The “world’s worst cat” has a new home – and a new name to go with it.

Grumpy puss Perdita, who was dubbed the “world’s worst cat” by a desperate Mitchell County Animal Rescue organisation in North Carolina just over a week ago, is settling in with her new owners in Tennessee.

“They adore her and she tolerates them,” the shelter said in a Facebook post on Monday (local time).

The animal rescue’s plea for someone – anyone – to take Perdita off its hands went viral in late January. That’s when Joe and Betty from Tennessee stepped in, although the adoption process didn’t got all that smoothly.

“She wouldn’t let us take adoption photos in our photo booth, she just growled and ran out of the room,” the shelter wrote.

“She was in a hurry to get home, where she will have her own private bedroom.”

Perdita has since been renamed Noel – “just in case the name Perdita is the cause of her anger”.

Shelter director Amber Lowery had earlier told the local newspaper that four-year-old Perdita quickly earned a reputation for being less than friendly after she was dropped off on Christmas Eve.

“The minute you try to rub her, she slaps you. We thought she was in pain and took her to the vet and he said: ‘No, this cat is just a jerk’,” Ms Lowery said.

In is plea for a new home for Perdita/Noel, the shelter said the black and white moggie’s dislikes included “dogs, children, the Dixie Chicks, Disney movies, Christmas and last but NOT least … HUGS.”

She liked lurking, pretending to be sick and “staring into your soul until you feel as if you may never be cheerful again”.

However, lucky Noel went home to Tennessee with some loving words from the shelter:

“We have loved getting to know her and watching her come out of her slappy shell,” it wrote.

“May the catnip be plentiful, the music classical, the bed always fluffy and the journey smooth.”