My cat and the story of her name

Hi, this is Sam (short for Samantha), my cat. I got her in the summer of 2020, just after she had weaned a litter of kittens, and at the time she was a very different-looking cat! She was just 8 or so pounds (now 12+), and far, far less fluffy. It has been amazing to nurture her and watch her transform into this soft, floofy, beautiful creature. Here’s are before and after pics, about 8 months apart.

What’s in a name?

Her full name is Samantha Louise Longcat Fitzsimmons. I think it’s a funny name, and I get to call her Sam, or Lou, and other things. There’s a little more to the story though for anyone who is especially interested (but why? :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes: ).

Even before I got a cat I wanted it to have a more “human” name, because I think that’s funny for whatever reason. And then when I met Sam, my very first thought was that it would be fun to give her a name where her short/nickname would be a bit ambiguous, hence Samantha (Sam). It’s literally the first name I thought of for her! But then I went down a lengthy rabbit hole of other options, making a whole list and thinking about it for over a month (maybe I’ll post the list here one day).

During that time I was also thinking of calling her Louise, which someone suggested, which could be Lou for short (or LouLou!). So I couldn’t just throw that out. Now I can call her either Sam or Lou (or LouLou), and I do! Though mostly Sam.

And then Longcat, well, she is a long cat, especially for her size.

Finally, I thought it would be funny if she had a sort of stuffy and old fashioned last name. So Fitzsimmons just, er, fit.

As you can see my methods are elaborate and perfectly logical. :wink: