Having never seen TAS (shocking, I know) I was like "wtf how are there Kzinti in TAS?". Should have figured Niven wrote the script:
The Kzinti were also written by Niven into the Star Trek universe, appearing first in Star Trek: The Animated Series. Similar characters also appeared in Star Trek: Lower Decks and in Star Fleet Universe, as well as material for Star Trek: Enterprise that was never produced because of the series' cancellation
(from Wikipedia)
I do remember wondering whether the Kzin-like characters in LD were a nod to Niven's space kitties, and it turns out they were.