A Hamilton cat dubbed "a real survivor" by its incredulous owner has made it home four months after disappearing from a beach resort 150 kilometres away.

Molly, a fiery black cat with bright yellow eyes, should be lapping up the attention of Mary-Lee Hight and her four-year-old son Ethan, though they report she is understandably "a little skittish" after the journey home from Pauanui on the Coromandel Peninsula.

Hamilton SPCA inspector Rachel Maher said lost cats often found their way home by crossing suburbs, but she had never heard of a cat that had travelled the distance Molly had.

Ms Hight is delighted that after living at her house for only three weeks, Molly found her way back. And just in time too, as mother and son are on the move again this weekend.

"I think it must have been that house where she must have left her scent that helped her get back. I can't imagine she would have found us if we'd already moved."

Ms Hight took Molly with her on a Labour weekend visit to Pauanui when the cat went missing. Two days of fruitless searching for the loved pet followed.

"I thought she must have gone bush and become a sort of wild cat," Ms Hight said.

But frequent thoughts of the seemingly lost moggy were unexpectedly rewarded as Ms Hight was preparing her dinner on Sunday.

"I looked out my dining room window and I could see Molly on the roof. I called her and she came to me and started rubbing my legs."

Despite some weight loss and skittish behaviour, Molly was in good condition.