Imperial Cat began in 1986 with a single product, the Scratching Pad, which was developed after Bill and Gale Seliskar, who owned a corrugated box company at the time, discovered that their cats loved to scratch the cardboard samples Bill often brought home. Wanting only the best for their cats, they added certified organic catnip to the scratchers—it was an instant hit with the cats, and it established the company as a pioneer in the organic pet product movement.