there have been more than 900 episodes of the 12 different iterations of star trek, including the animated series. there have also been 13 movies, over 800 books, and a novelization of the series. it has been one of the most popular franchises on small and big screens since it first aired in 1966.
whether you’re a trekkie or an ailurophile, enjoy this list of 7 cats that have featured and been named in various on-screen star trek iterations.
the 7 cats from star trek
1. spot
| appears in: | the next generation, picard |
| breed: | somali, shorthair |
spot is probably the most famous of the star trek cats. he was once lieutenant commander data’s pet and data even wrote a sonnet dedicated to him called “ode to spot”. the cat earned the respect of commander worf, and when data passed in 2379, worf became spot’s new owner.
spot was played by a total of six different cats, of both genders, but was meant to be a female cat in the show.
2. grudge
| appears in: | discovery |
| breed: | maine coon |
more recently, grudge has become the poster cat of star trek, featuring in star trek discovery as booker’s companion. the cat is played by two maine coon brothers, leeu and durban, but the character of the cat is actually based on writer jenny lumet’s grandmother’s pekingese dog, nelly.
grudge now has his own x/twitter account and, in 2022, the book of grudge was published.
3. neelix
| appears in: | voyager |
| breed: | persian |
cat owners in star trek tended to name their cats after prominent people. neelix, reginald barclay’s pet cat in voyager, was named after neelix, a talaxian crewmember of the uss voyager. barclay obtained neelix sometime after he transferred from the uss enterprise-e to the pathfinder project on earth.
neelix was a persian cat, and often slept on barclay’s stomach.
4. sylvia
| appears in: | star trek: the original series |
| breed: | “black cat” |
sylvia was actually an ornithoid who could shapeshift at will, and could telepathically examine the minds of individuals near her, but one of the forms she took was that of a black cat. sylvia took crewmembers of the uss enterprise hostage in a bid to research and learn more about humans before discovering she enjoyed torturing and manipulating them.
5. isis
| appears in: | star trek: the original series |
| breed: | “black cat” |
isis was another shapeshifter who liked to take the form of a black cat. isis was a companion to supervisor gary seven and had some kind of telepathic link to her companion. though she was seven’s pet cat, she was more than just this and communicated with him telepathically, plus understood his spoken words. human isis and the feline form of isis both wore the same collar.
isis was also involved in the 1968 sabotage and detonation of a nuclear missile in the atmosphere 104 miles above the surface of central eurasia.
6. chester
| appears in: | deep space 9 |
| breed: | tabby |
chester originally belonged to liam bilby and lived on farius prime with his owner. chester had a favorite chair and didn’t like it when someone else sat in it! but, when bilby died, chester passed to senior chief petty officer miles o’brien, who had entered bilby’s home under the guise of connelly.
o’brien brought chester to deep space 9 and the cat seemed to like him right away, leaping onto o’brien’s lap.
7. the caitians
| appears in: | star trek online |
| breed: | caitian |
the star trek universe features many races that don’t get too much screen time, but occasionally pop up. the caitians are a feline humanoid race that displayed a lot of feline characteristics, and are a spacefaring species and long-standing members of the united federation of planets.
they featured more prominently in the animated tv series, and the caitians are a playable race in star trek online, the mmorpg (multiplayer online role-playing game).
conclusion
cats have long been domesticated by humans, and it stands to reason they would feature in star trek. in the star trek universe, they are treated as human pets and they feature quite regularly, although they only rarely appear in the movies and tv series. the caitians did feature in the animated series and, more recently, take more of a starring role in the massive multiplayer game star trek online.
grudge’s role in discovery has also put the cats of star trek on the map.
featured image credit: miss.lemon, shutterstock
