This is Space Cat
Flyball is a cat. Who—and this is the complicated part—lives in space.
His career is documented in four illustrated volumes:Space Cat (1952) Space Cat Visits Venus (1955) Space Cat Meets Mars (1957) Space Cat and the Kittens (1958)"
Space Cat (1952)
Old enough to wander unsupervised, Flyball the kitten sets out to explore the world. The opportunistic cat exploits human inattention to hitch a ride in a taxi, and then on an airplane, before being discovered by Captain Fred Stone. Fred names and adopts the stray kitten and takes Flyball to a military base out in the desert.
Whatever security measures are in place at the base do not extend to cats. Flyball soon has the run of the place, which he uses to supervise the humans. Intrigued by Captain Fred’s plane, the kitten stows away. When Fred is assigned to take a new rocket for a test flight, Flyball stows away on that as well.
Convinced the cat is lucky (as opposed to, say, needing more supervision than it is getting), Fred insists that the cat accompany him on humanity’s very first trip to the Moon. Fred’s superiors acquiesce because they would not dream of taking away a man’s good-luck charm. When Fred leaves for the Moon on rocket ship ZQX-1, Flyball accompanies him. It's good that he does, because the Moon is both more wonderful than expected—there is life—and more dangerous. Fred’s life will depend on the ingenuity of one small cat.
Space Cat Visits Venus (1955)
Now a mature tom a year or two old, Flyball is the top cat—the only cat—in America’s lunar city. Constructed almost as soon as the US reached the Moon, the lunar facility is a means to an end. The fuel requirements for a return mission to and from the surface of Venus would be impossible for a chemical rocket launched from the Earth. A rocket launched from the Moon has enough payload for a human…and his cat. Or as Flyball prefers to think of it, a cat and his human.
Hoping that Venus will be habitable but aware that the odds do not favour it, Fred is surprised when Halley’s dials indicate a breathable atmosphere at reasonable temperatures. Venus’ plant life is odd-looking and more mobile than its Terrestrial analog, but all in all, Venus seems to be a potential second home for humans. Curiously, there is no sign of animal life. As they explore the region near Halley, the two explorers realize they are being herded. Venus’ natives have had unpleasant experiences with off-world invaders in the past, and they make very sure the human and the cat are harmless before revealing themselves. Not that two Terrestrials would have spotted the local intelligent beings without a bit of help. Venus is home to a vast network of intelligent commensal plants.
"The plants suggest that the two Terrestrials be circumspect about what they’ve discovered on Venus"
Space Cat Meets Mars (1957)
A near miss from a massive asteroid drags Halley off-course. Fred’s failure to check Halley’s rocket tubes for obstructions before leaving Venus compounds the situation. Halley was supposed to return to the Moon. Instead, the space craft ends up near Mars. Providentially, it has sufficient fuel reserves to set down on the surface of Mars where Fred can carry out repairs. While Fred is busy repairing Halley, Flyball is free to explore Mars on his own. Mars is less alien than Venus but still pretty odd. The insects are unnecessarily large and not frightened of Flyball in the least. There are mice but they turn out to be entirely metallic, not the delectable morsel a hard-working space cat deserves.
There is one bright note: Mars has cats! Or rather, Mars has cat! Moofa is the last of the Martian fishing cats. After her family was lost in a sandstorm, Moofa never expected to see another cat, let alone an experienced spacefarer like Flyball. She can show Flyball the wonders of Mars, while he can offer her the universe. This is not a kissing book. It was so close to being the space feline version of A Rose for Ecclesiastes. Ah, well.
Space Cat and the Kittens (1958)
OK, maybe Space Cat Meets Mars was a little bit of a kissing book. Flyball, Moofa, and their kittens are joined by their human Fred and fellow crewman Bill as the cats set out on a grand new adventure. Cats and their humans are no longer satisfied with exploring other planets in the Solar System. Einstein is no mere rocket ship. It is a hyperdrive-equipped starship: Next stop, Alpha Centauri! Habitable worlds seem to be a dime a dozen in this universe. Alpha Centauri has at least one, a planet somewhat smaller than Earth. Like Mars and Venus, it has native life. Where Venus was the world of plants, and Mars dominated by bugs, this world has miniature versions of extinct animals from Earth—everything from long-lost megafauna to dinosaurs. Carnivorous dinosaurs.
There is one bright note: Mars has cats! Or rather, Mars has cat! Moofa is the last of the Martian fishing cats. After her family was lost in a sandstorm, Moofa never expected to see another cat, let alone an experienced spacefarer like Flyball. She can show Flyball the wonders of Mars, while he can offer her the universe. This is not a kissing book. It was so close to being the space feline version of A Rose for Ecclesiastes. Ah, well.
"The books don’t tell us whether Fred’s missions are undertaken for all humanity or just the American part of it"