What Does Kaluha Mean?

Annie and Missy. In that order.
Baby A and Baby B — identical twin sisters and best friends since day one.

After Missy moved to California and left me all alone in Idaho (well, not entirely alone — I still have my sweet husband, lol), I knew I needed to find a way to stay connected with my lifelong BFF.

We’d already spent two years apart before this: I was in Canada, and she was in the Philippines, both of us serving missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Missy became fluent in Cebuano, while I served among the Chinese-speaking community, learning Mandarin along the way.

The two of us have loved and doted on our pets all of our lives. When we dreamed up the idea of starting a dog business together, we knew we wanted it to reflect not just our bond as sisters, but also the love we developed for the people we met during our years apart. So we decided to name our business “Twin” — but in one of our mission languages.

Mandarin’s version, shuangbaotai, didn’t quite roll off the tongue (try saying that five times fast 😅), so we went with the Cebuano word: Kaluha.

And just like that, Kaluha Pet was born.

These days, Missy and I talk multiple times a day. Every FaceTime ends with the same line: "Talk to you in half an hour."

So, if this company has done nothing but bring me closer to my twinner, I'll take it. Our relationship that has grown is worth every hour and penny we've put into it.