The cat’s meow as Grumpy Cat earns €83m in two years

Even this news would have failed to raise a smile.

After earning an estimated $100m (€83m) since coming to prominence on the internet forum Reddit two years ago, the cat is now richer than some of Hollywood’s biggest names, including Matthew McConaughey, Cameron Diaz, and Nicolas Cage.

Grumpy Cat’s newly-rich owner, Tabatha Bundeson, called the feline (whose real name is Tardar Sauce) “unstoppable... what she’s achieved in such a short time is unimaginable and absolutely mind-blowing”.

Feline dwarfism and an underbite is a factor behind the two-year-old cat’s permanent glower, which has been plastered over books, merchandise, and soon, a Showtime film.

Tabatha Bundesen quit her job as a waitress in Arizona after a photo of her pet on Reddit gained 30,000 comments within hours of being posted.

Not long after the cat’s photo was memed across social media, the moniker Grumpy Cat stuck, and it is now a household name.

Tabatha said her cat is “unstoppable”.

“I was able to quit my job as a waitress within days of her first appearance on social media and the phone simply hasn’t stopped ringing since.”

The cat enjoys 521,000 followers on Instagram and 255,000 on Twitter.

EAST COAST: #WorstChristmasEver starts NOW. @evilhag @lifetimetv #WhyAmIWatchingThisAgain pic.twitter.com/HmiX5ezknF

— Grumpy Cat (@RealGrumpyCat) December 6, 2014

Tardar isn’t the only highly paid animal actor. Vanity Fair reports that Crystal The Monkey, who starred in Night at the Museum and The Hangover Part II, is worth about €40m.

Other high-paid animal actors include Bubbles the chimp, to whom Michael Jackson bequeathed $2m in his will, and Bart The Bear.