Spot


 * "And though you are not sentient, Spot, and do not comprehend,
 * I nonetheless consider you a true and valued friend."
 * Data, reciting Ode to Spot in 2369

Spot was Data's pet cat while he served aboard the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) and -E. Data once wrote a poem about his pet, entitled "Ode to Spot". 

History
Spot was a relatively fickle cat. She only took to Data and Reginald Barclay. In 2369, while taking care of Spot, Commander Riker was forced to go to sickbay when she scratched his face. The next year, Geordi La Forge borrowed Spot, since he wanted to see what having a pet cat was like. They did not get along well, either. A short time later, Data unsuccessfully tried to train Spot, which prompted La Forge to joke that it was actually Spot who was successfully "training" Data. On another occasion, Worf tried to give Spot commands, but Spot would not obey them. Data made 221 different formulas of food for Spot, many of which Spot did not care for. Later that year, Spot became pregnant by one of the twelve male cats aboard the Enterprise-D at that time. 

In 2370, Spot played an integral part in saving the crew of the Enterprise-D. A synthetic T-cell became airborne and infected the crew, causing inactive parts of their genetic code to activate and essentially "de-evolve" them. Data and Picard returned from an away mission to the chaotic situation. They made it to Data's quarters, where Spot transformed into an iguana. Her kittens, just recently born, were unaffected, due to the natural defense mechanisms in the placenta which protects infants from the mother's diseases while in the womb. This led Data to develop a cure using amniotic fluid from Nurse Ogawa, who was also pregnant. 

In 2371, Spot survived the destruction of the Enterprise-D. Data, via his newly-installed emotion chip, cried tears of joy over Spot's survival. In 2379, Spot was aboard the Enterprise-E with B-4. 

Appearances

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Background
Spot first appeared in as a male, long-haired Somali cat, played by Monster. In subsequent appearances, Spot was seen as a more common American short-hair orange tabby, but still as a male. It was only in the seventh season episode "Force of Nature" that Spot was first referred to as she. In, she even gave birth. The Star Trek Encyclopedia jokingly suggests that Spot may be a shapeshifter or the victim of a transporter malfunction. A scene that was cut from revealed that Worf was left to care for Spot. In the scene, Worf and La Forge were cleaning out Data's quarters. Worf heard a noise, and looked up. Immediately after, Spot jumped into his arms. Worf stated that he "was not a cat person." La Forge then said, "You are now." This scene, along with other deleted scenes, were added as extras on the Special Edition DVD.

While the character of Data loved Spot, Brent Spiner is noted as possibly having an, albeit minor, dislike for the cat. In the commentary of, it was stated that he did not want to go back for Spot, and during an interview in the 2010 Wizard World in Philadelphia, he said, in a joking manner, that he thought the cat was "the stupidest actor I've ever worked with," saying that [s]he "never took a piece of direction, ever." Except for one time where "They" (presumably the writers) wrote in "Spot eats tuna out of a can. And he did it on the first take, otherwise we were there all day with that cat."

Spot is the second of four recurring pets; the others were Livingston, Chester, and Porthos.

In the TNG relaunch novel Before Dishonor, Worf has assumed the role of caretaker for Spot after Data's death. Worf, after Spot assists with hunting down an alien infestation on the Enterprise, states that he finds her to be a warrior, who simply lulls people into a false confidence of a cat.