Estherville, Iowa – An adorable senior cat, who spent his entire life at the Iowa animal shelter, has finally been adopted. Nine-year-old Barney called the Emmet County Animal Shelter home for nearly a decade, but his life took a turn when kennel manager Lindsey Rohrbaugh took a photo and it was posted to Reddit.

Barney’s captivating smile went viral on the Reddit post that read, “Meet Barney, he’s been at his shelter since he was born. He’s 9 years old and the happiest-looking cat you’ll see today.”

Hundreds of people commented on the post and thousands gave it an upvote. The viral post led to a deluge of applications and one lucky person was chosen to be Barney’s new person.

Amanda Scherer tells the Des Moines Register what drew her to sweet Barney, “I was scrolling through Reddit, and he popped up… I saw him and thought he was super cute.”

This week, the shelter let Facebook fans that Barney was headed off to his new life with a family of his very own:

Barney went to his forever home this week! Thank you to Amanda and her family for opening their hearts and their home to this sweet boy. He instantly loved them on the day they finally met. We’ve been told he enjoys rolling on the carpet, and he’s enjoying loves and attention, as expected! Congrats Barney on finding your forever family!

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