Dr. Cat

Dr. Cat is the proprietor of the The Cat's Lair in Paws in Ultima V and Ultima VI. He is based upon former Origin employee David Shapiro (who also uses the Dr. Cat name in real life).

In Ultima V, Dr. Cat hadn't much to say, only offering the usual services of his establishment.

In Ultima VI, he claimed he once had a bet with Taynith on whether or not he could catch a duck with his bare hands. He won this bet and decided to tie the duck on a string and keep it with him. He also challenged the Avatar to a game of nim, a game which the Avatar had no chance of winning. Dr. Cat is searching for a copy of 'Snilwit's Big Book of Boardgame Strategy', and will offer the Avatar 200gp for retrieving the book. Talking longer with him also revealed him as a friend of Kytyn who lives in Britain and the bard Mandrake. When asked about the gypsies, Dr. Cat seemed quite fond of Zoltan's travelling band, but has a great dislike for the group north of Trinsic.

Ultima V: Lazarus
Immediately recognizing the Avatar in Ultima V: Lazarus, Dr. Cat was proud to tell the hero that he helped looked after the cats of Paws, and merely ran a tavern as a means of paying the bills, telling the hero how had bought and renamed the Folley Tavern from Rob before the previous tavernkeep moved to a new location. The strangely feline man was enamored with the cats of the town, and spoke at length of his affection for the animals, saying he believed Lord British's virtues should also apply to Britannia's treatment of animals. Still, with Blackthorn's recent rigid interpretation of the virtues with his Ethics, Dr. Cat felt all hope was lost for improving the treatment of cats throughout the land. He believed that Ferru, who benefited from selling his horses to the Oppression and spying for them, was not necessarily an evil man, just one who was ignorant of the true intentions of the Oppression and was blinded by the profit to be made by serving them.

After speaking to Windfer, Dr. Cat mentioned the recent disappearance of his serving girl Kitten, having a hard time understanding would could have happened to the sweet young girl. The distraught tavernkeeper asked the hero to talk to all the citizens of Paws to see if anyone knew of her fate, ultimately learning that the young girl had been arrested due to Ferru's influence. The Avatar could finally discover the fate of Kitten by traveling to Wrong, and there in the first chest of the dungeon was Kitten's brooch. The hero could then choose to tell Dr. Cat that the young girl had been imprisoned and tortured to death. Horrified by this knowledge, Dr. Cat bade the hero to talk to Ferru, and let the stablemaster know the true consequences of his flirtations with the Oppression.

Runes of Virtue
In the Runes of Virtue series for the Nintendo Game Boy, Dr. Cat is transformed into an anthropomorphic cat-like creature, whom would offer many useful hints for the hero.

He would also appear again in Runes of Virtue II, where he operated the bar in Jhelom. He at first insisted the hero make a wish at the local wishing well, but after Lord Zellivan's kidnapping, he admitted the crime had been good for business because many citizens now freqented his pub to talk about their loss.