Spock the Vulcan Cat

I had to share this neat story from peoplepets.com on my blog...

"She was a cat made in Internet heaven.

The 2-year-old calico was sweet, and friendly, but there was something else rather unusual about her. She was born with a birth defect in her right paw, which mimicked the splift-fingered hand gesture made popular by actor Leonard Nimoy on Star Trek.

That certainly got the attention of members of the Atlanta Humane Society as they walked through the Fulton County Animal Services looking for animals to rescue.

So they named her Spock, and featured her on the homepage of Atlanta Humane. Within a week, news of the cat with the sci-fi foot went viral, inspiring geeky commentary and photo illustrations from Trekkies on Fark.com.

Soon after that, Spock found her forever home — fittingly, with a family of Star Trek fans, though this one had no idea about all the buzz.

Freelance photographer Hannah Wildner and her 14-year-old son Chas, had been traveling to the Atlanta Humane Society in search of a dog, but as cat lovers, made time to meet some of new feline friends.

"My son was walking by her cage, and she just kind of hopped down, and was like, 'Hey, take me,'" Wildner tells PEOPLEPets.com. "When we found out her name was Spock, my son thought that was really cool, but for my husband and me, it just clenched it because we're Star Trek fans. Our other cat is named Rebel Alliance."

As she settles into her new home, the Wildner family is finding that Spock has rather un-Vulcan-like traits. According to Wildner, the perpetually saluting kitty is friendly, happy and active, and not at all calculating or controlled. "She's just a little cuddle bug.

"Her housemate Rebel Alliance, meanwhile, seems more closely related to the Star Trek character Spock, and she is none to happy about Spock the cat's presence."Rebel Alliance is very reserved, and she doesn't like to be held," says Wildner. "It's always on her terms. Rebel is top kitty. They'll have to figure out their social order just like siblings, but it'll work out."