Spencer...

Fuzzy and I weren't together when we tried that "make 'em stronger by implying something with the name" thing. Even though this is the cat board, I'll share this one.

I bought a female beagle from a pet store. She was "older" (she's about 12-15 years old now) and had been rescued from a puppy mill, where she'd been a breeder. The dog was so terrified about being in the pet store, I asked the owner to let her come home with me for some rehab and socialization. Once we got her home and realized she had no name, we decided to try to "pump" her up with one. We named her Sassee. When we realized how bad off she was (had been extremely abused), I bought her rather than send her back to that environment (where no one would want her anyway).

Unfortunatly it's never stuck, but she's gotten better. For the first 3-4 years she lived with us we had to drag her out from under a sofa/day bed to take her out to the bathroom and had to feed her under there. After 7 years she's finally to the point where you have better than even odds on her coming when called. But, she's happy. She lives with my ex and older son (with my cat Crystal who has FIP, not FIV as Fuzzy said - he's still new at this cat diseases thing...).