The sequence in which the titular cat battles a dog took six months of filming and employed seven trained cats. The special effects director who was initially tasked with realising these scenes was fired after just three days due to animal endangerment and was replaced by up-and-coming Japanese effects artist Shinji Higuchi. Because it would have been too costly to demolish the set that had already been prepared, Higuchi was required to pick up the shoot as-is. He worked on the film for one month before having to return to Japan, only completing one scene in this time.
Ni Kuang, author of the original novel upon which the film is based, makes a cameo as the dog owner Mr. Chen. Like his cameos in other films at the time (including The Seventh Curse), Kuang's scenes were shot in sync-sound (which would not be the norm in Hong Kong films until the mid 90s), while the rest would be dubbed in post production.
The Cat is the fifth film to be based on a novel in the Wisely series. The first, The Seventh Curse (1986), was also directed by Ngai Choi Lam and produced by Chua Lam, with special effects by Kazuo Sagawa.