Abbas Zoeb's cats were lost in limbo for almost 16 hours after checking them in at Toronto Airport. Photo / Getty Images

The owner of two cats was left in a flap after his pets were sent on a flight without him.

Abbas Zoeb was left to fret in Toronto Airport after Air Canada sent his feline travel companions, Mimi and Bubba, to San Francisco.

Zoeb was relocating to the United States for work but when he encountered delays at the airport the cats were checked through to California.

Mimi and Bubba were left in limbo between YYZ and SFO for 16 hours until he could catch up with their travel cage.

Zoeb said his heart sank recalling the moment he caught sight of the container.

"It was: 'I'm worried if they're alive or not,' honestly," he told the Washington Post.

It's stressful enough worrying about lost luggage, with baggage handling issues across North America and Europe, but when you're transporting live animals which need fed and watered - it's another level of worry.

Air Canada recently updated its terms of carriage saying it would no longer be transporting animals in cargo hold for the next two months.

"Due to longer than usual airport delays," and for the safety and comfort of your pet, we will not be accepting new requests for pets travelling in the baggage compartment until September 12, 2022."

The missing cats fiasco began on 6 July. Zoeb, a Canadian citizen, was questioned about the start dates on his visa by border agency officials. To his horror the questioning overran causing him to miss his flight to San Francisco.

Zoreb says he was told no pets would be checked to fly unless their owner was onboard. He was given back his checked luggage, which was offloaded, but there was no sign of Mimi and Bubba.

He spent the rest of the day looking for his cats. However it soon became apparent the cats were no longer in Toronto Airport.

"I just had a bad feeling that something has happened because they are just too nonchalant about this," he told the Post.

Eventually Zoeb received a call from the airline to say there had been a mistake. The cats were put on a return service to Canada which arrived shortly before midnight.

The Airline has paused taking any more live pets in the cargo hold of flights while

Until September 12, animals will no longer be able to travel in the hold of the aircraft. Find out if your animal can travel with you in the cabin: https://t.co/xOnAMPDAiw pic.twitter.com/tPNsy9mFxh

This month another passenger's pet was left "traumatised" after being misplaced in Toronto's lost luggage for 21 hours. The dog's owner, Jena Butts, told CTV News that airport staff had asked her to fly home to reclaim Winston the hound.

"I am glad they won't be taking pets in cargo anywhere because I don't want any pet parent to go through what I did," Zoeb told Business Insider.

Air Canada is among a number of airlines which are seeing issues with their baggage handling and passenger capacity.

A statement to Business Insider explained that Air Canada had decided to pause handling pets until ongoing capacity issues were cleared up.

"The global air transport industry is currently challenged due to issues with airport capacity issues, airport-managed baggage systems and third-party providers of such services as passenger screening, customs, and air navigation. We are working hard with these partners and governments to resolve these issues as they are affecting the performance of airlines."