*** Quoting Ross Sauer from a message to Brion Lienhart ***
RS> Speaking of cats and Trek, why is it the Next Generation writers kept 
RS> screwing up Data's cat "Spot's" sex? In the first several years he 
RS> was male, but then he(she?) had a litter of kittens! Not only that, 
RS> Spot changed appearance! That scene in the first NG movie where Data 
RS> finds Spot in the wreckage of the Enterprise had me crying, too! How 
RS> about the rest of you? Any explanation for Spot's change of sex and 
RS> appearance, other than just the obvious? Otherwise, how many here 
RS> remember the other cat in Trek, namely the crew member from the 
RS> animated series, "M'Ress?" Andwho can remember who did her purring 
RS> voice?
The reason Spot's sex kept changing is because the first cat, a male
Abyssinian, died, and the replacement, an orange DSH, was female.
As for M'Ress, her sultry feline voice was provided by the ever-present
Majel Barrett-Rodenberry.
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