While sniping Republican candidates, an Internet piracy firestorm and solid snowstorm provided plenty of hard news this week, many of you opted for something cuddlier and responded to our polls about the top dog and cat names of 2011.

Here's a snapshot of what you told us. If you've got more to say, or more cute photos to share, please do!

On the cat front

Only two of the people who answered our poll had cats with one of the five top names — both Lucys. (No love from either the cat or dog owners for the Twilight homage Bella.)

We got a lot of great information about the names your cats do have from the comments.

There were some fun backstories to the names, such as Jennifer Dotson, who wrote that, "Ellie got hers because she kept poking around the bookcase and near a biography of Eleanor Roosevelt."

And Kathy Ruhnke wrote, "Our cat's name is Vinny. We named him after the restaurant where we'd gotten engaged."

As for paired names, there's Oscar and Felix who live with Carol; Cue and Tip who live with Bob Morrison; and Nyqvist and Wallander, which are derived from the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series, and live with Janice Cha. And Sunshine and Luna live with Holly.

In the creative name category, Corki Bernstein told us about a cat named Stinky (who apparently has a complex about it, so be kind), and NS has a cat named Cheese.

We also learned from Mayre Press that sisters Sashi and Shadoe (pictured above) have their own blog: petpurrview.blogspot.com. And, contrary to popular opinion, Sully's cat Oscar, Donna Rose Scherrer's cat Shadow, and my cat Maggie all love curling up in the sink.

On the dog front

Seven of you who answered our poll have dogs with names in the top 5 — four Maxes and three Lucys. 

Many of you shared the names you chose, including two Woodys from Ramona and Victoria Smith, Greg Thomas' Trooper, and Casey Faust's crew of Izzy, Holly and Hope. This prompted Bob Levi to ask, "What ever happened to 'Fido?'"

We also learned that, according to Sonny Cohen, "Bert is dog mayor of southwest Highland Park." A coveted seat, indeed. Well done, Bert!