It's a thought experiment; in reality, the macroscopic nature of the system precludes it ever being in such a state. The point is to highlight the counter-intuitive nature of superposition, that something can be it two mutually exclusive states at once until such time it becomes observed.
The macroscopic state of the system notwithstanding (not to mention its own cognition), the cat is both dead and alive, until such time that it is observed.
That is a though experiment that leads down a dead end road. There is no such thing as a particle capable of being in two states simultaneously until it is observed. It is one or the other, always has been, you just observe it in one of the possible states at any given time. Just as two objects on set courses and velocities will ALWAYS interact in one predictable outcome. Such are the laws of physics. Two billard balls colliding will always react in one, and only one course of action, depending on their velocities and angles of interaction. Once speed and angle is set, there can be but one outcome. Don't go down the dead end road of particles being in different states simultaneously, that is simply sciences cop-out for not understanding all the variables involved.
The ultimate goal of science is to simplify the natural world, not complicate it with theories that in reality explain nothing at all. But being tenor-ship requires a set amount of published papers, papers are written that have nothing to do with reality that creep into dogmatic belief.
In reality we simply lack the technology and knowledge to account for all the unseen variables, so we hedge our bets and describe it in both states, so one or the other is always true, and observation seems to back theory. But it only hides a flaw in the underlying theories themselves.
Just as if you believe in resonance, that an electron here will resonate instantly with an electron on the other side of the universe, then you are propagating belief in a force capable of FTL interaction. And if that is true, then it is also possible for gravity to be an instantaneous action at a distance force. Declared impossible, so by extension, so is resonance. It can not be both ways.
A particle is in one state or another at the time of observation, not both states simultaneously until observed. It may take another 100 years before we are capable of understanding all the variables involved, but we should not propagate incorrect theories simply because that would leave us without an explanation, but should instead search for one. Better to have no theory, than to continue with an incorrect one.