any Star Trek fans out there?

for anyone who isn't a Trekkie, the android, Data had a striped orange cat named Spot.

I love that! My next stripy feline is absolutely going to be named Spot

the current His Orangeness, aka Oakley is so named because #1 son - who brought him home and therefore had naming rights - had a much prized, bright orange, metallic finish pair of Oakley sunnies at the time. The glasses are long gone but Oakley is still with us at 13.

Oakley and I would like to share with you Data's 'Ode to Spot':

Felis Cattus, is your taxonomic nomenclature,
An endothermic quadruped, carnivorous by nature
Your visual, olfactory and auditory senses
Contribute to your hunting skills, and natural defenses.

I find myself intrigued by your subvocal oscillations,
A singular development of cat communications
That obviates your basic hedonistic predilection
For a rhythmic stroking of your fur, to demonstrate affection.

A tail is quite essential for your acrobatic talents;
You would not be so agile if you lacked its counterbalance.
And when not being utilized to aide in locomotion,
It often serves to illustrate the state of your emotion.

O Spot, the complex levels of behaviour you display
Connote a fairly well-developed cognitive array.
And though you are not sentient, Spot, and do not comprehend,
I nonetheless consider you a true and valued friend.

Data,

from the episode “Schisms”