Kath Hound

Kath hounds were creatures indigenous to the planet of Dantooine.

Overview
Kath hounds were about the size of a large dog, fur-covered, and had two toes on each of their four cloven hooves. They were generally not very hostile, unless provoked. At one point, the kath hounds started attacking the citizens of Dantooine and were blamed for numerous crimes, including the theft of a protocol droid. When Revan was being re-trained as a Jedi, one of the trials that Dantooine's Jedi Enclave council ordered him to complete was to remove a dark side taint which had made the kath hounds more violent. Kath hounds were also a popular pet for the crime lords of Nar Shaddaa, including Visquis and Vogga the Hutt. Domesticated kath hounds, called salkies, were also popular pets on Coruscant.

There was also a breed of kath hound called a horned kath hound, which was more aggressive and dangerous than the standard hound. They had two tusks and were slightly larger than normal kath hounds. Certain horned kath hounds were born albino, and the rare albino specimens were the toughest of all kath hound subspecies, Revan encountered one of these on his exploration on Dantooine.

When Darth Malak bombarded Dantooine, the kath hound dwindled, and they became rare and prized as pets and guard animals for the wealthy and privileged.

It is possible that Juma Juice could be used to put kath hounds to sleep. Vogga the Hutt's pet kath hounds were knocked out this way.

Behind the scenes
The expressions "runt of a Kath-hound," "son-of-a-Kath-hound" and "Kath-mutt" are similar to the real expression "son of a bitch."