Spot (cat)

Spot was the role of a cat on the television series, Star Trek: the Next Generation, as well as in two of the Star Trek movies, Star Trek: Generations and Star Trek: Nemesis. He was the pet of Commander Data, an android who sought to become more human but was imperfect in doing so; giving a traditional dog's name to a cat was one example of his imperfection.

Spot was actually played by several cats, and changed in appearance through the seasons. Originally, he was described as male, but, as the episodes progressed, Spot was called "she", and eventually became pregnant in one episode. Her pregnancy provided a critical immune serum that saved the human crew.

While Spot was portrayed as generally unfriendly to other members of the crew, Spot's interactions gave Data the opportunity to comment on human behavior. When Data complained to the ship's engineer, Geordi LaForge, about his difficulty in training Spot, his human friend observed that Spot was actually training Data quite well.

Brent Spiner, who played Commander Data, actually dislikes cats.