Jacinda Ardern's cat Paddles is threatening to steal the online limelight from its famous owner .

Her ginger and white cat has made an initial foray onto social media with her own Twitter account, carrying the handle FirstCatofNZ.

There's speculation Ardern's partner, fishing TV show host Clarke Gayford, is behind the social media presence.

So far, there's been no official confirmation as to who is running the account which has published scores of tweets and amassed thousands of followers, but dozens of puns referring to fish are believed to be a clue