Naming a cat.

I find naming a cat so challenging a task, that my previous beloved cat went by the name Ο Γάτας (The Cat), up until I found him dying on the tarmac two blocks away from home. That was a very shocking day for me. I had forced myself to believe that when cats disappear it's because they have found a home they like better. Before him, we had Miu (there she is on the video), who I had found when she was very tiny, meowing on top of a rubbish bin -as she never stopped meowing, I always thought she had something extremely important to tell us and felt frustrated I couldn't understand her- and who we decided to have neutered a year later, after she had kittens. We kept the female of her kittens, named her Muji (from the Greek Μουτζούρα, she's the one standing on her hind legs), and watched as the mother became more and more aggressive towards us and her offspring.

We had Muji neutered before she had a chance to have kittens. Shortly after that, Miu disappeared and within a week Muji disappeared too, never to be seen again. I believe they both hated me for having them neutered and that's why they ran away (although in the back of my head I think one of the neighbours is the culprit because they were somewhat loud in their frequent mother-daughter quarrels). 

Feeling guilty towards the female cats for having had their reproductive organs removed, I decided not to interfere with Gata's testicles. Had I had them removed, however, chances are he wouldn't have gone prowling around the neighbourhood looking for female companionship, he wouldn't have been hurt and laid for who knows how many hours on the burning tarmac, dehydrated and suffering from thermoplegia and by the time I found him be so disfigured that I wasn't even sure it was him.

After Ο Γάτας (that gorgeous creature on my laptop) died on the vet's table from head injuries (the vet said it was from a kick in the head but I have trouble accepting how anyone could do such a thing), after we had done everything we could to save him, after we buried him in the garden the next morning, I didn't want any other cats. It felt like whatever decision I made about their reproductive organs, it would always be the wrong one. 

But about two weeks ago, a kitten appeared in the garden. I looked for her mother and siblings and found none. She came in the house, walking around, exploring, inspecting and purring for hours on end and has stayed with us since.

So now we have a cat again and I need to find how we're going to call her. She is very beautiful and wild, and I'm having great difficulty deciding on a suitable name. Currently, I'm between Fellini (in Greek it would be Φελλίνη because of her sex), or FeFe even, and Patousa (which means 'foot, paw' and is also the name of a street in Exarhia). The first option I like because I think il Maestro would make for a wonderful cat, but also because 'Fellini' and 'feline' sound similar. (There is also a Greek actress, famous in the 80's, who is called Filini (Ελένη Φιλίνη, VHS goddess, leotard icon, who should definitely have something named after her, a cat, a street, a star, a disease.) The second one I like because this cat has the cutest black paws I've ever seen and because, well, let's face it, 'patousa' is a very funny sounding word.