A passenger at Virginia's Norfolk International Airport accidentally put their pet cat through an X-ray scan — committing what the TSA called a "cat-astrophic mistake."

The passenger left the cat in its travel carrying case at the airport on Friday morning, TSA spokesperson Lisa Farbstein tweeted.

The cat was then X-rayed, and the machine produced a vivid, orange image showing it crouching in its carrier, its bones and internal organs visible in the scan. 

"Just when you thought it was safe to bring your pet cat on a trip," Farbstein tweeted.

Farbstein added a warning in her tweet for people traveling with pets. 

"Attention pet owners: Please do not send your pet through the X-ray unit. Cat-astrophic mistake!" she tweeted.

—Lisa Farbstein, TSA Spokesperson (@TSA_Northeast) March 3, 2023

The TSA said in an Instagram post on Friday that there are other ways to bring a pet through security checkpoints. The recommended method is to pick the pet up and walk through a regular scanner with it.

"You need to let the cat out of the bag during security screening," the TSA wrote on Instagram.

"Are you worried you have an escape artist on your hands?" the TSA added. "Speak with our officers about alternative screening options, which could include private screening."

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A post shared by Travel Tips amp; Dad Joke Hits (@tsa)

Farbstein told The Washington Post in February that "no living creature, human or animal, needs to be exposed to X-rays they don't need."

The TSA's Instagram account documents various occasions where pets have shown up in X-ray scans. In January, the TSA posted a video of a four-foot-long boa constrictor curled up in a passenger's carry-on bag. 

Farbstein and representatives at the Norfolk International Airport did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment. 

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