chasing a comet's tail
Sometimes I think about Laika and Felicette a bit too hard and start crying, so I'm making a list about it.
I have not read really any of the books on this list, I just wanted to collect them in place as a sort of tribute to the various spacefaring animals. Edits will be made, additions and subtractions, over time. I might be the wrong person to make this list, as I'm primarily a fiction reader and also not a scientist, but here we are. Recommendations welcome!
created by bookguy
last updated October, 2026
Comments
If anyone knows of any good nonfiction focused on Felicette the space cat (that's actually on PB), and the other non-dog space animals (I know there were several monkeys, some fruits flies at one point, and at least one fish?) I would love to add them here.
Fiction is also welcome as long as it's based on the true stories of these animals. Poetry is especially welcome.
OUUUHH I've been WAITING for a list like this 💜
bookguyOP
Hopefully it doesn't disappoint, it's gonna be sort of a long-term "personal curriculum" for me as I curate it tbh, I love the space animals with all my heart but I'm also kind of a layman 😅 but I tried to see if the list already existed and couldn't find one, so my fate was sealed lol
I will be learning alongside you 🫡 I've also wanted to learn more about Laika et al., but I never knew where to start so this is perfect 💜
:(
I literally cried yesterday reading a paragraph about what flying in an airplane is like for a dog. Don't get me started
bookguyOP
Oh god Muttnik had me on the brink of tears 😭 and that untitled tumblr post messes me up every time good lord. Maybe I should add a comment under the pinned one to compile non-book space animal tributes, since so much poetry is standalones 🤔 I will come back to this thought (thank you for this btw! I had not read Muttnik, For The First Dog In Space, or Claire Williamson's Laika and they were all heartbreaking. Will I ever not cry. If you ever wanna sob like a baby, there's a song that precipitated me making this list, written for Felicette the space cat, and it completely broke me 100% 🔗link – the artist has a companion piece for Laika too)
Yw and thank you for the song link! Brb, gonna go bawl my eyes out!!! Also YES I would love to see what else is out there along these lines, and thank you for putting together this list
Poor babies
Oh my god not my kryptonite. 😭 I’m getting Laika tattooed some day , playing with the mars rover. 😭😭😭
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