A black cat that disappeared eight years ago from their owner's place in the northern suburbs of Wellington has been found again – to much surprise.

Hilary Taylor said Tūī went missing in 2016 when she jumped the fence and disappeared into a neighbour's garden. She had only recently been adopted along with another SPCA cat.

Despite a lot of searching for her, she couldn't be found.

"I got a phone call from the local vet, he said we've got your cat Tūī here," Taylor told Afternoons.

"We don't know where she was found. We assume it was local because it was a local vet. We believe some people found her and took her in."

When Tūī was found in November, the vet scanned her microchip and found registration records which had her marked as missing.

"She was already nine years old when she took off. So she's 17 now, which is a good age for a cat and I'm actually quite impressed that she managed to survive for eight years. We don't know if anybody was caring for her.

"Apparently, the vet thinks she's in quite good condition, so maybe somebody was looking out for her, we just don't know."

Although her features remain the same, her matted fur and size change did not make her instantly recognisable to Taylor.

"If I'd seen her on the street I might've said 'Oh that looks like Tūī ', but I probably wouldn't have gone 'Oh look, there's Tūī!'"

Tūī has been reunited with her "original partner in crime from the SPCA".

"She did disappear on Saturday, and we thought 'Oh no' ... fortunately, she wandered back into the garage."

rnz.co.nz