Twenty-year-old Jingles The Warehouse cat was a popular figure in the store carpark, accepting attention and affection from allcomers.
Her human Marion Utiger said she thought her furry friend would have lived at least another year or so if it had not been for an "unknown pillock" who had taken her and dumped her in Temuka without her collar early last month.
"May the fleas of a thousand camels infest their bed."
The confused cat had arrived on a couple’s doorstep, so they took a photograph of her and sent it electronically to their daughter in Christchurch.
The daughter then searched the internet and found Mrs Utiger’s Facebook post about Jingles’ disappearance.
Mrs Utiger said while Jingles was "quite pleased to be home" the experience had aged her.
The feline had only visited her favourite carpark once after her ordeal.
"She lost the will to live."
Mrs Utiger said on a Facebook post advising the public about Jingles’ death there were over 600 reactions and more than 100 comments.
While posts about the cat in the past had garnered negative comments advising her to lock Jingles inside or put her down, she was flooded with kind comments.
"That cat had more ... friends than me."
She had been forced to be Jingles’ ambassador, reminding people that she was 20 years old, loved and fed.
For a slim cat, Jingles could definitely eat.
Coming home from a hard day of snoozing in front of the store she would march in and go to her "toilet" then come back and demand food which was two sachets of cat food a night; an amount she ate right up to her death.
"She never brought me a dead mouse or a dead bird."
Jingles had been Mrs Utiger’s son’s kitten, and in her earlier years she had moved around with him.
"Then she came to live with me."
For the first five years, Jingles decided she actually lived next door as the neighbour had a warm fire burning all day and took to feeding her "all this fancy food", but when the neighbours left Jingles suddenly arrived home.
Mrs Utiger’s previous cat had died, so Jingles had been in her element being in a one-cat home.
She started lying in the front yard waiting for pats.
Being well placed on a busy part of Heaton St, there were plenty of pats to source, from tiny children going to the park, students going to school, and older humans passing by with their mobility scooters.
"She had them all sussed."
She would lie in the neighbouring yard too, but when well-intentioned humans started bringing her food to eat all of the neighbourhood cats started advancing on to her territory which had pushed her out.
"She started to go to The Warehouse every day, finding a warm spot on the concrete.
"She would just lie there, you had to walk around her."
"People would either love her or hate her.
"Some would moan, groan and complain about this silly old cat."
She collected her each night as the cat grew older, in case she got lost.
But after Mrs Utiger had shattered her wrist six months ago and "munted" her knee before Christmas, staff from the Urban Cafe had started bringing her home.
She would not be trying to replace her.
She said her beloved moggy was a "one in a million".
"There will never be another Jingles."
