Anybody else think it was messed up that Data kept Spot trapped in his quarters?
I just re-watched TNG "In Theory" (S04E25) and Data says that the door to his quarters is set to only allow humanoids to enter or leave when Geordie finds Spot in the hall.
Whilst I get that it would be dangerous for Spot to wander the ship freely I think it's kind of mean to keep him locked in a small room like that forever. There doesn't seem to be any cat toys in the room but maybe the computer is capable of some sort of environmental enrichment we can't immediately see.
Not really. His quarters seem spacious enough and as long as he has plenty of engagement - which we can assume he did because of his study of having a pet, indoor cats are perfectly happy lazy balls of frustrating love.
Plus, cats are nocturnal and are most active at night. Data does not always sleep, so on nights where he’s not on the bridge, he could be spending quality time with Spot.
Cats are actually crepuscular, meaning they're most active at dawn and dusk, but they can be trained to keep to a mostly human sleep schedule (by which I mean sleeping 8 of their 15 daily hours at the same time you do).
Yeah, I get the impression TNG quarters are about the size of a studio apartment, which isn't amazing for cats, but it can work if you keep them entertained.
It seems like the upper staff on the ship get quarters that are roughly the size of a 1 or 2 bedroom apartment. Not great, but not worse than what lots of people do IRL.
Plus maybe he sometimes takes spot to a cargohold for more active play. There would be plenty of space, lots of height, etc. And that's all before even considering the holodeck.
In 2370, Spot became pregnant by one of the twelve male cats aboard the Enterprise-D at that time. Data paid attention to her health, including bringing her to sickbay for a check-up just before giving birth. (TNG: "Genesis")
I checked a transcript, and saw this line between him an Barclay, implying not only that Spot "escaped," but that there are other cats also loose:
BARCLAY: I'm curious, sir. Who's the father?
DATA: I am not certain. Spot has escaped from my quarters on several occasions and there are twelve male felines on board. I intend to run a full DNA analysis on the kittens once they [he is interrupted by Picard on speaker]
To be fair, you can't treat Spot like an outdoor cat on a space ship. Unlike kids there's no one assigned to Spot to keep track of them in an emergency.
And before you say well Data is responsible for that, keep in mind data will pretty always have his attention monopolized by an emergency on this ship. So the best thing for Spot is to be in a known location.