After 12 years Toffee the cat is a mature, well-travelled feline.

But now he's in limbo after being found in poor shape in Brisbane, a long way from his home town of Tauranga.

Toffee was found in Yeronga, but is registered to a Tauranga address. Photo: Supplied.

A flea-ridden Toffee was recently found in Yeronga, a suburb of Brisbane, by a group of students who took him in. Unable to continue caring for him, they contacted Rescue Cats and Kittens Brisbane for help.

Cat foster carer Eloise Thorpe took on the care of Toffee and took him to a vet.

'He was in pretty poor shape, really flea ridden, a bit thin, his teeth were quite bad,” Eloise.

The vet discovered Toffee was micro-chipped. As well as containing the cat's name, the chip revealed his address was in Tauranga - nearly 2,500km away.

Thorpe called the number for his owners, but it was disconnected as they appeared to have left New Zealand for Australia at some point.

Thorpe then looked up listings in Brisbane with the same surname, but with no luck.

'I started calling people randomly asking if they've lost a cat.”

She has even signed Toffee up to a find-a-cat service provided by the RSPCA that costs $50 a month.

'They rang me and said I'm the only person who had used it to try and find someone else's pet.”

With no leads and unable to publicly release the owner's names, Thorpe has turned to social media to try and find Toffee's owner.

'He's used to being inside a house and he's quite social. When I found out what his name was he loved that, we can't shut him up now.

'For someone to go to all the effort to bring him over to Australia, I'm sure he's well-loved.”

Anyone with information should email: rcakb01@gmail.com