“Quite a lovely animal, captain. I find myself strangely drawn to it.” — Mr. Spock
The android Data had a ginger tabby cat named Spot in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Mr. Barclay had a white Persian cat named Neelix on Voyager. Chief Miles O’Brien had a white and gray cat (with an abundance of hair) named Chester on Deep Space Nine. Scott Bakula was a cool cat who starred as Captain Archer on Enterprise (plus there was that Shore Leave Planet cat thing). The ever-present Mr. Spock dug cats, famously being drawn to the sleek black cat Sylvia on the original series. And the animated series even featured a cat as a bridge officer with its Lt. M’Ress.
A crew being upstaged by a fantastic cat is a rite of passage, a staple, a linchpin in the world of Star Trek.
Enter the latest: a Maine coon cat named Grudge. Star Wars has The Book of Boba Fett, and this week, Star Trek Discovery has The Book of Grudge, available now here at Amazon.