When Eero was 10 years old, their family lived in an apartment building in Kallio. They were not allowed to bring pets there, and therefore, the family didn’t have any pets at that time. It was the 1940s and stray cats would wander in the streets in the part of the city where the Aarnios lived. Young Eero would catch these cats and carry them home in his arms to the family’s apartment on the 5th floor. Eero’s mother would let him keep the cat for one day and he loved to play with them.

Even though, later on the family ended up having a dog, Eero has always found cats charming as well. “Cat has always been a very sympathetic animal character for me”, he says. Eero has designed several dog figures and characters during his career and finally he decided it was time for the cat as well. The name Kisu was a natural choice for him as in his childhood, Kisumisu, was a common term of endearment for cats in the Aarnio family.