A woman on a flight from Syracuse, NY, to Atlanta, GA, allegedly would not stop breastfeeding her cat on a Delta flight, despite being asked repeatedly by flight crew to stop
Buckle up, y’all, this is a wild ride. During one of the busiest travel weeks of the year — AKA the week of Thanksgiving — social media blew up when reports of a woman breastfeeding her hairless cat on a flight went viral. An image of a message sent using the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) has been circulating on Reddit. “REQ REDCOAT MEET AC. Pax in 13A is breastfeeding a cat and will not put cat back in its carrier when FA [Flight Attendant] requested,” reads the message.
Someone just texted me this… what the actual hell? pic.twitter.com/B0ri97fh2D
— Ryan Spellman (@JustJettingThru) November 23, 2021
In a now-deleted TikTok, one of the flight attendants elaborated on the incident. “This woman had one of those, like, hairless cats swaddled up in a blanket so it looked like a baby.” According to the TikTok, the incident actually happened at the beginning of the month on Nov. 2, but it wasn’t until later social media caught wind of the bizarre incident and shared it with the world.
“Her shirt was up and she was trying to get the cat to latch and she wouldn’t put the cat back in the carrier. And the cat was screaming for its life,” the flight attendant explained. “What does she do at home if she’s doing that in public?” she asked. “And then security met the flight just to tell her that she couldn’t do that again, cause it was weird and gross.”
It gets weirder and grosser
In the deleted TikTok, the flight attendant said that the passenger got creative when using a natural lubricant for her nipples. “You know those little butter packets you get when they don’t have olive oil… she put the butter (motioning to her nipple) yeah.” We need a minute. Or an hour. This is just a lot to take in.
@basicwitch69 #duet with @ainsleytheaviator Oh Ashley,you flying high again, #stopthenodsquad
According to Snopes, the incident occurred on Nov. 1, but it didn’t go viral until Ryan Spellman, the disaster relief executive at Operation Airdrop, posted the puzzling messages from ACARS.
The pilot requested Redcoats, or Delta’s “elite airport customer service experts,” to meet the woman breastfeeding the cat upon arrival. The first line in the ACARS message reads, “Req Redcoat Meet AC,” which is a request for Delta’s customer service “Redcoats” for additional support, which clearly this airplane staff needed. That and a stiff drink once they landed.
In case anyone was wondering, no, you should not feed your cat human breast milk
It should go without saying, but please do not breastfed cats. According to FAQCats, “the nutrients in human breast milk and cat’s breast milk are different to suit the needs of different mammals.” If you find yourself in a situation where you need to feed a kitten and there is no mama cat, opt for cat breast milk formula replacement instead.