Elena Itämeri, Sven & Sushi
Elena & Sven
I adopted Svensson from the Oregon Humane Society in August 2018. I'd just moved across the country for law school, and I was planning to wait a little while longer before adopting because I didn't really feel fully settled yet. Before my first semester even started, however, my family found out that our cat, Ginger, who we'd had since I was 7 years old, had gone into multi-organ failure. I was absolutely devastated after FaceTiming my mom from 2,500 miles away while they were at the vet making the difficult decision to let her go. I couldn’t think of anything that had a chance of cheering me up—until I found myself at the shelter. Oregon Humane had a huge influx of kittens right around that time because a lot of shelters in California had to be evacuated for the wildfires. I chose three kittens I wanted to meet, but one was in the infirmary, one was meeting another family, and that left a black fluffy kitten with the widest bright green eyes. He was the tiniest little thing, and I absolutely fell in love. I brought him home, and as soon as I opened his carrier in my apartment, he was scaling every surface he could find. He knew he belonged here.
“They’re constantly picking up on each other’s weird habits. So far, Sven has taught Sushi how to lie on the floor like a basking seal, and Sushi has taught Sven how to drink running water from the tap.”
Now, at three years old, he's calmed down a little bit, but he's still involved in everything I do. If I'm brushing my teeth, he's sitting on the bathroom counter; if I'm baking, he always ends up covered in flour; and if I'm watching TV, he'll usually climb up and curl up on my chest while nuzzling under my chin. I’m so used to him being my shadow around the apartment that I immediately knew something was wrong when he didn’t get out of bed at the same time as me when he was about 6 months old. I took him to the vet, and it turned out he hadn’t been able to digest a piece of sweet potato peel he’d eaten while he supervised my Thanksgiving meal prep the day before. Since then, I’ve kept a more careful eye on what he gets up to in the kitchen. He's the most loving and emotionally intelligent cat I've ever known, and I can’t imagine getting through law school without him.
Sushi lived in Florida until he moved in with me and Sven in March 2021. My dad found him— a tiny, abandoned, tuxedo kitten—in a ditch during a particularly severe Florida thunderstorm when I was in the seventh grade. Sushi has some chronic respiratory issues, so you can usually hear him breathing from across the house, but that doesn’t faze him. He wasn’t too much of a people person until Ginger passed. The two of them would always cuddle, but once his best friend was gone, he needed to find a new way to socialize.
Almost everything that Sushi knew, he’d learned from Ginger. She was never interested in toys or cat furniture, so we didn’t think to get Sushi any when he arrived. Since her passing, his personality has developed, and he’s started to explore his own interests. Over the last three years, I’ve essentially watched him re-learn how to be a cat. He’s learned to use a scratching post, sleep next to me on the couch, and even how to play with toys. The first toy he ever played with was a Tower of Tracks Cat Toy when he was twelve years old—I definitely cried. Another first for Sushi in his seniority was driving across the country three times in the span of six months. He would sleep in the car during the day, and once he got into a hotel room, he ate his dinner and was ready to relax. It’s like he’s reached his retirement and can now live his life to the fullest.
At the moment, Sushi and Sven live together in harmony. They’re constantly picking up on each other’s weird habits. So far, Sven has taught Sushi how to lie on the floor like a basking seal, and Sushi has taught Sven how to drink running water from the tap. They both like to sunbathe on their window perches, and I’ve tried to make sure that they both have their personal space. Sven is a little bit of a recovering spoiled only child, but we’re making it work.
I thought law school would be the hardest part of the last three years, but I’ve been presented with obstacles I never thought I’d be able to face and conquer, both personally and in the world generally. I credit Sven and Sushi for much of my success because they have been constant sources of affection, comfort, and joy. I’m at a transitional point in my life, and I’m feeling a lot of uncertainty, but I take solace in the fact that a younger version of myself would be proud of the things I’m doing… and extremely excited to be living with two dope cats.
Elena Itämeri recently graduated from law school where she earned a certificate in environmental and natural resources law. She will begin work as an energy justice fellow in Boston, MA later this summer.