Etsy Pets: Barnacle

Name: Barnacle
Owner: Noelle of Xenotees

Nicknames: Barky, Mr. Barky, Bark, Porps, Barnie, Our Supreme Leader, Mac, Ultimo

Breed: Domestic Short Hair

Age: 16

Acquired: 16 years ago, one of the best days of my life! I was taking an unusually late lunch break when I worked at a photo lab in Richmond, VA. It was mid-January, totally freezing, and the little guy marched up to me outside a store, where I had to buy a few things. He was shivering and doing little dances- he was totally irresistible. I hadn’t seen a kitty carry on like that, before or since. He is so exceptional!

Favorite Activities: Eating, yelling out the window, playing soccer with a giant plastic strawberry, napping on the fridge

Where do you and Barnacle call home?

Philadelphia, PA (…where there is a HUGE overpopulation problem with kitties, in case anyone is interesting in adopting!! Just sayin’!)

Tell us about your shop, Xenotees

Well, I try to print things, on things that make you ponder, or sit up and take notice. It’s not easy- there are a lot of amazing screen-printed designs out there! Oh, and I try to have a good time doing it all! That’s extremely important.

If Barnacle could help with your shop, what would he be good at?

Lounging on the t-shirts, and distracting me from getting anything done. Needless to say, I can’t let him near the workshop because of these reasons!

Do you have any other pets?

Unfortunately, we had 3 black cats (all strays), but two have moved on… It was the perfect magic trio for a while and we loved every minute of it! Barnacle won’t let us bring anyone new into the mix, but that’s fine for now. I think it is SO important to have creatures in your life that you love and respect, whether they are chickens, dogs, birds, hedgehogs, pigs, or fish! (side note: I just read an excerpt on a the plane about a lady who raises chickens — it was AMAZING. Can’t wait to get the book; Birdology by Sy Montgomery. She also wrote a book about her pig, Christopher Hogwood, which sounds equally good!)

Pepito and Nunivak are waiting for Noelle on the other side

What is the best thing about being a pet parent?

Where do I start? Maybe it’s enjoying the different sort of communication you can have with an animal- maybe it’s the unconditional love, I’m not sure what’s best. I just feel really blessed to know and admire someone like Barnacle, and know that he knows I love him as much as he loves me. So, I guess it would have to be both those aspects, working in tandem.

If you were an animal, what kind would you be?

Eh, probably a cat actually. Hopefully not a Philly street cat though!

If you could have any exotic animal for a pet, what would it be?

Are skunks exotic? Probably a skunk or a tiger…

Noelle is also a member of the Etsy for Animals Team and volunteers at a local rescue organization, Flat Iron Wildcats, doing website work and printing shirts to help raise money.

You can learn more about Noelle and Xenotees by visiting her blog and following her on twitter or facebook.

p.s. If you missed the debut of Etsy Pets, you can check it out here!