TSA agent finds sneaky cat in checked baggage

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The cat’s out of the bag – sort of.

TSA agents at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport were stunned to find a cat in checked baggage.

The orange cat was discovered on Tuesday morning after an employee noticed orange fur sticking out of a suitcase’s zipper.

“A TSA officer was shocked to find an orange cat inside a checked bag at JFK Airport after it went through the X-ray unit,” TSA spokesperson Lisa Farbstein said in a tweet.

She added that the man, who was travelling to Florida, “said the cat belonged to someone else in his household.”

Tufts of orange fur can be seen sticking out of the black suitcase between the zipper, which was open a smidge.

“We’re letting the cat out of the bag on a hiss-toric find,” the agency wrote on Twitter. “This CATch had our baggage screening officers @JFKairport saying, ‘Come on meow’! Feline like you have travel questions reach out to our furiends @AskTSA. They’re available every day, from 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. (ET).”

According to the owner, Smells crawled into the bag while she was at work and didn’t notice the ginger tabby was missing until an airport official contacted her.

“An officer called and asked if I wanted to press charges” against her guest, the woman told The New York Post.

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“He wanted to know if there was any reason he was trying to steal my cat and go to Florida.”

The man was in trouble with authorities until the man – and the cat’s owner – assured them it was an innocent mistake.

When the woman got to the airport to pick up Smells, “he acted like nothing had happened.”

She added: “Our cats really like to check out bags and boxes and apparently one of them climbed into his suitcase. It was just an accident.”