Cat Claws, Inc was founded by avid cat owners Bill and Gale Seliskar in 1986 in Melrose, Illinois. Before beginning Cat Claws, Bill worked at a corrugated cardboard factory. He noticed that when he brought home corrugated cardboard samples, his cats abandoned their favorite scratching spot—the couch—to scratch the cardboard instead, especially after Bill sprinkled the samples with catnip. It was quick work for Bill to put some of the samples together into a scratching post, and soon Cat Claws, Inc was producing the first official cardboard scratcher for purchase. In 2006, Cat Claws, Inc revolutionized cat scratcher production again with their new Scratch ‘n’ Shapes products designed to provide the same great scratching resource for cats in unique and diverse sizes and shapes designed to work with customers’ décor. Today, Cat Claws, Inc remains a family business owned and operated by Bill and Glen’s daughters, Ginger and Jill.
Partner Stats
Manufacturers
Quality Intentional Production and Design for the Best Scratching Experience
One of the things that made Mud Bay so excited to partner with Cat Claws on the production of our own line of cat scratchers was their meticulous and intentional design and production of their scratchers. All production takes place in the Cat Claws warehouse in Morrilton, Arkansas, where scratchers are carefully engineered to provide the optimal shape and texture for scratching, and everything from the paper to the glue are selected to provide the perfect tough-but-not-too-tough surface that’s most satisfying to scratch. They even employ 20+ office cats to test each new design! When designing our own line of scratchers in partnership with Cat Claws, Mud Bay took advantage of their flexibility and expertise to bring to life several Pacific Northwest-themed shapes that would fit perfectly into our customers’ homes.
Recycled, Organic and Biodegradable Materials
When Cat Claws, Inc approached Mud Bay about producing Mud Bay exclusive scratchers in 2019, we loved not only their focus on functional and intentional design but also their commitment to sustainable manufacturing. Each of their scratchers contains a minimum 30% recycled cardboard, and they use soy-based inks for printing. The catnip included with each scratcher, while not certified organic, is organically raised, and Muddies who tested our scratchers and catnip before they were rolled out to customers reported that the catnip is superior to any other their cats had tried.
Organic Catnip Toys Designed for the PNW
In addition to scratchers, Cat Claws also makes catnip toys for Mud Bay. They make our “bug” wand toys, as well as plush and hand-knitted catnip toys. The catnip critter knit toys are hand-knit in Peru and are purchased according to Fair Trade guidelines. The critters are filled at Cat Claws’ factory in Arkansas. All of our catnip toys are filled with Cat Claws’ organic catnip—though it is not certified organic, it is raised organically. Cat Claws also makes Pacific Northwest–themed toys designed by Mud Bay, including our sasquatch paw and orca plush catnip toys and a sasquatch paw wand toy.