The latest incident had raised concerns whoever tortured the animals might be a local, after it was found dumped in a different location to the others, Constable Jon-Paul Tremain said.
"I am starting to think that.
"After the articles that ran in the Otago Daily Times last week, we now have another cat dumped in a different location."
The 10- to 12-week-old kitten was found in Ramrock Rd on June 3, severely malnourished and with its ears cut.
It was taken to a vet and put down.
"I'm at a complete loss why someone would do this.
"The thing that is odd about this one is that its ears were trimmed, rather than cut completely off like the others."
It was possible the kitten came from the same litter as some of the other cats, and it appeared there were two different litters as the other cats were older, possibly aged about 5 to 6 months.
"I am very concerned. "I would like to know who is doing it so that they can be dealt with ... there is something more going on there," he said.
"Essentially, I have six dead cats, and anything else is speculation until I have a positive line of inquiry."
He confirmed he had received phone calls from locals worried over the findings and concerned a member of the community might be behind the offending.
"This is the odd thing about it. No-one has reported any cats or kittens missing or no-one has come forward reporting cats lost or anything like that."
People returning home and not being able to find their pet had been ringing the local vet, fearing "they may have taken by this person doing terrible things to cats".
Vetlife Waikouaiti clinic manager Wendy Rackley said there was "concern out there" over what was happening, but no-one appeared to have lost their cat.
"But it is playing on people's minds."
A $2000 reward for information has been offered by an Auckland woman following revelations cats had died in bizarre and, in some cases, sickening circumstances last month.
All the cats, bar the latest one, were found at the northern end of Waikouaiti and it appeared in most cases they had been killed somewhere else and dumped.
