Tula - The Cat That Twitter Named

Since I lost Tazzie in November, the house has felt empty without a cat. It even appeared that the hounds missed Tazzie and couldn't understand where the black and white ball of fluff had gone.

So, in late November we went along to The Lincolnshire Trust for Cats to find a cat that would be confident living in a house full of sight hounds. There were so many lovely kittens and cats to choose from, all deserving good homes, but in the end we decided to take a peek in the 'Weight Watchers' section. (There was a sign on the door that said Weight Watchers - honest!) This was where some of the cats who had been at the Trust for a while, and who had eaten a little too much, were being kept. They were being fed a lighter diet and had more space and activity areas to burn off those extra pounds!

The "feline fatty's" first day

Who'd have thought that a 'feline fatty' (shhhh, don't tell her I said that) would steal our hearts. The not so little bundle of fluff was called Tess and is about 18 months old. She was introduced to Jasper while we were at the cattery and both cat and hound reacted well and Tess' fate was sealed.

As her name was too similar to Tazz, we decided to rename her, but as we couldn't agree on a suitable name ourselves, we turned to Twitter and Facebook. We had over 25 suggestions and in the end chose Tula, which was suggested by the lovely Kim, who tweets as @m3kx

It's been a month since Tula joined us and she's really settled in, enjoying her first Christmas with us. Today has been the first day that she's used the cat flap too and seemed liked a good day to introduce her on the blog. She's slowly losing the extra pounds and is now firm friends with the hounds.

Here's looking at you!

Finding a name for Tula did make me wonder, how we arrive at the names for our pets...

Both Mina and Stevie have kept their original names, as their recall was so good. Jasper, on the other hand, was originally called Magic. I renamed him after the Jasper in Twilight, as my Jasper has very fang-like teeth but more importantly has a real calming effect on those around him. Chivers was named after the marmalade brand and Tazzie after the Tasmanian Devil!

I'd love to know how you came up with the name for your pet, so please share, if you dare!