Don�t accuse the TSA of catnapping on the job. When an alert agent at New York�s John F. Kennedy airport noticed tufts of orange fur poking out of a slightly unzipped suitcase, it gave him pause.

As the bag went through the X-ray unit Nov. 16, the Transportation Security Administration agent was in for a surprise: Inside were four paws and a tail belonging to a feline stowaway.

�On the bright side, the cat�s out of the bag,� a TSA spokesperson tweeted Tuesday.

The passenger was paged to return to the ticket counter after the cat was found, the spokesperson, Lisa Farbstein, said in an email.

�The traveler said that the cat belonged to someone else in the household, implying that he was not aware that the cat was in the suitcase,� Farbstein said.

�We call that a good CATch!� she said.

The stowaway cat, identified by the New York Post as �Smells,� was returned to its owner.

The cat�s owner told the Post that Smells must have crawled into the suitcase of a visiting friend. She didn�t know her tabby was missing until airport officials reached her.

(AP)