Today is the latest of my sporadic attempts to remember–and remind you all–that we share living space with cats not named Rufus, Lefty, or Watanuki.

I mentioned last month that Maggie has a new phone. (Which she is backing up. Right, Maggie?) Of course a new phone means a new excuse to take pictures of the cats. Lots and lots of them.

So here’s one of the first pictures from Maggie’s shiny new BlackBerry KeyOne.

Sachiko, aka Our Little Alien Princess.

What do you mean, “Why do we call her that?”

Maybe this will help you figure it out.

I realize that, reruns notwithstanding, the show predates many of you. But just look at those antennae and tell me Sachiko doesn’t show signs of Martian ancestry.

Not convinced? According to the Wikipedia article, Martians have certain powers Earthlings lack:

1. Their antennae are retractable. I’m not sure Sachiko’s are retractable, but they’re certainly not always visible. Allowing for the usual quantity of errors or distortions of fact in any TV show, I think it’s close enough.
2. They can become invisible. No question about this one. We can look all over the house for Sachiko, only to have her turn up in the middle of the dining room floor where we couldn’t possibly have failed to see her. (Mind you, I think this is a superpower shared by all cats, not just the Martian ones.)
3. They are telepathic. Yup. As soon as we start thinking about making the cats’ dinner, Sachiko heads for the kitchen, ready to carry out her one household chore: licking the fork clean.
4. They can levitate objects. Also no question about this one. She may not be able to keep objects aloft, but she doesn’t have any trouble getting them into the air. As a matter of fact, she’s so good at it, one of her secondary titles is “Gravity’s Little Helper”.
5. They can speed themselves up. When properly motivated (see Number Three above) Sachiko can hit speeds in excess of any reasonable speed limit. I’m convinced that if there were fewer corners between the bedroom and the kitchen, she could crack the sound barrier.

I rest my case.