An Error Rectified.
I must have subconsciously known. I was lying in bed one afternoon, and Zeke was curling up to nurse at the mole on my neck. She insists that it's not a mole-- that it is, in fact, an oddly placed nipple. And she will not rest (or let me rest) until she has made every attempt to get milk from it. I've tried to explain it, but cats just don't listen to humans.
At any rate, I was suddenly, shockingly, obsessed with seeing her backside. Zeke doesn't mind being handled in the least, so the only problem was getting her placed properly so I could see. Sure enough, she's female.
This wouldn't pose a problem, had I named this cat anything but Zeke. How does one feminize such a name? I have never heard a female Z name I liked, and certainly not one a cat would like. As T.S. Eliot pointed out, the naming of cats is a serious matter.
Zeke is a smart cat, I reasoned. She's more than capable of learning a new name. I started calling her Sophie, which has (to me) a connotation of both elegance and silliness-- perfect for a young cat. As I did when she was newly discovered, I petted her and repeated her name over and over for several days. I am sure she got the point. Her view of the matter seemed to be, "What the hell are you calling me that for? Oh, well, if I MUST answer to it." I swear by this keyboard that she accepted the name Sophie with bemused tolerance.
The problem with changing someone's name mid-career is that you tend to forget the new name. And of course, other people tend to forget even more. To my mother, Sophie is, now and forever, a Zeke. Half the time, I would call her (the cat, not my mother) Zeke as well.
Yesterday afternoon, lying in bed waiting for the kitten to give up on neckmilk for the day so I could go to sleep, it came to me: Zakia. It's feminine, and there is absolutely no reason why Zeke couldn't be a nickname for Zakia. They say necessity is the mother of invention. I believe desperation must also play a part.
At any rate, Zeke seems much more content with her lot in life, now that I've stopped calling her Sophie.
posted by Hannah at 11:18 AM
5 Comments:
I have a female cousin named Zakia (although I don't really know how it is spelled). I do know that we call her "Zy". Hmm. I guess that presumes the spelling is something like Zykia.
Other options of course include Zelda, Zeta, and then there is Zenobia. Now I hope I have made matters sufficiently worse.
Zoe! Delightful story, Hannah, but I must admit that I hope Zeke wins in the end. It's a real name and the cat won't care what gender it is.
Years ago we had a really butch, tough cat (male). We hadn't a name for him at first so just called him puddy tat. Gradually this became modified to Perdita. The fact that this is the name of one of Shakespeare's female characters didn't bother him in the least (especially as he didn't take any notice regardless of what you called him) and I figured only the more educated people he met were going to know it was a female name, so who cared? Perdita he remained.
She is now, and forevermore, officially a "Zeke".
Zekette, or as the French say, zee cat.
I fail to see the problem here. Maybe it is just my perspective. ;)
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