A 25 pound kitty caused quite a commotion at the Newark Liberty International Airport earlier this week, causing many passengers to move from one security checkpoint to another. The cat and his family also missed their flight home to Florida.

The portly cat was in a carrier before arriving at their security checkpoint. When they reached the x-ray machine, the cat owner and her daughter were asked to remove the cat from the container, so they could put the carrier through the machine. However, the cat was not used to the crowd and the rowdiness at the airport during early morning rush hour, frightened, he ran off and found refuge under a bomb-detection machine.

The Port Authority police immediately halted the security checkpoint operation and diverted passengers to a different machine. They tried to retrieve the cat from the device by using a snare, but the area was too narrow for it. The only way they could retrieve the cat was by lifting the explosive-detection device.

The device weighs a couple thousand pounds, so lifting it by hand was impossible, but the police eventually brought a hydraulic spreader to elevate the machine enough to reach the cat and return him to the owners.

Though the mother and daughter missed their flight, they were thankful for what the Port Authority police officers did for them.

The cat was tired but was able to relax afterwards.

via nj.com

image via (image of the actual cat not available)