HelpMe: Evil cat free to a good home

Trademe has released a list of some of the most interesting auctions of all time.

A Whangarei woman has listed her ex-husband's "horrible black and white cat" in the same week Trade Me released its most interesting Northland auctions of all time.

The site's most popular items have been revealed as Trade Me approaches its billionth listing nationwide, with Northland highlights including a motorised couch and celebrity bach.

A Northern Advocate reader then drew attention to the "horrible black and white cat" listing, which she found while searching for a cat for her family.

The Whangarei lister detailed how she had been lumped with the aggressive beast, after it was "disowned" by her former husband.

"About eight years old, fixed, will attempt to give it a [de-flea] tablet before anyone takes it away, if anyone is brave (or stupid) enough," she wrote.

The straight-up seller did not hold back on the cat's character defects: "Bites with no warning, attacks children's legs, answers to 'Chomp' ... Purrs when petted, very convincingly, until she's had enough at which point the name says it all. Great at catching birds, rats, mice, rabbits and small children and leaving the evidence of her conquests on the deck."

She said the 418-week-old had a lot of life left in her, as "you can't kill a weed".

"I'm sure she is fine really, just misunderstood," she rounded off generously, before linking auction viewers to an "How Evil is Your Cat?" quiz.

When contacted by the Advocate, the woman said the listing was a joke, but did not want to comment further.

Trade Me revealed Northland's most asked-about auction was a motorised three-seater couch listed in July 2010 which attracted 146 questions. The Whangarei seller said the couch cruised at 50km/h but had been clocked at 126km/h downhill. It had a 125cc Yamaha scooter motor, indicators, brake lights, head lights and a loud horn.

Northland's most viewed listing was celebrity fisherman Matt Watson's Tokerau Beach bach. The April 2013 listing received 65,379 views.

Northland's listings have made up 1.7 per cent of all New Zealand listings on the site. The most viewed listing ever was the handbag former All Black captain Tana Umaga is said to have used to whack Hurricanes team-mate Chris Masoe in a Christchurch bar in 2006. It received more than a million views.