Starship Cats

In the past, some crews of maritime vessels on Earth were keeping black cats as good luck charms and protection against bad weather onboard. The cats also served a practical purpose of hunting vermin that got on board the ship. The tradition has been revived in the age of interstellar travel with the inclusion of starship cats. They too have to sometimes hunt vermin who can get onto a starship when cargo is being delivered. However, most of the time the cats wander around the ship.

Keeping care of the cats

The tradition dictates that the cats must be well taken care of if they are to keep bad luck away and attract good luck to the ship. For that reason, every ship has dedicated food rations for cats as well as special play rooms for them. On many ships there are even dedicated crew members responible for cat comfort and welfare. Though it seems like an easy job with little actual work to do the truth is completely different. Cat caretakers have always their hands full. Additionally, if a cat dies on a starship it is considered a sign of bad luck and a cat caretaker is held personally responisble for it. To avoid the bad luck of dead cats, ill and old cats are replaced with young and healthy.

Where were you assigned to? Cat caretaker? Good luck!

— An experienced crewman to a new crewman

Cat Names

Starship cats are often named after the ship they live on or have a name related to the ship's name. No matter what is the case, the name is always chosen by the ship's captain. For example, the cats that live on the ECNS Ghost of Kyiv are always given Ukrainian names or names related to Ukrainian towns and cities. Many cats have also nicknames that are used by the crew of the ship and are chosen based on the cat's personality and behaviour. When talking about cats who past away it is customary to use both their formal name and the nickname.