I had a cat that when you put out the suitcase to pack he would go and lie in the suitcase. I’m not sure if he was trying to voice his desire for me to stay or simply playing the kitten game of “Can I fit here?”. Since he weighed 25 pounds I would know if he was in the case.
The good news is, he got an AP wire report written about him, so they can’t black-bag him to Gitmo. He even gets a trial, in front of a judge, with a lawyer, and he’ll likely be able to plead “no contest” (or even “guilty”) and be let off with a warning, a fine, or perhaps a revocation of his firearms permit.
Both of our cats will leap into an open travel bag in a millisecond. Based on their other reactions to seeing us pack, I think it’s a combination of “We go too?” and “No, don’t leave us!”
As for the Travel-Cat, she probably slept the entire way. The report says she was just spayed, so she probably had the remnants of the drugs in her system. Our girls were zombies for a good 48 hours after they got fixed.
My cats seem to treat open suitcases, dresser drawers, and rooms of the house that have been previously closed to them in the same manner: “This doesn’t smell like me. That is unacceptable. It is my feline duty to boldly go forth to lay and rub.”
I’m very glad that the traveling kitteh was found by nice people and a happy ending can be enjoyed by all.
Could be worse. I had a friend whose cat would piss all over the insides of bags laid out to be packed.
Every time I pack, the damned cat thinks the suitcase is his new bed and I’m having to constantly take him out of it. I could see 1) if the cat was small enough, and 2) he worked his way under the clothes to get more comfortable, and 3) I was in a hurry, yeah, I could pack the cat.
Damn! I was just thinking to myself-“gee, that’s something Maggie would do…”
And she looks a hell of a lot like the little stowaway.
oh yeah. i have the same problem, it seems. turk was bound and determined to go to hawaii with us, as you can see in the below photo (someday i’ll figure out how to do those straightdope link thingies, but not today). Photo Storage
that photograph represents the fifth time i found him in my suitcase during the packing ritual. needless to say, as the divemaster would only allow me a single suitcase for clothes and sundry items, (dive equipment always takes precedence), i needed every square inch of space in that case. that, and turk’s a bruiser: 18 pounds of all boy with feet big enough to fill the palm of my hand. he’d take up a wee bit too much room for me not to notice. 
Guinastasia, were our kitties separated at birth? grace there is a dead ringer for my kitten, speck (also called miss maggie around the house): 
my worry would be any possible aftereffects of x-rays on that tiny little body. i have no idea if it could wreak any health problems, but you can bet i’d be all over my vet finding out!
Why the quotes around “owner”?
Because the people are often the ones who are ‘owned’ in cat-human relationships?
I paid the pet fee once, thinking maybe it’d get us a little special attention as far as boarding or not having to stand in the long line. No dice. Kitty K now travels as an anonymous carry-on, in a tote-like pet carrier that attracts little attention and slides neatly under a seat.
Man, that is one pretty kitty-girl. She looks exactly like my Miss Fritters when she was a baby, right down to the tufts on the ears.
It makes me happy for the folks who got their baby back, but sad for me.
My Miss Fritters has been missing for two weeks. She escaped (she’s an indoor cat) one morning and nobody has seen her since. We’ve been doing everything we can to track her down (placing ads in local papers, calling shelters, posting tons of fliers), but so far, no Miss Fritters.
I’ve had some calls, but all the cats in question that people have taken in are boy cats. I’m going to keep hoping!
But I’m delighted for the Levys! 
AAAAAAAAAAAH! DEVIL CAT!!!
that’s nothing. THIS is a devil cat! :eek:
Reminds me of that Simpson’s episode where marge captures her own criminal (a purse snatcher), and Chief Wiggum scolds the rest of the town for not doing the same.
If kitty had a bottle of water, he would have been detained properly. Thank god the TSA is there to protect us. 
-A-
Oh, and speaking of “Devil cat”?
my own ball of sweetness and light:
Hermes
-A-
(dear lord two posts in a day. what’s the world coming to?)
Linky no worky.
Actually…
http://aycu32.webshots.com/image/42151/2003781695296322098_rs.jpg
Jeebus.
<slinks off to the lurker hall of shame>
-A-
Now that is one of the BEST cat pics I have ever seen!