It’s meow-ch as cat misses flight to China

SHE LEFT New York without her Pepper, and now has nothing but salty tears.

A 29-year-old woman departing to China from JFK Saturday morning did so without her beloved cat, who was still wandering around the airport’s international terminal while the tabby’s bereft owner was on an 11,500-mile ride to her new home, a family friend said.

“She was really upset,” said the friend, who wished not to be named. “She was crying for hours. She had that cat for four years. I think she got the cat originally in California at a shelter.”

Pepper’s owner, an attorney, was living in Jersey City, N.J., but had to relocate to China.

She was checking into her flight with the cat about 11:30 a.m. Friday when the feline’s carrier fell and popped open.

Pepper jumped onto the check-in counter, then leapt onto a low roof of the check-in kiosk and disappeared.

“It’s a lovable cat,” said the friend, who shared a photo of Pepper (below) in the hopes someone will find her at the terminal. “I don’t know why it ran off. I think it was in shock with everything that was going on.”

The Port Authority Police Department did an exhaustive search for Pepper on Friday afternoon, but came up empty.

Travelers reported seeing “the tail of the cat” in the area, but never got a birds-eye view of the fleeing feline, sources with knowledge of the search said.

A Port Authority spokesman said Saturday that airport staff and Port Authority police remain on the lookout for the gray, black and white-colored cat in the hopes of reuniting her with her owner.

Anyone with information about Pepper can call the owner’s friend at (504) 450-1145.