Dunn created the strip after relocating to her native Westerly, Rhode Island after living in Seattle from 2010 to early 2014.
In the foreword, Dunn shared that she got the idea when one of her cats created a mess, prompting the others to investigate, which inspired her to envision them as television news channel reporters and develop distinct voices for them.
Because this is "news important to cats", a typical lead story might be "There's a great big box in the living room!"
There are larger story arcs, such as Tommy the stray finding his Woman, the Children developing (learning to walk, potty training, becoming Toddlers), the weather, holiday traditions, the People buying a house, et cetera.
The original three cats (all adult males), who live on the second floor of the Big Pink House with the Man, the Woman, the Boy, and the Girl: New additions to the original three cats: Additional animal characters who live nearby (alphabetical): There are also additional characters who appear occasionally, including ghost cats (Admiral Whiskers, Angus, Carl, Lady Jane, and Tillie); Agatha, the Golden Mouse; and various woodland characters, including raccoons, a raven, etc.