What is the name of the cat in Pet Sematary?

The cat in Pet Sematary is named Church, short for Winston Churchill.

Church belongs to Ellie Creed, whose family moves from Chicago to Ludlow, Maine, after Louis Creed accepts a position at the University of Maine. The family’s new home sits beside a dangerous road used by speeding trucks, and their elderly neighbor Jud Crandall warns them about the risks.

While the Creeds are away for Thanksgiving, Church is killed on the highway. Jud, trying to spare Ellie the grief of losing her pet, takes Louis beyond the children’s pet cemetery to an ancient burial ground associated with the Mi’kmaq. Church returns the next day, but he is changed: he smells terrible, becomes aggressive, and begins leaving dead animals around the house.

Readers sometimes remember only the generic phrase “the cat” or confuse Church with the resurrected child Gage. The unusual spelling “sematary” is also deliberate: it copies the children’s misspelled sign. Church’s resurrection is the first warning that the burial ground brings back bodies in a corrupted form.