Barut, an ordinary stray cat enjoys fame and more ice cream as the videos and photos of the young feline indulging in ice cream went viral.
He took shelter in a coffeehouse in the central Turkish province of Sivas about one year ago. The name of the cat (which means "gunpowder" in Turkish) contradicts his mellow demeanor when he sights a cone of ice cream.
The cat quickly became the mascot of the coffeehouse in Altınyayla district frequented by locals and expats who regularly buy ice cream for Barut. Coffeehouse owner Gazi Tekin said he adopted Barut while he was a kitten and he eats at least one cone of ice cream every day. “Customers love him very much. They eat ice cream together. He became famous after we shared his videos online. We now have customers coming here exclusively to see him and buying him ice cream,” he told Ihlas News Agency (IHA) on Sunday.
Yunus Yılmaz, a regular, said Barut was very friendly. “He likes playing around with customers and lying on our laps. Apart from ice cream, he loves simit (traditional Turkish bagel with sesame),” he said. Yılmaz adds Barut is very “picky” when it comes to ice cream and does not like extra flavors like chocolate in his ice cream.
