Arlington Pet of the Week: Barry White

Our latest Arlington Pet of the Week is Barry White, a former stray cat who was born in Bosnia and now resides in a loving, adoptive home.

Here’s what owner Betsy said about Barry and his unique appearance, personality and history.

Barry White is an 8-year-old, white, deaf, odd-eyed Turkish Angora. Born in Bosnia, Barry was a stray who was adopted when he was approximately 6 weeks old. Barry lived with his first owner in Bosnia until approximately 2 years ago. In May 2012, he was taken to the Alexandria shelter when his owner could no longer care for him. The staff at the shelter identified him as a special needs case and immediately enlisted the help of Vivian Bacon and King Street Cats (KSC) to help him find his forever home.

Vivian and the KSC team put Barry’s photo on their web site, flyers, and organized an appearance on a local news station — all unbeknownst to us. We stopped into KSC in July 2012 and Barry immediately stole our hearts.

Larger than the average housecat, Barry’s physical presence can be intimidating, but his gentle demeanor immediately puts people at ease. He is patient, affectionate, and very tolerant. Barry is extremely chatty and greets us when we get home, calls to us from various spots in the house, and wakes us when it’s time for first breakfast at 5:30 am.

Barry’s hobbies include bird and squirrel watching, chasing and being chased, playing with balls and kicking his kong, climbing on to the top of the fridge and the wardrobe, napping, cuddling, dancing, singing, posing for photos, and playing dress up.

We’ll be forever grateful to Vivian and the KSC team for introducing us to Barry and providing such fantastic care for him until we could adopt him. We’ve had lots of cats over the years, but Barry takes the cake as the pet cat (and best pet) ever!

The Arlington Pet of the Week is sponsored by Dogma Bakery, which has locations at The Village at Shirlington (2772 S. Arlington Mill Drive) and the Lee Harrison Shopping Center (2445 N. Harrison Street).

Want your pet to be considered to be the Arlington Pet of the Week? Email [email protected] with a 2-3 paragraph bio and 3-4 photos of your pet. Each week’s winner receives a $25 Dogma gift card.