Star Trek: Spot, Data's orange tabby!

plan

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Ode to Spot:

Felis catus is your taxonomic nomenclature,

An endothermic quadruped, carnivorous by nature;

Your visual, olfactory, and auditory senses

Contribute to your hunting skills and natural defenses.
 

I find myself intrigued by your subvocal oscillations,

A singular development of cat communications

That obviates your basic hedonistic predilection

For a rhythmic stroking of your fur to demonstrate affection.
 

A tail is quite essential for your acrobatic talents;

You would not be so agile if you lacked its counterbalance.

And when not being utilized to aid in locomotion,

It often serves to illustrate the state of your emotion.
 

O Spot, the complex levels of behavior you display

Connote a fairly well-developed cognitive array.

And though you are not sentient, Spot, and do not comprehend,

I nonetheless consider you a true and valued friend.
 
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plan

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I should also add, for what it's worth, that Star Trek's writers made a mistake: Cats are sentient, but they are not sapient. As we all know here, cats can feel an entire array of emotions that are no different than the human equivalents, they feel pain and happiness, and they can show affection. So sentient, yes, and that's a good argument against anyone who dismisses abuse by saying it's "just a cat."

Of course, Mr. Data could not have made that mistake, so we know it had to be the writers!


 
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Willowy

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Spot was a Somali at least once, and was called "he" until they wanted to do the pregnancy storyline. . .she must have been a shapeshifter cat ;).
 

natalie_ca

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There was never any explanation offered as to how Spot came to be on the ship.  Also, the cat changed genders.  It started off as a boy, and later on had kittens.  Data is a perfect android and would never had made a mistake on a cat's gender, especially an adult cat where the difference between genders is quite apparent, especially on a short haired cat.
 
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plan

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After thinking about cats in science fiction -- Spot from Star Trek, Jonesy from Alien, the cats in 'A Game of Rat and Dragon' -- I Googled around to read more, and discovered that ships (real ships, not science fiction ships) often had a "ship's cat" who was there for companionship, but also to protect foodstuffs and cargo from rats, mice and other small animals that could infest a ship. Interesting stuff.

Ship's cat:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship's_cat

The Game of Rat and Dragon:

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/29614/29614-h/29614-h.htm

The above is a classic science fiction short story in which cats play an integral and memorable role. It's also a fascinating look into the feline mind, at least as the author pictures it. When I took a science fiction and fantasy writing class last year, and it turned out everyone in the class loved cats, our instructor selected "The Game of Rat and Dragon" as one of the weekly stories we analyzed. I think any cat lover would love the story too.
 

dennis47

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Oh. My. Gosh. Two things I absolutely love, TNG, and cats. What a great post! I love the ode. Typical Data! Yeah, seemed weird that they changed the cat's gender during the show. I liked to think it was either a shapeshifter, or had both male and female sexual characteristics.
 

laura h

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IThat is my favorite TNG episode. 

another good one is when Data tries to teach Spot up vs down so he doesn't climb on the console.

"This is up. Up is bad.

This is down. Down is good."
 

dennis47

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Yeah, that was cute, but I guarantee if Data had had his emotion chip installed at that time, he would have experienced the sensation of frustration for the first time!
 
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plan

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Yeah, that was cute, but I guarantee if Data had had his emotion chip installed at that time, he would have experienced the sensation of frustration for the first time!
Remember Data's life forms song?
 

dennis47

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Oh, man. I was drinking a soda when I heard him sing that; nearly choked! I found it hillarious! Brent Spiner was the best!
 
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