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Multiple realities
(covers information from several alternate timelines)

Neelix (cat)

"Neelix" the cat

Chester

"Chester" the cat

Sylvia as black cat

"Sylvia" in the form of a black cat

Isis

Gary Seven's cat "Isis"

Patches

Jeremy Aster's cat "Captain Patches"

Grudge

Grudge the "Queen" cat

"What the hell is this?! What's that noise it's making?"
"It's a cat."
– Ryn and Keyla Detmer, with a meowing Grudge in Ryn's arms, 3189 ("The Sanctuary")

A cat (Felis catus) was a small predatory mammal from Earth, that were noted to purr when happy or content. A young cat was called a kitten.

Some animal training manuals claimed that cats, by nature, could not be trained. (TNG: "Force of Nature") Unlike canines, they did not respond to verbal commands. (TNG: "Force of Nature", "Phantasms")

Individuals of this type were often kept as pets among Humans. Examples of cats kept as pets included Spot, owned by Data, (TNG: "Data's Day", "In Theory", "Schisms") Neelix, owned by Reginald Barclay, (VOY: "Pathfinder") and Chester, owned by Liam Bilby and, later, Miles O'Brien. (DS9: "Honor Among Thieves", "Time's Orphan") William T. Riker and LaForge had bad experiences with cats, but Beverly Crusher and Deanna Troi loved them. (TNG: "Force of Nature", "Timescape", "Phantasms")

In the 2020s Adam Soong was contacted by rich heiresses who wanted to clone their cats. (PIC: "Fly Me to the Moon")

Vulcan art

A drawing including a cat

The Human fourth grade student Gaby drew a cat in an environmental suit on her drawing "Vulcan" which was sent to Enterprise NX-01 in 2151. (ENT: "Breaking the Ice")

In 2152, Lieutenant Malcolm Reed played for Commander Charles Tucker III two potential klaxons for his new tactical alert procedure, asking which he preferred. Tucker responded that they both sounded like "a bag full of cats" and neither was ultimately retained for future uses of the procedure. (ENT: "Singularity")

In 2257, after surviving falling debris aboard the USS Discovery, Jett Reno compared herself to a cat having nine lives, with "five more lives, at least." (DIS: "Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2")

In 2267, the alien Sylvia demonstrated the power to assume the form of a cat. She accomplished this feat with the aid of a device called the transmuter, which was the one element of her wardrobe that did not change shape. (TOS: "Catspaw")

In 2268, the USS Enterprise, on a mission in the 20th century, encountered Gary Seven, an agent of a benevolent alien power that interfered to prevent civilizations from destroying themselves. He was accompanied by a cat named Isis, who was more than she initially appeared to be. Exactly what she was remained a mystery. She was evidently capable of understanding Gary Seven, and of communicating with him in at least a rudimentary fashion. She accompanied him wherever he went. (TOS: "Assignment: Earth")

In 2269, a landing party from the Enterprise encountered a mechanical manifestation of an abnormally massive cat while visiting the Shore Leave Planet. (TAS: "Once Upon a Planet")

The novelization of "Once Upon a Planet" (as published in Star Trek Log 3) describes the cat in that story as "only slightly smaller than an elephant."

Later that year, after the Enterprise experienced an impulse wave from the Cepheus system, Captain James T. Kirk asked Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott about the performance of the engines. "Purring like happy kittens, Captain" was Scott's response. (TAS: "The Terratin Incident")

When she lived on the failed colony Turkana IV, Natasha Yar felt obligated to protect a cat while being chased by a rape gang. The cat appeared in illusory form when the Traveler inadvertently sent the USS Enterprise-D to the "edge of the universe." (TNG: "Where No One Has Gone Before")

The novel Survivors by Jean Lorrah includes a brief portrayal of Tasha's childhood, including her cat.

In 2366, Jeremy Aster used to play "Captain Patches" with his pet cat, pretending Patches was a captain flying through space. (TNG: "The Bonding")

In 2370, Geordi La Forge borrowed Data's cat Spot in order to experience feline behavior before possibly getting his own cat. After the unruly feline broke a vase, a teapot, used a chair as a scratching post, and coughed up hairballs on La Forge's carpet, the engineer happily returned Spot to her owner. (TNG: "Force of Nature")

As of that year, there were 12 male felines aboard Enterprise-D. (TNG: "Genesis")

"Cat" was one of numerous words Miles O'Brien used due to his infection of the aphasia virus. (DS9: "Babel")

In the anti-time future seen by Jean-Luc Picard, Data had amassed a diverse collection of cats while a professor at Cambridge University. (TNG: "All Good Things...")

In the alternate reality, nearly a year after stardate 2259.55, after the USS Enterprise was rechristened, Captain James T. Kirk asked Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott about the performance of the new warp core. "Purrin' like a kitten, captain" was Scott's response. (Star Trek Into Darkness)

Sylvia Tilly did not consider herself a "cat person" and in 3189 was troubled when the cat Grudge briefly took up residence in her quarters. (DIS: "Scavengers")

Related or similar species[]

A "Gorokian feline" was referred to in the first draft script of VOY: "Death Wish". However, this creature was renamed a Gorokian midwife toad by the time the episode was shot.

Individual cats[]

Fictional cats[]

Related or similar intelligent species[]

Cat Dancer

The feline dancer on Nimbus III

Appendices[]

See also[]

Background information[]

There have been multiple behind-the-scenes references likening Vulcans to cats. An early description of the character Spock (from Star Trek is..., reprinted in The Making of Star Trek, p. 30, and NBC's early-1966 publicity booklet, reprinted in Inside Star Trek: The Real Story) described him as having a cat-like curiosity about everything of alien origin, even to his detriment. The final draft script of TOS: "Dagger of the Mind" referred to him launching himself at Simon Van Gelder, upon subduing him, with "a cat-like leap" (though in the final version of the episode, Spock runs to Van Gelder's position, instead of leaping). Also, the final draft script of TOS: "The Galileo Seven" described Spock as "slipping with catlike agility through and among the rocks" on Taurus II, during a search for Lieutenant Gaetano. Similarly, during a press conference to announce the start of Star Trek: Enterprise, T'Pol actress Jolene Blalock expressed that T'Pol was "feline in her movements." (Star Trek Monthly issue 84, p. 23) The character was described as landing "cat-like" on a landing platform in the final draft script of "The Seventh".

Upon describing how Jahn was to steal a bunch of communicators, the final draft script of TOS: "Miri" likewise repeatedly likened him to a cat; the script's stage directions stated that he "slips catlike" into a room where those devices were being kept, and had "a cat-eating-the-canary look on his face" as he made his getaway.

Lenore Karidian was similarly likened to a cat in the final revised draft script of TOS: "The Conscience of the King". When describing how she was to quickly prepare herself for breaking free from a pair of security guards at the end of the episode, the teleplay commented, "At their touch Lenore gathers like a cat."

Referring to the fact his initial impressions of Star Trek were formed by watching TOS, Archer actor Scott Bakula noted, "I'm an old cat." (Star Trek Monthly issue 84, p. 23)

Jenny Parks depicted characters from both TOS and TNG as cats in Star Trek Cats and Star Trek: The Next Generation Cats.

External links[]

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