The comic follows Cathy, a woman who struggles through the "four basic guilt groups" of life: food, love, family, and work.

The strip gently pokes fun at the lives and foibles of modern women.

Guisewite received the National Cartoonists Society Reuben Award in 1992 for the strip.

[1] Initially, the strip was based largely on Guisewite's own life as a single woman.

"The syndicate felt it would make the strip more relatable if the character's name and my name were the same," Guisewite said in an interview.

Although presented as an equal in her marriage to Cathy's Dad, Mom holds many old-fashioned ideas.

The June 18, 2017 strip of the relaunched Bloom County featured a dismayed Cathy awakening in bed alongside Steve Dallas.

[16] The comic strip Luann featured Mabel (in the October 5, 2016 strip) as a worker of the 'Bridal Barn' wedding gown store where Toni Daytona went to purchase her wedding gown with the help of Nancy and Luann DeGroot.

A live action Cathy sketch was included in the special Mother's Day Sunday Funnies broadcast May 8, 1983 on NBC.

To prevent the newspapers from double running Cathy strips, Del (Eric Lutes) and Richard (Malcolm Gets) create one for Caroline.

On the episode "Don Geiss, America and Hope", Liz Lemon's boyfriend Wesley compares her obsession with food to being like "a Cathy cartoon that just won't end".

[citation needed] On Saturday Night Live, Andy Samberg would portray Cathy as loud and obnoxious on Weekend Update (Season 34, Episode 17; aired March 7, 2009).

In The Simpsons episode "Girls Just Wanna Have Sums", a painting of Cathy is shown as part of a hall of famous female artists; in the painting, Cathy is shown in a two-piece swimsuit, saying "I'm finally able to fit into my bathing suit.... and it's September!".

In the 2010 The Big Bang Theory episode "The Wheaton Recurrence", Sheldon brings Penny ice cream, citing that he had been familiarizing himself with the comic strip Cathy and that when she is upset, she says "Ack!"

In 2021, writer and comedian Jamie Loftus released Aack Cast, a podcast series tackling the history, impact, and continuing relevance of the comic strip.