Kat Nipp, whose name is a play on the word "catnip", is a villainous anthropomorphic cat. Kat Nipp is an often-drunk countryside tough guy who is a rival of Mickey Mouse. Nipp made his debut in the 1929 animated short The Opry House, in which he posed as a snake for a snake-charming act—continuing to smoke his pipe all the while. Nipp's other two appearances in animation also came in 1929, with When the Cat's Away and The Karnival Kid. The latter film introduced Nipp's habit of physically abusing Mickey, here by stretching out Mickey's nose to a ridiculous length.