The working title for the film was Wylie. Var announced it as an upcoming Universal Pictures production on 6 Dec 1967. Terence Stamp was attached to play the title character, “Wylie,” and television director Alex Segal was brought on to direct, as stated in the 8 Feb 1968 DV. However, the following month, a news brief in the 4 Mar 1968 DV announced that Stamp had left the project due to scheduling conflicts. Michael Sarrazin was cast in his place.
       A production chart in the 19 Apr 1968 DV noted that principal photography began 16 Apr 1968 in San Francisco, CA. Eight days of location shooting took place in various San Francisco locations, including the North Beach neighborhood, a Pacific Heights mansion owned by Safeway chief Robert Magowan, and the neighboring city of Sausalito, CA, as stated in the 4 Jun 1969 DV review. The remainder of shooting was to be completed at the Universal Pictures studio lot in Universal City, CA, according to the 18 Apr 1968 DV.
       On 24 Apr 1968, DV reported that Alex Segal was forced to leave the project due to a back injury. David Lowell Rich was brought on to replace him. The 17 Jun 1968 DV claimed that Rich had agreed to take over on condition that existing footage be scrapped. Universal agreed, although $100,000 had already been spent on the production.
       The Humane Society reportedly nixed two scenes that were due to be filmed. A 24 Apr 1968 DV brief noted that “one scene called for a feline to be electrocuted in a hair dryer, and another shot for kittens to be killed by Michael Sarrazin.” Filmmakers were said to have made “the largest casting call for cats” in Hollywood, when they searched for 50 feline performers, as stated in the 11 Jun 1968 LAT.
       Principal photography wound in mid-Jun 1968, according to a 17 Jun 1968 DV brief. However, David Lowell Rich and producer Bernard Schwartz planned to return to San Francisco for helicopter footage, and, in Los Angeles, to shoot additional special effects footage involving cats.
       A title change to Eye of the Cat was announced in the 22 Jan 1969 DV. The film was released several months later, on 13 Jun 1969, in Detroit, MI. Regional openings also took place that night in Amarillo and El Paso, TX, according to advertisements in the Amarillo Globe-Times and El Paso Herald-Post. The film opened the following week, on 18 Jun 1969, in New York City, and on 3 Sep 1969 in Los Angeles, CA. Critical reception was largely negative.
       Paul Baxley, Julie Johnson, Sharon Harvey, Judy Cassmore, Candy McCoy, and Ray Neapolitan were listed as cast members in DV casting notices published in May and Jun 1968.