Tiny kitten now a web star with his own blog following

Bruce is now black and living in Dunedin with owner Kathryn van Beek.

A one-day-old kitten found soaking and abandoned on the streets of Auckland has blossomed into New Zealand's most famous tom.

Port Chalmers resident Kathryn van Beek discovered Bruce (named after Bruce Wayne who was also orphaned) the grey kitten while on her way home from work in Kingsland in Auckland in November last year.

The kitten still had his umbilical cord attached and eyes closed, Ms van Beek said.

"I was working for Auckland Council at the time and they were really interested so I started a Facebook page to keep everyone updated."

Updates of Bruce's numerous visits to the emergency vet and struggle to survive at such a young age without his mother quickly gained a dedicated and substantial audience.

His Facebook page, which was updated daily, now had over 23,000 followers and a blog which was created just after the Facebook page had been voted the 89th top cat blog of 2016.

"At first it was a real life-and-death battle, and then I thought interest might fade but he started turning black so that interested people."

It was believed his chameleon-like coat change was due to fever coat, a condition caused in pregnancy when the mother cat is sick or stressed.

Since moving to Port Chalmers in February Bruce's adventures had taken a casual turn but his following had not waned. The moggie who has a penchant for surimi but not hunting has expanded his social media empire to Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube and Twitter.

Next year Ms van Beek planned to self-publish The Kitten Without a Name, a fictional children's book based on Bruce's Dunedin adventures.