This printer has been going by the name “Norton’s Napzone” for as long as I’ve owned it, but the new kitty seems to have claimed it as hers. I might have to rename it “Syltetøy’s Bathzone.”

The new kitty arrived on Thursday. She is a 10 month old sealpoint Siamese, and her full name is Sigrid Syltetøy Williams Vang. She’s got a wee infection in one eye, but it’s clearing up nicely. She spent her first several days hiding in the bedroom, but lately she’s been prowling around the house and taking up her position in the household. Gudrun Gjetost hisses at her occasionally, but if Syltetøy has claim on a lap, Gjetost just piles right on.

Her kittyhood seems to be serving her well in regard to Candy: it hasn’t occurred to her to worry about dogs. She was napping on my lap, and Candy was curled up on the couch next to me. Eventually my lap wasn’t wide enough–she unfurled herself full length, depositing paws on Candy’s flank. Candy sort of raised an eyebrow but stayed put, and before long Syltetøy was kneading Candy’s thigh.

About the name, Syltetøy, pronounced SILT-uh-toy, more or less. Way back in 1999 I spent a few weeks vacationing in Norway with my friend, Lucy, who couldn’t get her anglophonic mouth around the sweet brown cheese often eaten for breakfast, gjetost, pronounced YIE-toost, and it became a bit of a joke among us. Later when I was traveling with another friend, Sarah, who’d majored in Norwegian and was now doing graduate work in Oslo, we got to talking about my plan to get a pair of kittens. I’d just lost my two step cats–Barty had died, and Norton had gone with his mom when we broke up. I’ve always loved sealpoint Siamese, so the plan was to try to find a couple Siamese or Siamese mutts at the SPCA.

What to name them?

“Gjetost!” shouted Sarah.

Mirthful giggles followed. But what to name the other one?

“Well, everybody eats gjetost with jam, so why not Gjetost and Syltetøy?”

A few months later, back at home, Norton came back to me. His mom was opening a new restaurant and working all hours, so she decided he’d be better off in his old house where his stepmom was a lot more available. The courage and generosity of her decision has always impressed me. So, with Norton back in the family, I didn’t think there’d be room for two kitties. That spring I met Gjetost at one of the SPCA’s mobile adoption clinics and adopted her on the spot. I opted to give her the first name, Gudrun, after my grandmother, so that there would be a name that people in my vet’s office could handle, and Gjetost is her middle and daily-use name.

Gjetost will be ten in September. Now, finally, she has her sister, Syltetøy, and during the drive home from her foster home in Vacaville, I realized that her first name had to be Sigrid, after Sigrid Johnson the noted singer and choral conductor at my alma mater, St. Olaf College. Yes, the little dear was rather vocal during the drive, but it’s more that she seemed Sigridian.

Gjetost is mostly called Gjetost, or Miss Thing or Cheese Kitty, and Gudrun is pretty much just her medical alias. Syltetøy so far is mostly Syltetøy, but Sigrid, Jam Kitty, and The Little Tyke seem to come into play fairly often, too.