While I would have been curious to see a Puppeteer, given the role of the Kzinti aggression in motivating Dr. Keniclius 5 to create the giant Spock (TAS ‘The Infinite Vulcan’), it was important for TAS to show us a direct interaction between Spock and the Kzinti in ‘The Slaver Weapon.’
Not to mention that Niven may have needed to make some changes for his adaptation of his story “The Soft Weapon” to get the original story credit.
I’m just glad that the Kzinti are acknowledged as canon in the franchise again.
Edited: just recalled that the reproductive imperatives of Pierson’s Puppeteer’s are enough to make the biological imperatives of the SNW Gorn seem less monstrous. What was Niven thinking?