How to Care for Spot, According to Data

In honor of International Cat Day, here is a compilation of Data's best tips for showering your feline friend with the most optimal care.

Ensure Quality Meals

Be sure to always have your pet's favorite balanced meal on hand; our small pal's have preferential palates, too. In Data's case, he has tested over 200 different nutritional formulas of food, noting Spot's highly selective tastes, and has them saved in the ship's replicator. 

Plan Routine Check-ups

Even if you're stationed on a flagship starship, it's important to ensure your pet gets routine care. Thankfully for the expecting Spot, she's in good hands with Dr. Crusher and Nurse Ogawa.

Stock Her Quarters with All the Amenities

Cats usually have pick a specific location of where they plan to give birth. Once you figure it out, make sure her place has all of her comfort items 

Secure the Best Sitters

Cats just know when people aren't a fan of them. Unfortunately for Riker, he was met with several claws to his face for simply trying to feed Spot. 

With the possibility of Spot delivering while he's away, he recruits Barclay in watching over the temperamental feline.

Leave Thorough Care Instructions

Don't assume your sitters will know how to take care of your beloved pet. When Data entrusts Spot's care with Worf, to ensure her safety, he provides the security officer with the following instructions:

Also, sometimes our humanoid friends need the simply reminder that our furry friends are not all alike, "Unlike a canine, Spot will not respond to verbal commands."

Pay Tribute to Your Friend

In keeping with the tradition of poets who compose odes to "individuals who have had a profound effect upon their lives," Data pens "Ode to Spot" to memorialize Spot's impact on him.

Affection Goes Both Ways

While Spot seeks out Data's attention often while he's working at his desk, she is also there for him when he's befuddled with human behavior. After his relationship with Jenna D'Sora ends due to Data's android nature, and his dinner plans canceled, Spot jumps into Data's lap for some excellent chin scratches. 

Heed the Cardinal Rule

Having a pet is a big responsibility. When Geordi expresses interest in getting a cat of his own, Data lets his best friend borrow Spot to experience "the full range of feline behavior," before imparting the most important lesson, "I do not think it would be wise to startle her."

When Geordi suggests the use of a phaser set to stun to help the android train his cat, Data quickly retorts that he will not stun his cat.

Remember Cats Are Resilient

While surveying the Enterprise wreckage, Data discovers Spot has survived the destruction without injury. While happy, but exhibiting tears, Data questions if Dr. Soong's emotion chip is malfunctioning.