Kzinti The Kzinti were a species of aggressive , carnivorous , feline humanoid s . Their homeworld was the planet Kzin . History . Prior to 2269 , the Kzinti fought four wars with Human kind , and lost all of them . In the course of these conflicts , some Kzinti fed on Human meat . The last such war took place in the late 21st century . By the Treaty of Sirius , the Kzinti were forbidden all weapon s apart from police vessels . ( ) In 2269 , Dr . Keniclius 5 cited the need to subdue the depredations of hostile species including the Kzinti as his justification for planning to create a " master race " consisting of an army of giant Spock clone s . ( ) " Among the members of the Ruling Council in the pocket universe of Elysia were Kzinti . " ( ) Later in 2269 , Kzinti archaeologist s discovered two Slaver stasis box es on Kzin . One of these boxes was turned over to Starfleet . The Kzinti kept the other for themselves , only to find it empty . With the secret support of the Kzinti government , a plan was devised to reacquire the former box from Starfleet ' s custody , one which would be disavowed by the Highest of Kzin in the event of its failure . On stardate 4187 . 3 , as the ' s shuttlecraft " " was transporting the box to Starbase 25 , a group of Kzinti privateer s , led by Chuft - Captain and operating from an ostensibly stolen police vessel , the " Traitor ' s Claw " , lured the shuttle to a small , ice - bound world in the Beta Lyrae system , using the empty box as bait . In illegal possession of phaser s , the privateers ambushed the shuttle ' s crew of three Starfleet officer s , imprisoning them in a police web and confiscating the unopened box in hopes of finding within it a weapon . The Kzinti indeed found a Slaver weapon among the box ' s contents , but were initially frustrated and confused by its variable functions . In testing one of its settings , the privateers unwittingly nullified the effect of their own police web , allowing Commander Spock and Lieutenant Sulu to escape with the weapon . Chuft - Captain was wounded by Spock in the process , and thus humiliated . The Kzinti offered a bargain in which they would trade the life of their remaining prisoner , Lieutenant Uhura , for the return of the weapon , on the condition that Spock allow Chuft - Captain to regain his honor by facing him in personal combat . Although the Starfeet officers refused this offer , the Kzinti nevertheless managed to recapture them and the weapon when the pair inadvertently unlocked the device ' s most powerful setting and were rendered unconscious by the resulting shockwave . Ultimately , the privateers were undone in their efforts to use the weapon themselves by its own reasoning intelligence . Determining itself to have fallen into enemy hands , the weapon engaged a self - destruct mechanism , killing the privateers and severely damaging their vessel by generating a disruptor field . ( ) Physiology . Kzinti were biped al digitigrade felines with orange fur , yellow eye s , pronounced fang s , ear s resembling bat wing s , four - finger ed hands , and long tails . Male s stood over two meter s tall , with broad hunching shoulders and comparatively slender waists and limbs . Their internal anatomy included rib s with vertical bracing and multiple heart s . They breathed atmosphere similar to that of Humans and Vulcan s . As carnivores , they were acutely averse to the consumption of plant s . Some male Kzinti were capable of reading minds ; the effort required was taxing and took time to recover from , often leaving such individuals unhappy and neurotic . There was no sure way to guard one ' s thoughts from such a telepath , but the experience could be made especially unappealing for the telepath by the subject concentrating intently on images which Kzinti considered distasteful or alien , such as eating a raw vegetable . ( ) Culture . The Kzinti were an aggressive , warlike race , disdainful of herbivorous species such as Vulcans , and with only marginally more respect for omnivorous ones such as Humans . Kzinti female s were considered " dumb animal s " without intelligence , and Kzinti males were thus predisposed to underestimate females of other species . Kzinti placed great importance on individual honor , being obliged to seek personal revenge upon an attacker before calling for help . To be defeated or wounded and left alive was considered by them the ultimate insult , which could only be remedied by single combat to the death . The Kzinti had superstitious legends about weapons being haunted by their deceased owners , of which some were frightened . The Kzinti government was led by the Highest of Kzin . They had police vessels and related equipment for the enforcing of laws , but were disallowed all other weapons by the Treaty of Sirius , yet sought ways of circumventing this and rearming . Other pursuits in which Kzinti engaged included archaeology and astronomy . ( ) Appendices . Background information . Unlike the other alien antagonists of " Star Trek " , the Kzinti species was an original creation developed independently of the television production , well before their appearances in , which were in . Science fiction author Larry Niven ' s Kzinti were first introduced as part of his " Known Space " universe in " The Warriors " , a short story published in . After reading Larry Niven ' s story " The Soft Weapon " and thinking it would be a good fit for " Star Trek " , D . C . Fontana recommended it to Gene Roddenberry , who agreed . Niven was then invited to adapt his own story into . According to Fontana , the pink coloration of the Kzinti uniforms and ship in the episode was a result of Director Hal Sutherland being colorblind , and thus unable to discern them as anything but shades of gray . Kzinti naming conventions are not explicitly discussed in " The Slaver Weapon " , but the naming conventions of the characters in the episode correspond to creator Larry Niven ' s descriptions of them in various stories . According to Niven , the Kzinti are not named at birth ; they must earn their names through valorous deeds , typically ones that advance the interests of the Patriarchy . Unnamed Kzinti have lower status , and are referred to by the name of their profession , as was Telepath . Single - named Kzinti have distinguished themselves in some manner . They often follow their awarded name with the name of their profession , as did Chuft - Captain . Kzinti can accumulate multiple names if they continue to perform valorously . In a biography of M ' Ress made available through Lincoln Enterprises in , it was stated that Kzinti and Caitian s shared common roots , having long ago split and developed into separate civilizations in much the same manner as Vulcans and Romulan s . " The Worlds of the Federation " by Shane Johnson further posited that Caitians were descended from an ancient Kzinti colony . The Kzinti made no further on - screen appearances in " Star Trek " after " The Slaver Weapon " , but their homeworld of Kzin was included on a star chart created by Mike Okuda that was displayed at Starfleet Headquarters in , and which made occasional appearances thereafter in that series , in Kirk ' s quarters in , and in the classroom on , though it was never seen closely . It has often been reported , including by , that the " Cat Dancer " played by Linda Howard ( née Fetters ) in was jokingly referred to by some backstage source or sources in connection with the film as a " Kzinrrett " . In Larry Niven ' s " Known Space " works , " Kzinrret " ( plural " Kzinrretti " ) is a term that refers to Kzinti females . Howard has stated that she herself was unaware of being called this . Robert Hewitt Wolfe has said that in naming the Tzenkethi , a species first mentioned in , he may have combined the name " Kzinti " with that of " Tsankth " , a deity of piracy in the " Glorantha " role - playing games . However , Wolfe noted that he could not remember whether he was making an intentional homage to Larry Niven in doing so , and also that he did not imagine the Tzenkethi as felinoid , instead picturing them as " " more like the Hakazit " [ from Jack Chalker ' s " Well World " series ] " . . . heavily armored lizard things . " " Jimmy Diggs , who contributed a number of stories to both " Star Trek : Deep Space Nine " and ( and was a friend of Larry Niven ' s ) , was a long - time proponent of the Kzinti returning to " Star Trek " . He made his first pitch for this in , as an intern on . In the following years , he pitched ideas for Kzinti - involved stories so persistently that Brannon Braga came to refer to them as " Jimmy Diggs ' Crazy Cats " . Jimmy Diggs even penned a screenplay for a proposed feature length CGI - animated film entitled " " , which was to involve Captain Sulu , Uhura , Chekov , and the facing a Kzinti invasion . For the purposes of pitching this project , Diggs commissioned concept art by Court Jones , including a design for a Kzinti cruiser called the " Dark Stalker " . The project had the support of George Takei , Nichelle Nichols , D . C . Fontana , and Majel Barrett - Roddenberry , but ultimately failed to capture the interest of Paramount Pictures . Undeterred in his fascination with the Kzinti , Jimmy Diggs later adapted a story idea originated by Neal and Jana Hallford into a teleplay entitled " Kilkenny Cats " , which André Bormanis arranged to have Diggs pitch to Manny Coto for the planned fifth season of . The story was to involve a Kzinti juvenile being brought on board , and the design of the " Dark Stalker " was revised by Josh Finney to fit the 22nd century setting of ENT , incorporating elements resembling components of World War II - era sea and aircraft per Diggs ' instruction . Finney created a rough CGI rendering of the vessel for use in pitching the episode . The revised design bears some similarities in its overall arrangement and coloration to Kzinti spacecraft from the " Star Fleet Universe " ( see " Apocrypha " below ) . Jimmy Diggs also created a thirty - five - page " Guide To Using The Kzinti In " Star Trek " " , which he distributed to those whom he described as " key people in the " Star Trek " and " Man - Kzin Wars " franchises , " including André Bormanis , Brannon Braga , Manny Coto , D . C . Fontana , Larry Niven , Michael Okuda , Jim Baen , and others . This guide included Diggs ' ideas of how Kzinti history and culture should fit within the " Star Trek " universe . Following Jimmy Diggs ' pitch , Manny Coto promised to fight for the reintroduction of the Kzinti on the show , and was so impressed with a Clint Burgin - sculpted maquette of Diggs ' proposed redesign for the species that he kept it in his office . However , the series was ultimately cancelled after its fourth season . Diggs subsequently sought to re - adapt " Kilkenny Cats " as an installment of the fan film series " Star Trek : Phase II " – substituting , by legal necessity , a similar species for the Kzinti – but even that effort was eventually shelved . Apocrypha . Kzinti in novels . " Star Trek Log 5 " , by Alan Dean Foster , begins with a scene of M ' Ress ' career in Starfleet . Among one of the events is her time as a junior communications officer aboard the ; the starship was attacked by a Kzin cruiser , killing all of the bridge crew , including the chief engineer , and crippling several systems , including engine s and communications . M ' Ress , who speaks little Kzinti , volunteers to beam over to the cruiser , which was disabled in a counterattack . The Kzinti are sending a distress call to their homebase , which needs to be cut off , and M ' Ress ' plan is to recode it to send a distress call from her own crew to a Federation starbase . Her actions result in a promotion to lieutenant after just two years of service and her transfer to the " Enterprise " . The battle was mentioned in M ' Ress ' biography by Lincoln Enterprises , where it was stated , " " She entered Starfleet just three years ago , " " placing the event in 2266 . The novelization of ( in " Star Trek Log 4 " ) also mentions Kzinti , when Kirk ponders about the Edoan s ' ongoing neutrality despite the warlike Klingon s , Romulans , and Kzinti nearby . Pocket TOS novel " " , by Barbara Hambly , additionally references the Kzinti . In the book , Maria Kellog , the commanding officer of a particular starbase , is established as having served as chief engineer of the . She was one of six Human crewmembers aboard that craft ; the rest were Orion s , Kzinti , and Trisk . ( Chapter 7 , " Ishmael " ) Later , Kellogg and Kirk pass two Kzinti in the starbase ' s corridor s , and Kellogg greets them in their native tongue . ( Chapter 13 , " Ishmael " ) Kzinti in the " Star Fleet Universe " . The Kzinti race in the " Star Fleet Universe " – which has traits setting them apart from the Kzin of Larry Niven ' s works – has fought wars with all of their neighbors , the Federation , the Klingon Empire and their perennial nemesis , the Lyran Star Empire . They are long - standing allies – or more accurately , co - belligerents – of the Hydran Kingdoms . The Kzinti Hegemony eventually formed a tentative accord with the Federation , and allied with them in the General War , but they have been involved in major wars with the Klingons and Lyrans , such as the Four Powers War and the General War itself , in which a substantial region of their territory was occupied by their Coalition enemies and two full - scale assaults were made on the Kzinti homeworld of Kzintai . Eventually , with Federation assistance , they forced the Coalition forces from their territory , but after the war ended , they were involved in a civil war as a disgruntled faction – which had been opposed to the Hegemony ' s ruling patriarch , sought refuge , developed a power base in the WYN Cluster , and launched an attempted " coup " of the Hegemony itself in the WYN War of Return . Also , in a fictional variant of the " Star Fleet Universe " as represented in the games " " and " " from Taldren , the Kzinti were renamed and re - interpreted as the more canine Mirak . Other appearances . The Kzinti also made brief appearances in the to " The Wristwatch Plantation " , by Sharman DiVono and Larry Niven , with art by Ron Harris . The story involved Kzinti starting an invasion in the 2270s . The authors considered publishing the story as a novel or comic book . However , this did not happen . According to " Who ' s Who in Star Trek 2 " , the USS Hood ( NCC - 1703 ) stopped a proposed invasion of Federation space by the Kzin . The Ferasan playable species in the Klingon Faction in Star Trek Online are a stand in for the Kzinti in that game , as due to legal issues they could not use the actual Kzinti . As previously mentioned in the " biography of M ' Ress " concerning the Kzinti , background information in the game reveals that the Ferasans and the Caitians were originally one single species . However , violent disagreements about how to employ genetic engineering forced the Caitians to relocate to another planet , Cait .