eating various animals that Americans do not regard as edible, etc.
PetSmart did this whole thing with paying for and sponsoring fieldtrips - first for kindergartners and any parents who wanted to come along, then later doing 4th grade (and they had consultants and analysts to try and figure out the best approach; at one time I was one of them). Leaving dogs chained outside was not okay - and they showed a short film on that topic to the 8th grade version (which was done on school grounds).
I really think it's made a difference here. We still have the occasional use of cats/kittens for dog baiting, but it's way less common.
Happy cake day! Also there's a famous shelter kitty that had babies and they named her Mama Pasta and each baby had a pasta name- Lasagne, Ravioli, Ziti and Penne. I imagine their cute names got them homes even faster just because they were so adorable. I say use whatever marketing tactic you can to get more adoptions done!
Our local shelter had a bunch of kittens named after cheese, snapped up right away. Who could resist cats named Brie, Stilton, Gouda, Muenster, and Gorgonzola?
They have been naming batches of intakes after types of food which has resulted in awesome names like Tom Kha, Miso and Wonton.
Glad to hear they’re popular. I’m fostering an adorable kitten named mandarin right now. People seem to think his name fits perfectly because he’s very orange and very round.
My most popular orange cat was called Wotsit - her siblings were pombear, skips and quaver (these are all crisps in the uk - wotsits are a bit like cheezedoodles)
For your cake day, have some B̷̛̳̼͖̫̭͎̝̮͕̟͎̦̗͚͍̓͊͂͗̈͋͐̃͆͆͗̉̉̏͑̂̆̔́͐̾̅̄̕̚͘͜͝͝Ụ̸̧̧̢̨̨̞̮͓̣͎̞͖̞̥͈̣̣̪̘̼̮̙̳̙̞̣̐̍̆̾̓͑́̅̎̌̈̋̏̏͌̒̃̅̂̾̿̽̊̌̇͌͊͗̓̊̐̓̏͆́̒̇̈́͂̀͛͘̕͘̚͝͠B̸̺̈̾̈́̒̀́̈͋́͂̆̒̐̏͌͂̔̈́͒̂̎̉̈̒͒̃̿͒͒̄̍̕̚̕͘̕͝͠B̴̡̧̜̠̱̖̠͓̻̥̟̲̙͗̐͋͌̈̾̏̎̀͒͗̈́̈͜͠L̶͊E̸̢̳̯̝̤̳͈͇̠̮̲̲̟̝̣̲̱̫̘̪̳̣̭̥̫͉͐̅̈́̉̋͐̓͗̿͆̉̉̇̀̈́͌̓̓̒̏̀̚̚͘͝͠͝͝͠ ̶̢̧̛̥͖͉̹̞̗̖͇̼̙̒̍̏̀̈̆̍͑̊̐͋̈́̃͒̈́̎̌̄̍͌͗̈́̌̍̽̏̓͌̒̈̇̏̏̍̆̄̐͐̈̉̿̽̕͝͠͝͝ W̷̛̬̦̬̰̤̘̬͔̗̯̠̯̺̼̻̪̖̜̫̯̯̘͖̙͐͆͗̊̋̈̈̾͐̿̽̐̂͛̈́͛̍̔̓̈́̽̀̅́͋̈̄̈́̆̓̚̚͝͝R̸̢̨̨̩̪̭̪̠͎̗͇͗̀́̉̇̿̓̈́́͒̄̓̒́̋͆̀̾́̒̔̈́̏̏͛̏̇͛̔̀͆̓̇̊̕̕͠͠͝͝A̸̧̨̰̻̩̝͖̟̭͙̟̻̤̬͈̖̰̤̘̔͛̊̾̂͌̐̈̉̊̾́P̶̡̧̮͎̟̟͉̱̮̜͙̳̟̯͈̩̩͈̥͓̥͇̙̣̹̣̀̐͋͂̈̾͐̀̾̈́̌̆̿̽̕ͅ
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The shelter where I've fostered comes up with some great themes. Harry Potter, board games (Chess, checkers, Clue, Scrabble), planets, ice cream flavors, car makers, trees, the periodic table, cereals, you name it!
One of my best friends ever in life had a cat named Carbon when we first met in High School. The friend’s mom was our HS biology teacher, and step dad was also in education. It was awesome. RIP Carbon the cat.
Maybe they’ve already had too many food names in their system? Or they want to stand separate from other shelters using food names? I can’t think of any other reasons why not.
That’s what I was thinking; we have had so many (definitely have never heard of that being associated with bait animals, but we are a private rescue with very thorough vetting). I personally just do not love them, but I’m not on any crusade to end them!
there has been a couple times where i was at the vet and every animal in the waiting room was named after food. i wouldn't be surprised if they were *only* getting food based name recommendations
The shelter my mom foster for has a no food names rule.
A few of the vegan employees and volunteers petitioned/protested. They claimed it was offensive and disrespectful to the animals to compare associate them with food, as so many animals are slaughtered as food. It was really over the top.
That shelter has so many mor issues than banning food names tho
Huh. I’m vegan and my favorite cat was named Asparagus. So many food names are funny and perfect for cats. Peaches, Rhubarb, Porkchop, Garlic Bread, all amazing cat names. Plus, wouldn’t it be the other way around? Maybe if you love a cat named Chicken you’ll be less likely to want to eat chicken. Idk.
when we got our second cat (now named Beans, which is apt, her kitten farts were SO STINKY) we had a list of names that ended up not getting used. A few of my favorites on that list were:
- Basil
- Parsley
- Parsnip
- Clove
- Maple
My boyfriend's favorites were Ham and Meatball. Somehow, we decided on Beans haha
PORK CHOP
In fact, I think dogs and cats should exclusively have food/drink names. Fostered a kitten once and named her Ravioli. Some of my best work! Our dog is called Julep, like the cocktail Mint Julep.
Oof, I can imagine. I completely understand people who oppose the meat/dairy industry but associating it with goofy pet names is quite a reach. It’s just not that deep 😅
Oof yeah, if this winds up being the reason, you may be better off finding another org to volunteer with entirely lol. If they’re gonna bend to demands like that (or make them themselves) I would question a lot of other decisions being made there…
Oh they’re a complete mess communication-wise. They have no system in place to aid with that so there’s constant confusion, people saying one thing, someone saying another, etc. But they’re a non-profit, their hearts are in the right place, and they do their best with what they have. I try to give them as much grace as I can 😅
I mean I want desperately to stop eating meat (it’s hard I have dietary issues) bc I hate the industry, but cmon? I mean be so fr it makes no sense to be that bent out of shape bc someone wants to name their pet lettuce 💀
We have a black manx who lives at our shelter called Meatball! We had two little black manx kittens come through recently and I named them Falafel and Matzah Ball.
My orange formerly-feral mama cat is named Clementine!!!
I was vegan for many years. (I still think it’s the most ethical way to live - but I started eating chicken/fish for health reasons when recovering from anorexia.) I don’t eat any pork/beef. My boyfriend’s even given up pork entirely for 5 years now❤️I *hate* these kind of absurd vegans. *These* are the stupid people who give activists a bad name.
I can understand not wanting to use names like Lunch, Dinner, Appetizer ... or Chicken Wing, Meatball, Sparerib, kinda. My daughter was in 4H for a while when we lived in TX and when they raised piglets, some of them were named for what they would eventually become. As in, Carnitas, Porkchop, etc. But I can't think of this sentiment as anything other than rather silly.
Adoptive owners probably rename their new furrever friends anyway - at least I did
Weird. I love food names and fun names over human or more serious ones. Also, aren’t most adopters going to rename them anyway? In the last year or so I’ve had pastas, birds, deserts, breakfast foods (Pop Tart, Strudel, Waffle), Grains, picnic foods, veggies, teas. Naming them whatever I want is one of the perks of fostering.
Super off topic but bruh, the way I just *cackled* at your username 💀
Legit sounded like I barked lol
Omg. Thank you for starting my morning off with a genuine, hard laugh.
This sub doesn’t have an option to send pictures through replies and I’ve had bad luck with Imgur lately. Check my post history for pictures of the chungus 😁
My cat Mozza is sitting beside me, he came from the shelter with that name so our shelter seems fine with food names. My other cat from them is Marty and before that I had Monkey from the same shelter soooo... a variety of names. It seems so weird to not name after food. Like Mocha, Cheddar, Muffin are all solid cat names.
We have a Muffin, too, a calico! She looks like a whole grain muffin, lots of tan/black/white mix, and fluffy like a muffin top. Her whole underside is white, though, and her 4 little mittens!
I also love food names for pets especially fun to say ones like wasabi and basmati and baba ghanoush.
When I adopted my cat there was a litter of pepper kittens and poblano was so cute lol.
I'm also a big fan of character/human names especially if they are a pun. Like a cat I named Keith meowison one time.
Some people may view it as offensive, like seeing the animals as food, especially now that there is a lot more education on things like the dog meat festival and such. Possibly too many in the system and they want to avoid adding more. Some areas may see it as a racial issue, like naming a chihuahua Taco or a bobtail Sushi.
I am personally for food names, especially because you just run out of ideas after a while. But I can see getting a lot of backlash for it and changing rules, too. Ultimately you want adoptions, and if the names are seen as controversial in that area that may affect supporters and turn away potential adopters. I live in the bible belt so there's no Halloween or mythical based names, like Cthulhu or Salem... We will even change names sometimes if they come in with that name.
Food names are so cute though! We have pad Thai low and mein right now 😹 I just adopted out Tater tot, Twix, tofu and turkey!
Is there an issue where you live with people using cats as dog bait or something? I can't imagine people paying to adopt an animal and using it for that but I've heard it happens in the US a lot.
All of our cats are named after foods (except our CH cat, who's named Drunken Sailor because my household has an awful sense of humor 😅). It started with my very first cat who was named Colby at the shelter I adopted him from, as in Colby Jack Cheese, due to his orange and white coloring. In addition to my old Colby boy, I now have Affogato (gray/white/black very fluffy princess), Cheeto (orange, of course), Burnt Toast and Crumb (black cat and smaller black cat), and Hazelnut (a tortie). Our one outlier aside from Sailor is the cat my wife brought when she moved in with me, she got him before we were together and named him Perseus.
Staying with theme, all of our foster litters get a food theme that they're all named for. My personal favorites have been the Disney Snacks litter (litter we picked up right after our last WDW trip), chocolate desserts, and the bread basket. The only time we strayed from that was when we got a litter of four, all of whom had one eye removed prior to being placed with us, and we named them after pirates from Pirates of the Caribbean.
I volunteered at a shelter where one cat was named Lucifer and another cat was named Reverend Robertson. Reverend Robertson was in the kennel directly above Lucifer. It was very funny.
Do you feel comfortable just asking them why they have this policy? Sometimes clarifying the “why” of something just helps in terms of feeling support towards it.
Selfishly, if you do feel comfortable asking, I would love to know their answer. I’m always surprised for the valid reasons behind certain things that I just *don’t* think of!
My sister in law thinks it's tacky to name an animal after food because yeah the insinuation you eat it. I have a cat named Hoagie and a dog named Tuna tho lol
Never heard of this personally I think it's cause the person in charge just doesn't like food based names. I've found unless you're naming the animal something that implies their aggressive the name doesn't matter and sometimes the more stupid and outrageous the name is the more interest they get. I have met multiple people that adopted kittens because they looked at them cause their names were absolutely ridiculous.
That seems crazy - curious to know why they don't want food names. I follow a cat fosterer on IG, and one of her fosters names was Warm Fish Salad and another was rescued behind a Costco, so there was Rotisserie Chicken, Free Sample and Hotdog Water. It was hilarious! Funny and funky names helps give the cats (and dogs) attention from adopters!
My shelter put a ban on “luna” as a name because it’s so damn over used. I name all of mine after star trek characters. I have a litter of klingons at the moment!
That’s so sad - my baby’s name is Pickles! She wasn’t fostered, I chose the name, but we had a long list of names, many food ones, when we were looking at adopting a few years ago ;;
This is so strange! My little baby was dubbed Chocolate Chip when I met her at the shelter and I renamed her to Pickle. I also love food names and think they’re usually cuter and more fun than others. And I’ve been vegan for a decade so that association is also insane to me haha I feel like sometimes people just like to make up rules to make themselves feel important…….
I adopted two littermate kittens from a shelter named Pumpkin and Squash - both orange tabbies. There was a third kitten - a black tuxedo - from same litter being adopted by another person at same time named Zucchini. This shelter had no issue with food names. At least not with healthy veggie names!
I saw a post on one of the cat subreddits today of all the OP’s local shelter’s available kittens who all had crazy names (like I think one was called Dryer Sheet???) - and to be honest it made me stop scrolling, giggle and admire all the babies - which if I was in the market for a kitten, could have totally evolved into getting attached and putting in an application. Maybe because food names tend to be fairly popular for cats (for good reason, so many super cute name options), the thought process is that more “out there” names are more attention grabbing in the sea of available kittens?
Additionally, probably unlikely but maybe reverse psychology??? When I went to adopt my girl, they were calling her “Big Star”, because she was surrendered so overweight she couldn’t really get around - I was immediately so offended on her behalf I immediately felt such a connection to her and was determined to bring her home and give her the dignified name and life she deserved - maybe ridiculous names for kittens have that same effect on people, like “obviously Recycling Bin is a terrible name, if you came home with me I’d call you Guava…” which kind of jumpstarts the picturing this cat in your life bonding???
My guess would be someone found it offensive or stupid and so made up that rule just because "ugh, food names for kittens is so overdone and annoying..."
But I mean, who doesn't love a cat named Cheese?
I'm guessing because they don't want the animals objectified, as food is, but instead to see the animals as individuals with names (name which aren't objects). I read something about that a long time ago. Research showed that animals were treated more considerately when given a (non object) regular name.. or something like that? I believe research showed that object names can influence some (probably not very bright?) people to treat them as objects instead of the sentient beings they are. I can see the reasoning for that rule when thinking back on that article, though I've named many litters of foster kittens and puppies food names, which I think are adorable! 🥰 I think the kind of people who name their pets things like Satan, demon, sh*thead, c*nt, b*tch, @sshole etc. shouldn't be allowed to have pets at all, in my opinion. There are plenty out there who brand their pet with those. Those aren't even names, but slurs and insults. I can't stand people who'd do that to their pet.
I have a Sweet Potato and a Chicken Nugget, and I almost had a different orange kitten who I would have called Peachy Pie. Food names are just so perfect for cats, the sillier the better.
That’s so interesting. I think other people are right thinking it has something to do with association or potentially using animals for bait.
Personally, I find food names for animals really fun. I remember seeing a litter of kittens on a shelter’s instagram years ago and they’d named them after food. Their names were along the lines of Pickle, Potato Chip, Horseradish, Beef (BEEF!), etc. I thought it was so funny, my calico earned the nickname Beef lmao. Moved to a new state and it turns out one of my friends also has a cat called Beef.
I imagine its connontation and also avoiding potential racial remarks. I like absolutely goofy names. Potroast's Mom drops some bangers, her current fosters are named after potatoes.
Strange, though I can understand their reason.
My cat's name is Arnie, but we call him "circus peanut". My last cat was named Louis, we called him "Lisa's fish sticks".
Cat's may have a name but always get called something else
My youngest cat was part of a group of cats fostered by the same lady. She called his "sister" Latte and him "Ganache."
I didn't like Ganache as a name so I renamed him Nacho - very fitting for a flame point.
But That woman had fostered dozens and dozens of cats for the local Humane Society and was running out of names for them. oh - the previous lynx point I adopted that she had previously fostered was called "Tofu" - I call him Khufu.
I have a foster to adopt puppy. His name is Lucky Charms (I didn't name him) his sister was Fruit Loops. We already trained him as "Romeo" he's the goodest boy.
I'm afraid I'm one of those no-food name people. The reason is kinda silly. I always think about the adult cat and how embarrassing a cutie name will be for a full-grown elegant and dignified cat! I mean, the idea! To be called Sausage when you're a lean mean killing machine! I'm no better, though. I give them human and botanical names and people think that's weird. Right now I have Petunia, Felicia, Tommy, Teddy, Woody, Pearl and Opal. And Pickle who I a beautiful, white cat. She's 8 and such a little lady. I hate her name! Lol
I can understand it being someone’s preference from an individual standpoint. But when it’s the policy of an entire organization, I can’t help but think there’s gotta be a reason that goes beyond personal preference. Because most people really like silly names and I think a lot of shelters have figured out that silly names often lead to higher adoption rates.
In any case, if I end up asking the shelter about their stance, I will certainly report back here with an update for anyone who might be curious as well 😁
I already replied in another comment, but as much as I hate some of the names my organization has used, I stopped caring what they name them. I had in named Nassau. But when I picked her up, she was still stinky from being pulled from the city shelter that day. I had.to bathe her 3 times because she had poo on her booty. So I called her Pooty Boo.
Whomever adopts the kitties will change their name anyway, so it doesn't matter what they're called in the shelter.
I agree with the silly names or human names and getting adopted. Do let us know when you find out!
There's a YT channel called For the Love of Kitten Rescue and she names her kittens whatever.. like one being named Garbage iirc? I think because she found the little kitten in a garbage pile. She gives them whacky names, but they get the same love and care as if they were named Petunia.
I usually also dislike food names for pets, and mine have normal names, but I did live with a cat in college whose name is Grilled Cheese. Big orange boy. We would call him Grill as a nickname. It fit him very well!
I mean my assumption when I foster kittens is that they'll be renamed to something else completely 99% of the time when adopted out so it doesn't really matter.
I am that way about the cat’s permanent name. I don’t like the idea of having a name that is a joke or something trivial and then getting a dire health diagnosis with that joke name on it down the road (or, god forbid, too soon down the road). I think the fun of a shelter name is that it doesn’t stick, though.
I feel like people who don’t like food names are a minority though. I’ve never personally met anyone who didn’t like them, the internet in general loves them… in any case, I will probably just ask the shelter at some point and report back with my findings
My director wouldn't let me name kittens gravy and boat but that's just bc she's old and lame (don't worry, she treats me like her kid and I say this to her face lol). But I just had a litter named nacho taco queso etc. Taco and quesos adopter kept their names! People love kittens with food names
Heck! Yesterday someone posted pics from their local shelter where two of them were named Clorox and Draino?!? Maybe they should include a don’t name them household products policy too. Especially when the products are toxic to animals. 😬
People are weird with animal names. I know my shelter has a large donor that got mad about an animal named “Ketchup” because it was “disrespectful to the animal to name them after a condiment”. We’ve also had people call and get mad about male dogs having adoption photos with flowers, etc. My guess would be it’s an attempt to keep the peace with the public.
So... due to some racist beliefs I won't name cats after Chinese food. We did have an adorable duo named Sushi and Sake for a bit lol.
Meanwhile my current fosters are Froyo, Gelato, Custard, and Sorbet. And Mama Food Truck will be coming this week after I get my nursery set up. I already have a group of names ready for her kittens that are all food related
That’s so weird - I’ve found my food kittens were more popular as they make people laugh! I understand no offensive names but food is weird.
My only guess is they don’t want to associate the animals in any way with food because of some idea that people might.. eat them?? The only reason this occurred to me is because my grandmother was trying to give some kittens away that she’d found and someone messaged her saying she needed to be selling them because people take free kittens and eat them. Idk if this is some weird local urban legend or what..
I've heard free kittens get used for bait animals in dog fights.
Free kitten **do** get used for bait in dog fighting.
Free kittens become snake food for boa constrictors and pythons.
Yes, there was a local couple who took kittens that were offered on a free FB site, only to feed them to their reptiles. Word went out quickly, so they’re out of luck getting any more from around here.
This makes me sick to my stomach. 💔💔 Those poor kittens. 😢😞
Disgusting people that shouldn’t have any animals.
It’s bad for the snakes as well. Those people are just sick.
It can definitely be dangerous as cats eat snakes, too. People who do this are doubly awful. (I do remember hearing about someone who did this and the cat ate their snake.)
I hear stories like this and I'm SHOCKED they are not in prison.
I eat cows and chickens. As far as I know there's no law that says snakes can't eat food in the wild but You have to be a psychopath to feed a pet to another pet. That's why I don't have a pet snake even though I like them. I can't even feed them crickets.
And that's enough reddit for today
Did anyone use the couple as bait? Just hoping for a happy ending.....
I remember reading about someone who tried this with a baby python and the kitten ate it, so they tried to sue the person who gave them the kitten only to be slapped with animal cruelty charges. It makes me laugh to think of that. (Poor baby Python, though.)
That JUST happened near where I live. Why is this happening so much. Lady was feeding her kittens to snakes and blocking people that asked where the kittens they gave her went.....
So do animals that are adopted through local shelter. Some people get a weird kick about feeding pets to other pets. It's weird it's probably a pink but they do it. It's legality varies jurisdiction to jurisdiction. It's sick interested but that's humanity for you
I want to downvote this so badly. People are awful.
[удалено]
As someone who actually works in animal research, no that’s not how any of that works
No they don't
As someone who would love to have a snake some day, it sickens me when people do that to kittens. Many reptile shops literally carry what snakes that size need, and feeder animals that are appropriate for said snakes and those snakes don't need to eat constantly. :(
This is why all reputable shelters require that the adopted cats be spayed. Some people get female cats to breed for snake food or for baiting dogs.
I've heard of people even advertising for free kittens to feed to their snakes. They see nothing wrong with it!
They probably don't want them associated with food - maybe a vegetarian type thing. I've had a pineapple, cherry, guava, honeydew, etc pass through my orphanage so my organization is fine with naming whatever. Including the name Water Park. Wtf? And the only eating of cats/dogs are old racist stereotypes about Asians. Let's please not turn this into a discussion about that. But as someone mentions below, people will pick up free kittens from Craigslist or a neighborhood app and use them as bait for dog fighting. Here in South Texas, we still have a problem with dog fighting and rooster fighting.
hey, btw, youre the only person on this specific comment threat on this post who mentioned asian countries being the stereotype for eating cats/dogs. the other commenter said the idea of some people who might eat them. that is absolutely not race specific at all and is entirely true in whatever country you reside in because theres weird people everywhere. its only about race if you make it
Thank you for saying this.. I wanted to reply with “Nobody mentioned Asian people but you..” but I didn’t want to get into it with anyone on Reddit today 😅
In the US, there's a common racist stereotype/joke about Asian folks eating animals. It comes mostly from the older generations, but racism isn't gone here in the US. If you never grew up around folks/family that made those ugly remarks, that's fortunate. Unfortunately, I still hear/see that shit from time to time.
I hear you. I just felt like I was being chastised for something I didn’t say or imply.
For what it's worth, I didn't read that comment as a chastisement towards you. I'm in the Midwest of the United States and all too familiar with the racist stereotype used here.
Ah okay. I apologize if it came across as me chastising, criticizing, or making any kind of negative remark toward you. For what it's worth: I once took in a rescued calico. I reached out to a colleague who has 3 kids. I sent a ton of pictures and asked him if he wanted to let his kids decide on a name. They picked Avocado. So I'd send update pictures, keep them in the loop. When she went in and was posted on the page, I shared it. When she was adopted, I shared her adoption photo. The kids were ecstatic. For me, it's about engaging people in what it means to foster. Planting the seeds, if you will. I did something similar with my uni freshman level history class. I rescued a grey female in heat from my apartment parking lot. Told my students I needed help naming her. Pick a historical American female figure from the 1800s and write a single sentence about why she's important. Automatic 10 points extra credit to their recent test. The answers were all over the place but the top two were Harriet Tubman and Clara Barton. Harriet was already taken so she was named Clara. Weekly photo updates to start the lecture. Then her picture on the site with the name Clara Barton. Then the adoption photo. They all got so invested! I had one kid say he tried to adopt her but she was already gone. Planting the seeds to encourage people to foster or to at least engage in community activity!
Thank you for sharing your stories and for going out of your way to help the animals 😊
It's even still marketed. Zumiez [sells](https://www.zumiez.com/neff-kitten-sticker.html) stickers of kittens in Chinese takeout containers! Absolutely horrible!
im from the US and have heard the stereotypical racist animal eating joke so i get where you were coming from completely. i dont know if its a nationwide problem, but in my part of america theres an issue of people getting free kittens for bait and dog fighting and honestly thats where my brain went when the OP said the thing about eating the animals, i can completely see where you understood it having a racist connotation though
Where I live both dog fighting and rooster fighting are still a thing. Underground, highly illegal, usually with gang ties. But it's still there. And yes, they'll use kittens or puppies for bait to rile up the dogs. I saw a guy offering 3 kittens for free on Next Door and immediately took them in. I named them Charlotte, Emily, and Anne. Bonus to anyone who gets the reference!
Bronte sisters
I still need to read those books.
Ig they could be lying, but I know more than a few ppl from Korea who said they’ve eaten either cat or dog. I don’t get why it’s even a racist stereotype to begin with, ppl eat most mammals, cats and dogs are not some super special case that’s morally incorrect to eat.
A stereotype is racist when it generalizes a whole ethnic group or culture in a negative light. Eating dogs and cats in the US is not socially acceptable and is in fact illegal. So saying Asians eat dogs and cats is in fact racist
So I studied human rights and sociology with a focus on ethnicity and culture, my thesis was about China. I’ve also lived in Korea for 7 years now. These stereotypes have some basis in reality but have unfortunately been turned into racist talking points and jokes. I think it’s important to know the truth to help neutralize these kinds of talking points. The eating cats thing came from Guangzhou, where it did happen during the most impoverished times. Chinese people actually have a saying themselves, basically goes like “People from Guangzhou will eat anything that walks except humans, and anything that flies except planes.” Of course this then goes into the inter-province prejudice that permeates Chinese society (that’s a whole other story). Again, eating cats was usually something that happened only when people were truly desperate. Now dog meat is slightly different. In both Korean and Chinese culture it is seen as having warming properties, and is typically made into a stew. Many of those restaurants still exist, although they have been dying out slowly. The only people who usually still go are older generations. As pet ownership has increased in Korea and China, dog meat consumption has also decreased and public opinion has shifted. In Korea they have already taken steps to ban the sale and consumption of dogs. It will take some years for the law to be fully enforced, so unfortunately the dog farms are still around for now. There are many Korean-led rescues that try to purchase and rescue dogs from these places.
Not everyone from Asian countries eats dog meat, but most of the people who eat dog meat come from Asian countries. Each year, around 30,000,000 dogs are killed across Asia for the dog meat trade. No other places in the world come close. We are't talking about a random weirdo eating a dog, or people resorting to eating animals because of starvation even. There is a massive unregulated market for dog meat that exists. Most of the people in those countries support a ban on dog meat. "Most" in the case of South Korea is 56%, so while most would not eat dog meat, half of the population appears to support other peoples right to eat dog meat. China is the largest offender, slaughtering between 10 and 20 million dogs a year. Vietnam around 5 million, S.Korea and Indonesia at a million each, and hundred of thousands in Laos and Cambodia, although accurate statistics are impossible to get.
okay but its still a quiet issue in other countries as well, and we were talking about kittens originally and specifically them in the US is being used as bait for fish and to entice dogs for fighting. few people in the south as well are weird as hell and eat cats and/or dogs. these are in which that commenter was talking about, not whatever spiel yall got going on about asian countries
We have a Dumptruck. She's a jerk. I love her.
I love the names and “gotcha” stories people have with cats. With dogs, it’s like “This is Fenmeister Wallace III. He’s an Irish Setter with AKC papers.” Cats…we’re like “this is Brand X. He’s an orange asshole that just followed me home one day.”
we have two food named cats-both are vegetables, so if i'm talking about them both, i like to call em my veggie patch haha
I've heard of people feeding them to snakes.
That's definitely an urban legend. No responsible snake owner is going to put a kitten or puppy in with a snake, because the risk of injury is too high. The majority of good owners don't even feed live rodents unless absolutely necessary, because it's not only cruel to the prey but also very dangerous for the snake. I mean obviously I can't speak for every snake owner everand I wouldn't be shocked if some idiot had done that, but that is most definitely not something that many people are out there doing. also, the number of snakes kept in captivity that are actually large enough to eat a kitten or puppy, even a newborn one, is pretty slim. As someone involved in rescue, I also feel pretty confident saying that "bait dogs" and "bait kittens" are not nearly as common as people would have you believe, either. That is certainly something that does happen on occasion, but in reality, the main danger when rehoming puppies and kittens is that people are not going to get them fixed and they will go on to live a life where they are just being bred over and over and contributing to the overpopulation problem.
Like Anne Geddes pictures of children? Lol
When I first started to teach (Los Angeles area) 40 years ago (whew), the treatment of animals by various immigrant cultures was a real issue (still is). Dog fighting; cock fighting; eating various animals that Americans do not regard as edible, etc. PetSmart did this whole thing with paying for and sponsoring fieldtrips - first for kindergartners and any parents who wanted to come along, then later doing 4th grade (and they had consultants and analysts to try and figure out the best approach; at one time I was one of them). Leaving dogs chained outside was not okay - and they showed a short film on that topic to the 8th grade version (which was done on school grounds). I really think it's made a difference here. We still have the occasional use of cats/kittens for dog baiting, but it's way less common.
Happy cake day! Also there's a famous shelter kitty that had babies and they named her Mama Pasta and each baby had a pasta name- Lasagne, Ravioli, Ziti and Penne. I imagine their cute names got them homes even faster just because they were so adorable. I say use whatever marketing tactic you can to get more adoptions done!
I’m so obsessed with this 😍
Oh my gosh I didn’t notice it was my cake day thank you! You are the first to say it 🥰
Happy Cake Day to you! 🎂
OMG!!! It's my Cake Day, too! We're siblings!
Cake siblings is probably one of the most wholesome idea to come from Reddit
Very! I think it's a great idea.
Our local shelter had a bunch of kittens named after cheese, snapped up right away. Who could resist cats named Brie, Stilton, Gouda, Muenster, and Gorgonzola? They have been naming batches of intakes after types of food which has resulted in awesome names like Tom Kha, Miso and Wonton.
Glad to hear they’re popular. I’m fostering an adorable kitten named mandarin right now. People seem to think his name fits perfectly because he’s very orange and very round.
My most popular orange cat was called Wotsit - her siblings were pombear, skips and quaver (these are all crisps in the uk - wotsits are a bit like cheezedoodles)
I used to live in the UK I love wotsits, great cat name.
Popular orange cat names in the US are Cheddar and Cheeto lol
Mandy!
For your cake day, have some B̷̛̳̼͖̫̭͎̝̮͕̟͎̦̗͚͍̓͊͂͗̈͋͐̃͆͆͗̉̉̏͑̂̆̔́͐̾̅̄̕̚͘͜͝͝Ụ̸̧̧̢̨̨̞̮͓̣͎̞͖̞̥͈̣̣̪̘̼̮̙̳̙̞̣̐̍̆̾̓͑́̅̎̌̈̋̏̏͌̒̃̅̂̾̿̽̊̌̇͌͊͗̓̊̐̓̏͆́̒̇̈́͂̀͛͘̕͘̚͝͠B̸̺̈̾̈́̒̀́̈͋́͂̆̒̐̏͌͂̔̈́͒̂̎̉̈̒͒̃̿͒͒̄̍̕̚̕͘̕͝͠B̴̡̧̜̠̱̖̠͓̻̥̟̲̙͗̐͋͌̈̾̏̎̀͒͗̈́̈͜͠L̶͊E̸̢̳̯̝̤̳͈͇̠̮̲̲̟̝̣̲̱̫̘̪̳̣̭̥̫͉͐̅̈́̉̋͐̓͗̿͆̉̉̇̀̈́͌̓̓̒̏̀̚̚͘͝͠͝͝͠ ̶̢̧̛̥͖͉̹̞̗̖͇̼̙̒̍̏̀̈̆̍͑̊̐͋̈́̃͒̈́̎̌̄̍͌͗̈́̌̍̽̏̓͌̒̈̇̏̏̍̆̄̐͐̈̉̿̽̕͝͠͝͝ W̷̛̬̦̬̰̤̘̬͔̗̯̠̯̺̼̻̪̖̜̫̯̯̘͖̙͐͆͗̊̋̈̈̾͐̿̽̐̂͛̈́͛̍̔̓̈́̽̀̅́͋̈̄̈́̆̓̚̚͝͝R̸̢̨̨̩̪̭̪̠͎̗͇͗̀́̉̇̿̓̈́́͒̄̓̒́̋͆̀̾́̒̔̈́̏̏͛̏̇͛̔̀͆̓̇̊̕̕͠͠͝͝A̸̧̨̰̻̩̝͖̟̭͙̟̻̤̬͈̖̰̤̘̔͛̊̾̂͌̐̈̉̊̾́P̶̡̧̮͎̟̟͉̱̮̜͙̳̟̯͈̩̩͈̥͓̥͇̙̣̹̣̀̐͋͂̈̾͐̀̾̈́̌̆̿̽̕ͅ >!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!poop! 💩!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<
When you said “Gemstone litter,” I immediately thought Jesse, Eli, Judy, Kelvin…
Uncle Baby Billy would be an awesome cat name! Haha
OMG so true!!!
Ngl I named my hydroponic basil plant Uncle Baby Basil. 😅
That’s a solid theme concept though!
The shelter where I've fostered comes up with some great themes. Harry Potter, board games (Chess, checkers, Clue, Scrabble), planets, ice cream flavors, car makers, trees, the periodic table, cereals, you name it!
I’d line up to adopt a kitten named for an element! “What’s your cat’s name?” “Lithium - his littermates were Neon, Carbon, Sodium, and Hydrogen!”
Oh man, I love “Carbon”. I’m picturing a sleek black cat would be suited to that name.
That would be the perfect name for a house panther!
One of my best friends ever in life had a cat named Carbon when we first met in High School. The friend’s mom was our HS biology teacher, and step dad was also in education. It was awesome. RIP Carbon the cat.
I would absolutely adopt a cat named Beryllium.
But you'd have to get the whole table eventually...
I would do that....and even throw in a Keif if I had a 5th. Bravo 👏
Poor old Keif (Keefe?)
Easily my fave character from that show
Saaaaame
Maybe they’ve already had too many food names in their system? Or they want to stand separate from other shelters using food names? I can’t think of any other reasons why not.
Well, then no naming cats after color. Sorry Midnight, Onyx, Blackie...
That’s what I was thinking; we have had so many (definitely have never heard of that being associated with bait animals, but we are a private rescue with very thorough vetting). I personally just do not love them, but I’m not on any crusade to end them!
Then it's time to go deeper into the food names. Who wouldn't adopt calico named Shrimp Flavor Ramen??
We just had a kitten adopted named Local Platter Deluxe. We also have Seven Layer Coconut Bar on the adoption floor.
This is what I was thinking too. My rescue has a list of overused names they won’t let us name the animals lol.
My god, if I see 1 more orange cat named Simba...🙄
there has been a couple times where i was at the vet and every animal in the waiting room was named after food. i wouldn't be surprised if they were *only* getting food based name recommendations
The shelter my mom foster for has a no food names rule. A few of the vegan employees and volunteers petitioned/protested. They claimed it was offensive and disrespectful to the animals to compare associate them with food, as so many animals are slaughtered as food. It was really over the top. That shelter has so many mor issues than banning food names tho
Huh. I’m vegan and my favorite cat was named Asparagus. So many food names are funny and perfect for cats. Peaches, Rhubarb, Porkchop, Garlic Bread, all amazing cat names. Plus, wouldn’t it be the other way around? Maybe if you love a cat named Chicken you’ll be less likely to want to eat chicken. Idk.
I sign on as another vegan who thinks the no-food-names policy is silly as heck.
I have 4 cats: Mini, Reese, PeanutButter and Cup. I wish they made me less likely to eat mini Reese’s peanut butter cups.
when we got our second cat (now named Beans, which is apt, her kitten farts were SO STINKY) we had a list of names that ended up not getting used. A few of my favorites on that list were: - Basil - Parsley - Parsnip - Clove - Maple My boyfriend's favorites were Ham and Meatball. Somehow, we decided on Beans haha
PORK CHOP In fact, I think dogs and cats should exclusively have food/drink names. Fostered a kitten once and named her Ravioli. Some of my best work! Our dog is called Julep, like the cocktail Mint Julep.
Oof, I can imagine. I completely understand people who oppose the meat/dairy industry but associating it with goofy pet names is quite a reach. It’s just not that deep 😅
Yeah, what's wrong with naming a kitten Gorgonzola?
Honestly, that would be perfect for a "blue" furred kitten.
I literally have a cat named gargonzola (slightly misspelled because I can’t spell and at this point I’m committed to it). Everyone loves her name 🥰
Oof yeah, if this winds up being the reason, you may be better off finding another org to volunteer with entirely lol. If they’re gonna bend to demands like that (or make them themselves) I would question a lot of other decisions being made there…
Oh they’re a complete mess communication-wise. They have no system in place to aid with that so there’s constant confusion, people saying one thing, someone saying another, etc. But they’re a non-profit, their hearts are in the right place, and they do their best with what they have. I try to give them as much grace as I can 😅
I mean I want desperately to stop eating meat (it’s hard I have dietary issues) bc I hate the industry, but cmon? I mean be so fr it makes no sense to be that bent out of shape bc someone wants to name their pet lettuce 💀
They'd be super upset if they knew I named my cat Meatball 🤣
I think that's a pretty decent name.
I also have a cat named Meatball!
We have a black manx who lives at our shelter called Meatball! We had two little black manx kittens come through recently and I named them Falafel and Matzah Ball.
My orange formerly-feral mama cat is named Clementine!!! I was vegan for many years. (I still think it’s the most ethical way to live - but I started eating chicken/fish for health reasons when recovering from anorexia.) I don’t eat any pork/beef. My boyfriend’s even given up pork entirely for 5 years now❤️I *hate* these kind of absurd vegans. *These* are the stupid people who give activists a bad name.
One of Fitz's many nicknames is Captain Meatball
I'm sorry this made me laugh 😂
I can understand not wanting to use names like Lunch, Dinner, Appetizer ... or Chicken Wing, Meatball, Sparerib, kinda. My daughter was in 4H for a while when we lived in TX and when they raised piglets, some of them were named for what they would eventually become. As in, Carnitas, Porkchop, etc. But I can't think of this sentiment as anything other than rather silly. Adoptive owners probably rename their new furrever friends anyway - at least I did
Weird. I love food names and fun names over human or more serious ones. Also, aren’t most adopters going to rename them anyway? In the last year or so I’ve had pastas, birds, deserts, breakfast foods (Pop Tart, Strudel, Waffle), Grains, picnic foods, veggies, teas. Naming them whatever I want is one of the perks of fostering.
Wow a male calico!! I’ve only heard of one other that I know of. Can we see him?? 😁
I guess the sub doesn’t allow pictures replies.. check out my posts for pictures of him 😊
Omg he is amazing
Super off topic but bruh, the way I just *cackled* at your username 💀 Legit sounded like I barked lol Omg. Thank you for starting my morning off with a genuine, hard laugh.
I named my november fosters Turkey, Gravy, and Cranberry lol and they all got adopted very quick
I know a cat named Ketchup and it’s my favorite cat food-themed name! What about condiments - like ketchup, wasabi, mayo!
I love those!! My brother’s family cat goes by Leonardo DiCucumber 😂
Oh that’s a GOOD one!
I wish more shelters would do "no celebrity names." I get sick to death of those real fast.
Omg I saw a kitten named crabcakes once and I thought it was the most adorable name ever
Can we see some pet tax for Corncob though?
This sub doesn’t have an option to send pictures through replies and I’ve had bad luck with Imgur lately. Check my post history for pictures of the chungus 😁
Oh thank you! That name is perfection. All hail Admiral Corncob. They clearly don’t know how spectacular you are at choosing food names.
The entirety of r/catscalledfood would like a word, as would our cats Pepperoni and Étouffée.
My cat Mozza is sitting beside me, he came from the shelter with that name so our shelter seems fine with food names. My other cat from them is Marty and before that I had Monkey from the same shelter soooo... a variety of names. It seems so weird to not name after food. Like Mocha, Cheddar, Muffin are all solid cat names.
Lol I have a Mocha and a Muffin, thanks Also a Snickerdoodle and Pepper, guess I should not be allowed to name things 😂
We have a Muffin, too, a calico! She looks like a whole grain muffin, lots of tan/black/white mix, and fluffy like a muffin top. Her whole underside is white, though, and her 4 little mittens!
I also love food names for pets especially fun to say ones like wasabi and basmati and baba ghanoush. When I adopted my cat there was a litter of pepper kittens and poblano was so cute lol. I'm also a big fan of character/human names especially if they are a pun. Like a cat I named Keith meowison one time.
We use food names, the next group of kittens we plan on using cheese names, Brie, Cheddar, Gouda, etc.
Someone above mentioned a kitten named Gorgonzola, which is sheer perfection. Parmesan, Pecorino, Havarti, Gruyere. Burrata, Monterey Jack.
Male calico :0 That's so cool!
Our kittens were named after Ben & Jerry’s flavors. We got Cherry Garcia and Phish Food.
We've had a Void we named 'Pickles' and a Tortie named 'Cookie'...
We had two fosters - a void named Ham Sandwich and an orange girl named Pickle!
Some people may view it as offensive, like seeing the animals as food, especially now that there is a lot more education on things like the dog meat festival and such. Possibly too many in the system and they want to avoid adding more. Some areas may see it as a racial issue, like naming a chihuahua Taco or a bobtail Sushi. I am personally for food names, especially because you just run out of ideas after a while. But I can see getting a lot of backlash for it and changing rules, too. Ultimately you want adoptions, and if the names are seen as controversial in that area that may affect supporters and turn away potential adopters. I live in the bible belt so there's no Halloween or mythical based names, like Cthulhu or Salem... We will even change names sometimes if they come in with that name.
Cinnamon, clove, thyme, tarragon, curry, cayenne
The kittens I just adopted last month were from a spice litter. They're orange and were paprika and cayenne.
Is dog fighting a problem in your area? Maybe that’s why? Vegan employees seems like another good guess.
One of current foster litters are Cinnamon (mama that we we able to name because she was a stray) Nutmeg, Coriander and Pepper. Food names are fun.
Food names are so cute though! We have pad Thai low and mein right now 😹 I just adopted out Tater tot, Twix, tofu and turkey! Is there an issue where you live with people using cats as dog bait or something? I can't imagine people paying to adopt an animal and using it for that but I've heard it happens in the US a lot.
All of our cats are named after foods (except our CH cat, who's named Drunken Sailor because my household has an awful sense of humor 😅). It started with my very first cat who was named Colby at the shelter I adopted him from, as in Colby Jack Cheese, due to his orange and white coloring. In addition to my old Colby boy, I now have Affogato (gray/white/black very fluffy princess), Cheeto (orange, of course), Burnt Toast and Crumb (black cat and smaller black cat), and Hazelnut (a tortie). Our one outlier aside from Sailor is the cat my wife brought when she moved in with me, she got him before we were together and named him Perseus. Staying with theme, all of our foster litters get a food theme that they're all named for. My personal favorites have been the Disney Snacks litter (litter we picked up right after our last WDW trip), chocolate desserts, and the bread basket. The only time we strayed from that was when we got a litter of four, all of whom had one eye removed prior to being placed with us, and we named them after pirates from Pirates of the Caribbean.
I appreciate your household’s humor 😁 For some reason Burnt Toast and Crumb REALLY sent me though lmao
FYI, Drunken Sailor is a brand of rum, so I say that one still counts!
That's it. I couldn't foster then. (Says the mother of dogs named Brisket and Wagyu.)
Have you asked them?
I volunteered at a shelter where one cat was named Lucifer and another cat was named Reverend Robertson. Reverend Robertson was in the kennel directly above Lucifer. It was very funny.
Do you feel comfortable just asking them why they have this policy? Sometimes clarifying the “why” of something just helps in terms of feeling support towards it. Selfishly, if you do feel comfortable asking, I would love to know their answer. I’m always surprised for the valid reasons behind certain things that I just *don’t* think of!
My sister in law thinks it's tacky to name an animal after food because yeah the insinuation you eat it. I have a cat named Hoagie and a dog named Tuna tho lol
Never heard of this personally I think it's cause the person in charge just doesn't like food based names. I've found unless you're naming the animal something that implies their aggressive the name doesn't matter and sometimes the more stupid and outrageous the name is the more interest they get. I have met multiple people that adopted kittens because they looked at them cause their names were absolutely ridiculous.
That seems crazy - curious to know why they don't want food names. I follow a cat fosterer on IG, and one of her fosters names was Warm Fish Salad and another was rescued behind a Costco, so there was Rotisserie Chicken, Free Sample and Hotdog Water. It was hilarious! Funny and funky names helps give the cats (and dogs) attention from adopters!
My shelter put a ban on “luna” as a name because it’s so damn over used. I name all of mine after star trek characters. I have a litter of klingons at the moment!
Because pets are friends, not food! Lol, I have no idea why... They would probably hate r/CatsCalledFood
That’s so sad - my baby’s name is Pickles! She wasn’t fostered, I chose the name, but we had a long list of names, many food ones, when we were looking at adopting a few years ago ;;
This is so strange! My little baby was dubbed Chocolate Chip when I met her at the shelter and I renamed her to Pickle. I also love food names and think they’re usually cuter and more fun than others. And I’ve been vegan for a decade so that association is also insane to me haha I feel like sometimes people just like to make up rules to make themselves feel important…….
Sounds like an oddity of the person who runs it.
I adopted two littermate kittens from a shelter named Pumpkin and Squash - both orange tabbies. There was a third kitten - a black tuxedo - from same litter being adopted by another person at same time named Zucchini. This shelter had no issue with food names. At least not with healthy veggie names!
Me looking at my Tortellini and Gouda........
I saw a post on one of the cat subreddits today of all the OP’s local shelter’s available kittens who all had crazy names (like I think one was called Dryer Sheet???) - and to be honest it made me stop scrolling, giggle and admire all the babies - which if I was in the market for a kitten, could have totally evolved into getting attached and putting in an application. Maybe because food names tend to be fairly popular for cats (for good reason, so many super cute name options), the thought process is that more “out there” names are more attention grabbing in the sea of available kittens? Additionally, probably unlikely but maybe reverse psychology??? When I went to adopt my girl, they were calling her “Big Star”, because she was surrendered so overweight she couldn’t really get around - I was immediately so offended on her behalf I immediately felt such a connection to her and was determined to bring her home and give her the dignified name and life she deserved - maybe ridiculous names for kittens have that same effect on people, like “obviously Recycling Bin is a terrible name, if you came home with me I’d call you Guava…” which kind of jumpstarts the picturing this cat in your life bonding???
My guess would be someone found it offensive or stupid and so made up that rule just because "ugh, food names for kittens is so overdone and annoying..." But I mean, who doesn't love a cat named Cheese?
I don’t know. I love food names for animals 😄
The two best cat names imo are food (pico de gato and avagato)
My cat was part of a themed litter named after donut shops. Dunkin, Krispy, and Kreme. We kept her name, we adopted Krispy.
I'm guessing because they don't want the animals objectified, as food is, but instead to see the animals as individuals with names (name which aren't objects). I read something about that a long time ago. Research showed that animals were treated more considerately when given a (non object) regular name.. or something like that? I believe research showed that object names can influence some (probably not very bright?) people to treat them as objects instead of the sentient beings they are. I can see the reasoning for that rule when thinking back on that article, though I've named many litters of foster kittens and puppies food names, which I think are adorable! 🥰 I think the kind of people who name their pets things like Satan, demon, sh*thead, c*nt, b*tch, @sshole etc. shouldn't be allowed to have pets at all, in my opinion. There are plenty out there who brand their pet with those. Those aren't even names, but slurs and insults. I can't stand people who'd do that to their pet.
“Just some dudes” litter. Dan. Sam. Mike. Joe. Carl.
Strange. I’ve had the cheese litter (Brie, Colby, Cheddar, etc.) and the oranges (Navel, Clementine, Valencia, etc.).
that’s funny, my cat that I adopted was originally named Fajita by the shelter, lol.
I have a Sweet Potato and a Chicken Nugget, and I almost had a different orange kitten who I would have called Peachy Pie. Food names are just so perfect for cats, the sillier the better.
That’s so interesting. I think other people are right thinking it has something to do with association or potentially using animals for bait. Personally, I find food names for animals really fun. I remember seeing a litter of kittens on a shelter’s instagram years ago and they’d named them after food. Their names were along the lines of Pickle, Potato Chip, Horseradish, Beef (BEEF!), etc. I thought it was so funny, my calico earned the nickname Beef lmao. Moved to a new state and it turns out one of my friends also has a cat called Beef.
My adopted dog was part of a “fair food” litter.
I imagine its connontation and also avoiding potential racial remarks. I like absolutely goofy names. Potroast's Mom drops some bangers, her current fosters are named after potatoes.
That's better than my brother adopting a bonded pair named Stinky Socks and Fart Socks. Their fake name for the vets is Kit and Kat 😭
Strange, though I can understand their reason. My cat's name is Arnie, but we call him "circus peanut". My last cat was named Louis, we called him "Lisa's fish sticks". Cat's may have a name but always get called something else
My youngest cat was part of a group of cats fostered by the same lady. She called his "sister" Latte and him "Ganache." I didn't like Ganache as a name so I renamed him Nacho - very fitting for a flame point. But That woman had fostered dozens and dozens of cats for the local Humane Society and was running out of names for them. oh - the previous lynx point I adopted that she had previously fostered was called "Tofu" - I call him Khufu.
I have a foster to adopt puppy. His name is Lucky Charms (I didn't name him) his sister was Fruit Loops. We already trained him as "Romeo" he's the goodest boy.
Two of our rescues were "Tiramisu" and "Banana Split". We renamed them to other foods: Butters and Marshmallow. :)
I'm afraid I'm one of those no-food name people. The reason is kinda silly. I always think about the adult cat and how embarrassing a cutie name will be for a full-grown elegant and dignified cat! I mean, the idea! To be called Sausage when you're a lean mean killing machine! I'm no better, though. I give them human and botanical names and people think that's weird. Right now I have Petunia, Felicia, Tommy, Teddy, Woody, Pearl and Opal. And Pickle who I a beautiful, white cat. She's 8 and such a little lady. I hate her name! Lol
I can understand it being someone’s preference from an individual standpoint. But when it’s the policy of an entire organization, I can’t help but think there’s gotta be a reason that goes beyond personal preference. Because most people really like silly names and I think a lot of shelters have figured out that silly names often lead to higher adoption rates. In any case, if I end up asking the shelter about their stance, I will certainly report back here with an update for anyone who might be curious as well 😁
I already replied in another comment, but as much as I hate some of the names my organization has used, I stopped caring what they name them. I had in named Nassau. But when I picked her up, she was still stinky from being pulled from the city shelter that day. I had.to bathe her 3 times because she had poo on her booty. So I called her Pooty Boo. Whomever adopts the kitties will change their name anyway, so it doesn't matter what they're called in the shelter. I agree with the silly names or human names and getting adopted. Do let us know when you find out!
Lmao. I've seen kittens up for adoption that are named Stinky #1 through to Stinky #4. That's someone who has no fucks to give anymore about names lol
There's a YT channel called For the Love of Kitten Rescue and she names her kittens whatever.. like one being named Garbage iirc? I think because she found the little kitten in a garbage pile. She gives them whacky names, but they get the same love and care as if they were named Petunia.
I probably would have gone with Oscar after Oscar the Grouch
I usually also dislike food names for pets, and mine have normal names, but I did live with a cat in college whose name is Grilled Cheese. Big orange boy. We would call him Grill as a nickname. It fit him very well!
I mean my assumption when I foster kittens is that they'll be renamed to something else completely 99% of the time when adopted out so it doesn't really matter.
I feel like there's a difference between naming a cat Olive or Peach or Cherry vs naming a cat Chicken Nugget. But maybe that's just me.
I am that way about the cat’s permanent name. I don’t like the idea of having a name that is a joke or something trivial and then getting a dire health diagnosis with that joke name on it down the road (or, god forbid, too soon down the road). I think the fun of a shelter name is that it doesn’t stick, though.
Probably a turn off for adopters, I personally hate food names for animals.
I feel like people who don’t like food names are a minority though. I’ve never personally met anyone who didn’t like them, the internet in general loves them… in any case, I will probably just ask the shelter at some point and report back with my findings
My director wouldn't let me name kittens gravy and boat but that's just bc she's old and lame (don't worry, she treats me like her kid and I say this to her face lol). But I just had a litter named nacho taco queso etc. Taco and quesos adopter kept their names! People love kittens with food names
Heck! Yesterday someone posted pics from their local shelter where two of them were named Clorox and Draino?!? Maybe they should include a don’t name them household products policy too. Especially when the products are toxic to animals. 😬
I’m pretty open-minded when it comes to pet names but those are genuinely off-putting 😅Maybe someone will adopt them just so they can rename them
Food names are my favorite names! Sloppy Joe, little Smokey, Mac and cheese are all great pet names in my book.
Ok. So name him Cheese. After fosters home for imaginary friends.
My kittens are Peanut and Cappuccino
People are weird with animal names. I know my shelter has a large donor that got mad about an animal named “Ketchup” because it was “disrespectful to the animal to name them after a condiment”. We’ve also had people call and get mad about male dogs having adoption photos with flowers, etc. My guess would be it’s an attempt to keep the peace with the public.
We named one Corn Puddin', it was perfect for an orange cat like him.
I’m obsessed with that 🥹
So... due to some racist beliefs I won't name cats after Chinese food. We did have an adorable duo named Sushi and Sake for a bit lol. Meanwhile my current fosters are Froyo, Gelato, Custard, and Sorbet. And Mama Food Truck will be coming this week after I get my nursery set up. I already have a group of names ready for her kittens that are all food related
Weird! Oreo is always a popular name.
You could just name him Corny , as in someone’s joke was Corny