>>15486632The Johto arc was done during the anime's early period, back then the only cat that Meowth ever fell in love with was another Meowth. The joke would not be picked up again until May captured her Skitty.
Clearly during Johto they weren't sure if they wanted the Meowth loving cats shit to become a regional gag or not, so they had him dress up as a Sneasel instead.
