Here’s something to be grumpy about: Grumpy Cat, the furry feline who started as an Internet meme sensation before becoming a household name, has died. She was 7.
Grumpy’s caretakers — Tabatha Bundesen, her brother Bryan Bundesen and her daughter Crystal Bundesen, all of Morristown, Arizona —announced the news on Friday morningin a touching message to the cat’s more than 12.4 million followers across social media.
They explained that the cat had died “peacefully” in Tabatha’s arms on Tuesday morning, due to complications from a recent urinary tract infection that “unfortunately became too tough to overcome.”
“Her spirit will continue to live on through her fans everywhere,” they added in their emotional note.
The post, which came with a photo of Grumpy, was titled: “Some days are grumpier than others.”
The famed kitten soon started making talk show rounds, with appearances onToday,Good Morning America,Anderson Live,The Soup.She also popped up on episodes ofAmerican Idol,The Bachelorette,the Disney Channel’sBizaardvarkandWWE Monday Night Raw.
Sponsorship deals came next. Purina nabbed her as the face of Friskies and she also scored herself a television commercial for Honey Nut Cheerios, too.
With all the Grump Cat fame came countesses T-shirts, plush toys, stickers, paper doll sets, greeting cards, comic books, and video game apps. Heck, there was evenGrumppuccino coffee— an iced beverage that blends premium Arabica coffee and milk.
At one point,Grumpy Cat was estimated to be worth more than $1 million.
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Grumpy Cat
Isa Foltin/Getty
The irony of it all was that Grumpy Cat wasn’t, well, grumpy at all.
“She’s very sweet and docile,” Tabatha, 33, toldUSA Todayback in 2014 — explaining that dwarfism caused the kitten’s downturned mouth and small size (less than 5 pounds).
“Misery loves company,” she said of Grumpy’s success. “People feel if Grumpy’s having a bad day, too, they can use her as a way to communicate their negative feelings.”
source: people.com
