[1] The series follows the zany hijinks of orange-furred conjoined brothers of different species, with one half of the resultant animal being a cat and the other a dog.

[2] The first episode aired on April 4, 1998, following the 1998 Kids' Choice Awards, before the show officially premiered on October 5, 1998.

It was produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studio and Peter Hannan Productions and was released on DVD in Region 1 by Shout!

While the brothers can independently control their upper bodies with two heads, they are conjoined at the midsection, meaning they have no tail or hind legs.

Cat and Dog's personality differences share similarities with The Odd Couple, the Looney Tunes shorts and elements of Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, and fellow Nicktoon characters Ren and Stimpy.

The series, created by Peter Hannan, was developed as the next Nicktoons production and produced from Nickelodeon Animation Studio in Burbank, California.

[2] Albie Hecht, Nickelodeon's senior vice president of worldwide productions, said that the creators planned for the series to "really play off of kids' sympathies" by portraying the characters as experiencing "the worst of both worlds".

[5] In 1998, the series was nominated for an Annie Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement for Writing in an Animated Television Production, for "Dog Gone".

Nickelodeon initiated a $20 million promotional campaign for the series' first season in 1999 with partners Burger King, Duracell, Jell-O, and Nabisco.

[13] Nickelodeon promoted a trip to Universal Studios Florida as a prize in an on-air sweepstakes sponsored by Burger King and Mattel, which also released a line of CatDog toys that year.

[13] Duracell held a back-to-school-themed backpack offer as well as a "Catch CatDog" sweepstakes on television and radio during the holiday season.