Names

Naming a cat is not the same as buying a motorbike. Actually, naming anything is not easy. I am not really a supporter of conventional namings. If I take human beings for example, usually the name has already been decided before birth, making it very unpersonal. In almost all cases the name doesn’t suit the name bearer. You're name is Robert? You don't look like one.

I fancy the approach of the Hash House Harriers. For those of you who don’t know them, it’s a drinking club with a running problem. You can find them all over the world. At the hash you will get a name after a certain amount of runs, say 10. By then the regular runners know you a bit more and the result is that you will get a hash name that really suits you.

In my house is a little cat I just had to keep. Some time ago my other two cats had a very exciting night, resulting in three kittens. One of them was too cute to let go. He is three months old and is unnamed. Now this cat has a certain habit. Whatever I am doing, at any time he may jump on me unexpectedly. Often the timing is very inconvenient and because of this I decided his name should be “Cato, not now!”.

Of course it's from the Pink Panther films, where a butler is forever trying to tackle Clouseau by surprise by leaping out at him from e.g. inside his refrigerator, at very awkward moments, whereupon Clouseau screams, "Not NOW, Cato, not NOWWWW!"

His name works two ways. It personifies his actions and the moment you see him you will immediately say “Hey, that’s a cat!”. And those are the first three letters of his name.