'World's Worst Cat' has been adopted at North Carolina animal shelter

There was "minimal growling and very little slapping" when she met the adopters.

January 31, 2020, 9:41 AM

A grumpy cat dubbed the "World's Worst" has found herself a happy family.

Perdita, a 4-year-old domestic shorthair, was adopted from the Mitchell County Animal Rescue in Spruce Pine, North Carolina, and will be leaving the shelter Saturday for her new home in Tennessee.

Perdita rose to internet fame after the shelter candidly spoke about her less-than-friendly tendencies:

"We thought something was hurting her, but it turns out she's just a jerk," Brittany Taylor, the shelter's office manager, told ABC News.

The shelter knew Perdita found her new family when she met them and there was "minimal growling and very little slapping (on her part...her new cat parents are lovely and don't growl or slap at all)," the shelter wrote on Facebook.

The cat came to be saved at Mitchell County Animal Rescue on Christmas Eve after she was abandoned because her previous owner died, according to Taylor.

PHOTO: Perdita, dubbed "the World's Worst Cat," has been adopted and will travel to his new home in Tennessee on Feb. 1, 2020.
Perdita, dubbed "the World's Worst Cat," has been adopted and will travel to his new home in Tennessee on Feb. 1, 2020.
Courtesy Amber Dale Lowery

When Perdita first got to the shelter, she was "pretty sweet," but it didn't take look for her to show her true colors.

Even so, the shelter said they received 175 applications to take Perdita home. They narrowed it down to the top 10, who were interviewed by the staff and had some "introductions to the naughty girl."

One of Perdita's most offensive qualities is her tendency to lure in humans for some feigned affection, only for her to seize an opportunity to express disdain.

"She pretends like she wants you to pet her and love on her," Taylor said. "As soon as you pick her up, she starts growling. She will swat you. She's just all-out awful."

Perdita can't even express fondness without reminding her caretakers of her sullen nature. She'll growl as she simultaneously rubs up against your leg -- a classic sign of kitty approval.

Shelter employees even tried to conduct a "really nice" photo shoot for Perdita for images to entice potential adopters, "but the only face that she knows how to make is her grumpy face," Taylor said. "She's like the definition of a Grinch."

According to the shelter's director, Amber Lowery, Perdita enjoys "staring into your soul until you feel as if you may never be cheerful again," the song "Cat Scratch Fever" by Ted Nugent, the 2019 thriller "Pet Sematary," lurking in dark corners and jumping out to scare others.

PHOTO: Perdita was dubbed the "World's Worst Cat" by Mitchell County Animal Rescue in North Carolina, in a notice that she was available for adoption posted to Facebook on Jan. 22, 2020.
Perdita was dubbed the "World's Worst Cat" by Mitchell County Animal Rescue in North Carolina, in a notice that she was available for adoption posted to Facebook on Jan. 22, 2020.
Mitchell County Animal Rescue

Pedita's dislikes include the color pink, kittens -- due to their chipper nature -- dogs, children, the Dixie Chicks, Disney movies Christmas and hugs, Lowery wrote on Facebook.

Taylor believes Perdita will make a great inside cat for owners who "want a a good laugh every once in a while."

"She definitely makes you laugh," she said. "One minute she wants you, and one minute she's over it."

ABC News' Rachel Katz contributed to this report.