With 31,200 strong followers on TikTok, Yogi the cat was a celebrity of sorts on social media, according to his owner, Al Farrah Sherrina Zulkifle.

Farrah said the death of Yogi and his friends shocked the online pet lovers’ community who demanded action against the perpetrator.

She claimed that for the past week, at least 10 cats, including Yogi, had been killed from poisoning in the area. The cats belonged to other owners while some were strays.

“How could someone be so cruel against animals? If they don’t like cats, they could just tell us and we’d do something to at least make sure the cats were protected,” she told FMT.

Farrah said she planned to lodge a report at the police station and the animal welfare associations.

For now, she said, she did not know who and what type of poison specifically killed the cats but neighbours speculated that rat poison was the cause.

Veterinarians had confirmed that the cause of death was poisoning.

Recalling the incident, Farrah said her neighbour had knocked on her door at 8.30am on Saturday to inform her that Yogi and his friends had been found motionless on the ground floor of the building.

She would remember Yogi, which was of a domestic long-hair breed, as being friendly and protective of his friends.

“All the neighbours knew Yogi as he was friendly. He allowed people to pet him. Yogi never fought with the other cats in this block but he was very protective when outside cats appeared.

“Yogi would tail me everywhere I went around the block. If I went out looking for other missing cats, he would tag along.

“Now the whole community of cats in this block is gone,” she said.