Nesta entrevista com o produtor executivo James Duff, ele diz:
Though Brenda is not a "pet person" she adopts the cat, simply calling it "kitty," and begins to develop a relationship with her. "A pet is usually not a part of the procedural aspects of a crime show, but it is a part of everyday life for a lot of people and we wanted to show Brenda as an ordinary person," says Duff.
Quanto à morte do gatinho:
Kyra Sedgwick broke down weeping when she arrived on set to begin filming the fifth season of TNT's hit show "The Closer" and learned that her character, Deputy Police Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, would be grappling in ensuing episodes with the serious illness of Kitty, her pet cat. Unbeknownst to the show's creator and executive producer, James Duff, Sedgwick had just lost her real-life cat.
"We didn't feel like we had a choice," says Duff, explaining why he decided to make Kitty's illness a major storyline. The cat that played Kitty had, in real life, been diagnosed with a serious kidney condition. "We could replace the cat and keep filming, or we could accept the cat was seriously ill and write it into the story."