There are actual holes in the rubber seal from the cats chewing on it. There's not a warranty for that, by the way.

in Random Crap

me:  Really?  Hunter S. Thomcat is sleeping in the most dangerous place in the entire house.

Victor:  Don’t be ridiculous.  He knows you’re never going to use that thing.

me:  Touché.

221 thoughts on “There are actual holes in the rubber seal from the cats chewing on it. There's not a warranty for that, by the way.”

Read comments below or add one.

  5. That’s my worst nightmare. My cats have never climbed into any of my appliances, but I can never bring myself to start the washer, dryer, or dishwasher without doing a cat inventory.

    (Me too. Victor and I yell “Cat Count” whenever we do the laundry or when we’re going away for the evening and it’s a sign for everyone to go find all the cat accounted for. ~ Jenny)

  9. Ok… so this sounds mean… but if you just turn it on for ONE NANOSECOND, he will never try to sleep in there again.

    Lesson learned, amiright?

  12. You know, cats getting into dryers (and getting hurt that way) is actually a thing. But I’ve not heard of cats in the washer being a big problem. He’s still adorable, by the way!

  13. Uggh.

    One of my longtime friends sadly lost a cat when we were 20 because her cat climbed into the dryer, friend didn’t know cat was in there with the clothes and turned it on.

    Yeahhh. Super sad.

    I know mine wouldn’t try, hell they won’t come downstairs that often due to the dog, but I still check the machines before I turn them on. That’s stayed with me all these years.

    I just wouldn’t let him keep doing that.

    (We have to leave the washer door open all the time so it doesn’t get mold in it so the cats are always in there. We’re extra paranoid about it though so we always triple check before we shove our stuff in there. ~ Jenny)

  14. I used to like to ride in the dryer when I was a little kid. Which doesn’t have much to do with this, but it reminded me. It’s ok the door was open.

  15. Far better than the dead frog I found in my washing machine.. after I washed a shirt…. yup, that shirt got washed again without the frog…

    ___

    I now have two little kittens of my own, they are about 11 weeks old now, my girls are named Mischief and Mayhem. 😀

  16. My older brother and I once put our little sister in the dryer. We got caught before we could turn it on.
    True story.
    My sister (unrelated) now hates to do laundry. Wonder why???

  18. hahaha looks cozy ;D We once had kittens that used to crawl into the space under the oven. Had to quite literally ‘herd cats’ each time we needed to turn it on.

  19. My old cat loved sitting in washbaskets, which is fine except for all the black cat fur over your nice clean white laundry. But you’d think it was a kind of safe place to sit – until of course he spied a washbasket sitting on the edge of the balcony and immediately jumped in it, sailing 4 storeys down to land on the concrete driveway below. Don’t worry, he was mostly unharmed, and fully recovered after being babied for a day or two. But the incident made us wary of leaving washbaskets on the balcony.

  20. My cats loved to sleep in the dryer right after it finished a cycle. I was forever pulling them out of it.

  24. That’s where he finds his peace. And in sync with his alien friends. He has alien friends and you didn’t even know it!

    (It’s possible it’s some sort of cat TARDIS. They always seem disoriented when they leave it. ~ Jenny)

  26. My cats like to sleep in the bathtub. Then we turn it on and they look at us like we just yanked their tails. But they always go back.

  27. I’m ashamed to say, I turned on the dryer once with my cat in it. I had no idea she was in there, I swear, she was being a ninja kitten. Fortunately I came back and got her out right away- it sounded like thunk! thunk! so it got my attention.

  28. He’s so smart! He found a way to leave cat hair so that it embeds in the clothes as they wash. I’m not showing this to my cats. (Umm, I guess that sounded as if I share my computer with my cats, but I don’t. They use my Amazon Prime account too much.)

  29. I was doing laundry yesterday and one of the cats tried to climb in there right in front of me. He was disgusted that I wouldn’t let him get in the dryer. It’s always cat count time around here!

    Also, have you seen this? Basically it’s to remind people to bang on the hood of their car before they start it during the cold weather, as cats (and other furred folk) like to climb in there. Here’s the link to a poster about it:
    http://www.35jupiterdrive.com/2012/12/baby-its-cold-out-there-even-if-you.html

  30. This is why I buy everything at Best Buy with their “extended warranty”. Cannot tell you how many cordless keyboards and nice they have replaced gratis because Spike (yes, named after THAT Spike) has destroyed the components.

  31. When I was a kid, I always used to hide in the dryer when we played hide-and-seek. And when my mom would find me, I would get in big trouble because don’t you know how dangerous that is blah blah blah. And do you know where I would hide the very next round? The dryer, because who is going to look for me in the place they just forbid me to hide in?

  32. I love that he’s looking at you like “great, just show the entire Internet my happy place…”

    I’ll have to remember to shout “Cat Count” randomly just to cause confusion in my household.

  35. I could sort of understand hanging out in the washing machine in the summer… a cool, quiet place…but it’s quite cold here, and I just don’t see the appeal during the cold winter months.

    But then again, I’m not a cat. I don’t understand the appeal of trying to sleep on top of someone’s face in the night either…

  36. Super cute but super scary too…guess the cat inventory is a good idea! I have always heard of them in the dryer but the washer is new. What a funny place to decide to sit…LOL.

  39. Well, I’d leave a towel over the door hinge to ensure it doesn’t close accidentally.

    And a few years ago the Japanese were marketing a rice cooker because it was exactly the right size for a curled up cat. Instead of cooking rice, people were using it to keep their kitties toasty.

  41. I have an LG too! When my kitten was tiny, she used to climb in all the time & terrify me that I’d wash/dry her unintentionally. She also used to love the Laundry Show. At 8 months now, she’s too big to miss if I start a load, fortunately.

  43. Pretty sure you’re not supposed to wash fur.
    Tell HST he’s ‘dry clean only’…

  44. My (male) cat has a thing for my soft plush bankets. One, being leopard and the other, a large pink playboy blanket.

    I don’t even know what to think of it.

  45. Related story:

    “I’d like to return this sleeping bag please,” I said to the man behind the counter at REI.
    “Why?”
    “I’m no longer satisfied with it. You have a lifetime satisfaction guarantee, right?”
    “Yes. What’s the problem? Is there a defect? Did it not work to the designated temperature?”
    “No. My cat peed in it,” I said with a totally straight face.

    It didn’t work.

  46. I write this as I hear my little monster digging around in the laundry baskets in the closet *where she isn’t allowed! * meh. Too lazy to do anything about it….since my closet doesn’t *turn on* or anything. : )

  47. Mine was in the dryer once, I didn’t know it and started it. I started to walk away and thought man, those shoes in there are loud. Wait, I didn’t put shoes in there. I opened the dryer to a very dizzy cat. Other people laugh but I still can’t. I can’t even imagine if I hadn’t turned back to check. Scares the heck out of me to think about.

  48. We dried a cat once. Ku-thunk, ku-thunk, ku-thunk. He came out dazed but okay. Lived another 10 years, never went into dryer again, but slept on top routinuely while running because it was warm.

  49. Somehow, I don’t think a top-loader would be as appealing to him. He looks like he is totally digging the view. Which is probably of a blank wall.

  50. Cats can sometimes get themselves into a bit of trouble. A friend of mine once almost cooked her cat when he got into her oven once. She didn’t know he was in there and turned it on to preheat. After a few minutes she heard terrible screams coming from the oven. Luckily, he didn’t get too burned.

  51. That has to be one of the shortest and BEST conversations from you and Victor but still made me spit my coffee oh, and it’s snowing here in Essex UK, just saying so it will be whacky races on the road this morning if I don’t get hit by some Numpty ‘I’ll be back’

  54. A few years back, I couldn’t figure out why my washing machine created a lake underneath itself every time I used it, until I looked behind it and realized my cat had chewed through the rubber tubing…also not covered under warranty!

  55. I wonder if we pointed firmly and convincingly at our cat’s basket and said “Don’t go in there, bad cat!” she might actually sleep in it instead of on top of the cupboard in the bag of off-season clothes/on the dog’s bed/on top of the jeep/in the trunk of my car…

  57. So a couple of years ago my mother didn’t check our front loader machine before closing the door and turning it on. My poor birman cat went through the rinse and slow spin before someone wandered past and noticed his terrified face pressed against the window.
    I don’t think he ever forgave us. He started hiding behind doors and attacking our legs when we walked into the laundry after that

  58. I never even thought of this possibility. I am very relieved none of the cats we have had, have done this. I’m not sure I’d have noticed it. I am suddenly very happy I’ve got a dog.

    Winopants, your post had me guffawing! It also had me cringing and feeling very sorry for the kitten. But I swear I heard that *thunk* Glad the cat wasn’t hurt.

  59. I had a patient who spent 10 minutes in the dryer a few years back. She lost the tips of her ears (burned off) and we had to amputate her tail (nerve damage). Cat Count is a fabulous idea…just make sure that guests know to do it too!

    Also, my cats seem to prefer climbing into my dishwasher, which might be the MOST uncomfortable appliance in the house. Ah, cats…

  60. I bet this happens even AFTER you’ve bought a load of expensive cat baskets, scratch-proof sofa covers and left a trail of catnip back into the living room. The cat still prefers the washing machine…

  61. My special needs cat hasn’t discovered the washing machine yet. He is too busy destroying the contents of the kitchen cupboards and getting stuck behind sinks. On the plus side, he is such a fat bastard he would probably get stuck in the door hole for the washing machine so I wouldn’t have to worry about it being accidently switched on with him in it. And it only holds 8kg.

  62. This is one of the many reasons (plus more body heat in the bed for winter warmth) that a larger animal is my choice – like two big dogs 🙂

  63. Our cat never got into the dryer, although she wedged herself behind it and refused to come out whenever she saw the cat carrier! That critter HATED going to the vet. 😉 Our 50-lb dog is easier to wrangle than the 9-lb cat ever was!

  64. My cats love to just lounge on top of the dryer where it’s warm. Our one cat, Spunky (no longer with us) used to love watching the washing machine fill up with water and try to take a drink out of it. He also loved to climb into the dishwasher as I was loading it and lick the plates. I miss that cat.

  67. My pets climb into our dishwasher all the time. They too are safe. My teenage daughter’s chore is to pack and switch on the dishwasher. (Never going to happen)

  69. When we packed out to move to the UK (and then to Germany), the Urban Legend of All PCS Moves was bestowed upon us by more than one mover:

    “Make sure you check all boxes before we seal them. We know of a family whose cat hopped into a dish pack box for a nap, got sealed up, packed in the crates, then shipped overseas [that trip can take anywhere from 3 weeks to 8 months]. Was a nasty surprise when they opened the box…!”

    Over all the moves we’ve done, the story has gone from a dish pack box to a washer to a suitcase, a dresser, a filing cabinet, a fridge…

    The stuff of legends. How you claim it on a customs form is the real paperwork headache.

  71. I have a story about a friend, her cat, and the dryer. In the end he came out a little dizzy and “off,” but otherwise fine.

  72. I used to to do stained glass work, & had boxes of cut, scrap glass lying around in my stidio. Yep – THAT’S where my Molly cat loved to sleep – right on top of all the broken, cut up shards of glass. But despite the fact that I went through boxes of band aids every month, she never seemed to get a single scratch.

  74. I have enclosed a kitten of mine in the refrigerator. I guess he climbed in looking for somethning to eat, didn’t see him do it. I only discovered him on my next trip to the refrigerator, thankfully, only a few minutes had elapsed. No worse for wear!

  75. Now I’m kind of sad my cats don’t hide anywhere cute. They just go all gargoyle at the top of the stairs. Less funny.

  76. My favorite part of this post? Victor’s response. “Don’t be ridiculous. He knows you’re never going to use that thing.”
    I rarely use mine any more, except for comforters. I hang my clothes out. They shrink less and I like the way the jeans get kind of hard and crunchy.

  77. My kitty hasn’t actually slept in our frontloader washing machine. But she does take herself for long walks in it.

  78. My cat is a fat, lazy lump most of the time. Unless there is a plush gingerbread man on the tree. Then all bets are off. Or if catnip is involved. She goes bat-shit crazy when there’s catnip around. The kitten comes back when there’s a bit o’ nip. I’m sure if I owned a washer/dryer, she’s find a way to get in there. I understand your paranoia…. kinda.

  80. Now I know where to keep my cat when I finally get one. I’ve picked him out on the SPCA website already. Now all I need is a place to live and a washing machine.

  81. If you use a rag to dry the inside (rail?) and door, you can close the door and not worry as much about HSC! This us also another reason I could never own a cat. I killed a bat in the washer once and still haven’t gotten over it (and why I’ll never need a laundry chute in my house.)

  82. I’m so glad you do a cat count! I have a friend who lost their kitty to a dryer incident. Gah.

    I have to do a cat count everytime I leave my apartment. No washer/dryer, I just want to make sure they haven’t somehow climbed out a window or turned into a puddle of liquid metal and slid under my front door…

  84. I work with a woman whose cats are trying to get themselves cooked. The fat one likes to sleep on top of the stove, and he uses the oven door as some sort of leverage to get up there. While the door is open, the lanky one slips into the oven for his own nap. The oven door swings itself closed behind him (we’re not sure how).

    Aside from how my friend must always, always check the oven before she sets it to preheat, the real danger is that the fat one sometimes manages to turns the knobs on the front of the (gas) stove when he shifts around…

  85. Trying to remember which cat this happened to…and I can’t (LOTS of cats over the years & this was 15-20 years ago). Oh well. On to the tale. Was doing laundry and got a call before I’d finished filling the dryer. Ended the call, filled the dryer and turned it on. Walked out of the kitchen to do something else. Odd thumping sounds brought me back. Opened the door thinking I would need to redistribute/pull apart the clothes only to have a shrieking, streaking cat launch itself out of the dryer and run full tilt out of the room. Never happened again…with that cat. Some time later I caught another cat in the dryer before starting it. Became rather paranoid about checking after that so thankfully it hasn’t repeated since.

  86. Oh no! That happened to my family, too! Our cat, Gloria, jumped into the washing machine with the laundry while my mother’s back was turned. After turning the drier on we all heard the same sound:
    WUMP
    WUMP
    “mrrrrrrrroooooooow”
    WUMP
    We opened the drier door, and Gloria sprang out; frazzled and distraught. She sat in a corner for an hour. Now, when a cat’s in the house, we always check.

  87. This is why I always close the washer and dryer immediately after I finish using them. But damn if they don’t find the linen closet with all the clean towels.

  90. My cat used to chew on the rubbery window seals. I imagine the landlord won’t be very happy when I move out…

  92. Sadly, my cat Lilly took a ride in the dryer once. My cousin who lived with us at the time didn’t realize she was inside, and started it up. Luckily it was only a minute before she realized something didn’t sound right and opened the door. She was fine- lived to a ripe old age after that, but never again slept in the dryer…Same cat also got shut in the refrigerator door as a kitten and luckily my mom happened to get a drink of water before going to bed. Otherwise she would have been in there all night!

  93. Cats in this family need two things for full initiation. To be dressed in some sort of embarrassing clothing, and to accidentally take a spin in the dryer. Luckily we know exactly what a kitten in the dryer sounds like and catch that mistake quickly. No matter how careful I am, it happens once with every single kitten.

  94. When I was married I got my ex-husband a beagle puppy for Christmas one year. He refused to let her sleep in our room (that idea turned out like lady and the tramp by the way) and he put her bed and toys and a pee pad in our laundry room, despite me telling him it wasn’t a good idea. In the morning she has clawed the door jam to kindling, destroyed her bed and pee pad, peed on the 2 square inches of visible floor, and some how ended up inside the washing machine. The edge of the rubber seal still has the puppy teeth marks in it. After that we had to keep her out of there because she’d go nuts if we didn’t let her climb into the washing machine. If there were clothes in it and it was going, she’d tried to jump through the window and bite the clothes, I’ll admit that was hilarious to watch.

  96. I had to call the police one time to help me get my son out of the washing machine. He was about 4 and had climbed in and scrunched down to hide from me and then couldn’t get his big round head back out past the agitator thingy. This is not a service that most police departments offer, but I worked at this particular department so once they stopped laughing hysterically they did send a spare officer over to help me. As I recall, it involved tipping the agitator one way, mashing the rubber gasket around the edge of the top loading machine another way, and pulling on the unhappy little twerp (my son, not the officer) until he was free.

  97. When I was growing up everyone’s washer was on the back porch. One particularly cold night my neighbor’s cat hid in their dryer. The next morning the owners threw laundry in the dryer and turned it on without looking. What they found when the dryer was done is not something I’ve ever wanted to contemplate, but the cat did not survive the ride.

  99. My 65 pound lab tried to climb in the dryer once, got her collar stuck on something, and is now too afraid to enter the laundry room. Hell, she’s even afraid of the laundry baskets.

    And, Pat C– THAT is the funniest thing I’ve read all week. I would have died from the laughter if I saw it in person.

  100. It’s like hiding the alcohol under the veggies in the crisper. No kids alive is ever going to look under the veggies.

  103. I have an old, fat cat who is slightly (hah) incontinent. He climbed in the dryer and peed. Be glad HST is just resting in there!

  105. The auto-correct strikes again ? “But the way” or “By the way”. I deeply apologize, disregard with bold blame this message of mine, but I am a manic corrector myself…

  106. Thank god the dogs are too big to wedge themselves into the dryer, because despite giant fur coats (which they kindly leave lying all over my house in clumps at regular intervals) they ADORE hot clothes. I suspect some brain damage.

  107. Tzipporah: I have never understood why either cat was willing to climb on top of cold wet clothes. Hell, I can barely stand touching them long enough to shift them from one machine to the other. Lay on them? No way. Though I have to admit, watching that cat streak past me was funny as hell. For that matter listening to it inside the dryer was funny, too. Thump, thump, mreow. Thump, thump, mreow. Thump, thump, mreow. Fucking hilarious I tell you. Of course, thats only because it ended with the cat learning a lesson that didn’t hurt it as the dryer wasn’t on anywhere near long enough to heat, but man was he unhappy! The kicker? Their food & water dishes were on top of the dryer so he had to go back there every day. Repeatedly. Had to keep their dishes elevated because of the dog.

  108. It must have something to do with the model of the washing machine. We have the exact same one, and I have an oh so similar picture of my little girl in it. Catnip-scented?

  110. My cat will only hide in the dryer if I am at my parents house and my mom is doing laundry. If I am doing the laundry he will never go in the dryer. My parents have a top load washer so he won’t go in that one but he will watch you put clothes in.

  111. You should set up a cam for a few days, aimed right at the washing machine. Just to see if he actually does try to run in it like a hamster wheel. I have this sneaking suspicion that if any cat would, it would be Hunter S Thomcat. And THAT? Would be the best video ever. Second only to the one of the puppy trying to go down the stairs and the older dog teaching it. BUT CLOSE.

  112. I have to throw Gurgles out of the dryer on a regular basis. Occasionally he’ll get on top and then fall behind the washer, which is great fun because he’s too dumb to get out, so I have to climb on top, grab him by the scruff, and haul him out. Neither one of us wins.

  113. We were freaking out the first we got our puppy because we couldn’t find him anywhere. Aaaand he was in the washing machine. Come to think of it, the machine has started to make a funny noise on the spin cycle, so maybe cats are not the only ones in need of indemnity.

  115. My cat once jumped in the dryer without us knowing it, and we started it before leaving for the day. Got home that night to find the poor kitten screaming bloody murder after having gone an entire dry cycle and crapping all over itself and the newly cleaned clothes. It was never the same after that.

  116. Lazer, our Siberian, tried to do that once. After much contortion he decided it wasn’t such a great idea; which proved to be a good idea. If he’d gotten in I fear it’d taken the jaws of life to get him back out.

  117. My Horton can’t get enough of the warm dryer. If it takes me more than one armful to get the dry clothes out, he manages to squeeze in and snuggle under whatever is left in there. Luckily he has no interest in sleeping on wet clothes, or he’d be in trouble.

  118. We used to have a vertical washer/dryer combo, with the dryer on top. I was about to walk past it one day when I got a “meow” right in my ear. I totally jumped cause I wasn’t expecting it. My cat was just hanging out in the dryer, all “hey there, check out my new shiny cat condo!”

  119. My stepmom used to live in a tiny, wee house with a tiny, wee kitchen. She had no place to store her bakeware, other than inside her oven. So, whenever she needed to cook, she’d preheat the oven, open the door, put the bakeware on the counter, then close the oven door. (see where this is going??) On the night of her second date with my dad, he was coming over for dinner, so she did her routine above and then jumped in a bath. 20 minutes later, she’s back in the kitchen, and the cat is yelling, and she’s not sure where it is. Long story short: Mittens had 3 lines on her back where fur would no longer grow, and she was terrified of the oven. But, she lived 10 more years, so that has to count for something. My dad still refers to that date as Kitty Souffle night.

  120. I admit to procrastinating when laundry is involved, but having the cat boldly point it out is just rude!

  121. If they are like my cats they get in a room they are not suppose to be in and then hide and no matter how nice I try to sound they wont come out. By the time i finally get them, i am steaming mad at them. Just should of listen the first time.

  122. I could have a whole herd of animals and let them live in the major appliances the I never use. It will go badly if I ever do decide to bake cookies.

  123. This is when I’m glad I have such loud mouth cats (one is a Siamese and the other has learned to be by example). What this means is that they basically announce their royal presence constantly, loudly and annoyingly. We leave the washer open as well, same reason. What I want to know is WHY there is no better solution for this? I mean, someone grew an ear on the back of a mouse for heaven’s sake and no one can figure out the mildew issue on a washer seal? Puh-lease.

  125. If it were my house, he’d have his pick of places to rest: the dustpan, the mop bucket, the washer…..
    Sheesh. I need a maid. Or I need to train my cat better. Not sure which….

  127. Last night I caught my son warming up the heating pad (You know, one of those nice rice filled ones) and giving it to the cat to sleep with, which he promptly did… all curled up covering every surface space of it….

  129. OMG, when I had two cats, we often did a cat count – or invariably one would get locked in a closet for the day.

  131. Dude, I’m so calling the ASPCA.
    A GOOD cat servant would have made a comfy bed in there. No wonder they chew the seal. They’re making a nest. For comfort. And probably because those holes in the metal make them feel fat (because when you lie on holes like that, your fat pokes through and you get little circles on your skin. It’s unpleasant)

  132. Both my cats have slept in the dryer and my kitten(who will marry Hunter S Thomcat b/c they are purrfect for each other) in the washer so I check whenever I do laundry

  133. Many years ago I lived in a small apt with a horrible AC. I had the fridge open yo get something out, turned set it on the counter & shut it behind me… Some time went by & I noticed my usual little black shadow, Quivers was no where to be found! I looked around frantically…. Found her 10 minutes later just laying on a fridge shelf cooling down! She wasn’t even bothered; I literally had to pull her out of there!! >^..^<

  138. My parents were clearing out the attic and decided to get rid of the dead dummies my mom had made. Essentially, my mom made a couple of six-foot rag dolls for my dad’s reenacting unit to use on the ‘battlefield’ instead of newbies (or my brother’s friends).
    The attic was part of a loft space. Mom stuffed the dummies into trash bags and dropped them about 10 feet to the floor below. On coming down to drag the bag downstairs, it moved. She started yelling, Dad came up and grabbed it and ran it outside, figuring they’d maybe cornered some kind of rodent or vermin. On opening the bag very carefully outside he discovered that they had actually bagged their tiny all-black kitty. Katherine had gotten curious, crawled into see what this thing was and had gone on the ride of her life. Needless to say, no one closes anything up without a Cat Count now.

  139. My cat Clyde loves to hang out in the washer too, but luckily he doesn’t chew on the door seal. He also loves to get in the refrigerator so we have to do a cat check before shutting the door.

  140. uhh yeah.. I had a cat that died in the dryer so I’m really paranoid about my animals getting anywhere near that stuff! My mini kitty thought she wanted to hang out in the washer the other day so I turned on the water for a second. Problem solved.

  142. My parents’ dog loves to eat Bounce sheets, and climbed in the dryer to relax while my mom was doing laundry. He’s not the brightest of our dogs. >.<

    I love that everyone who comments has some kind of story about this happening to them. 😀

  143. It was a gorgeous summer day, so the family and I were hanging outside enjoying the fresh and doing Sunday type things, which mostly just includes doing the laundry because I’m lazy and only own about a weeks worth of clothes.

    When I went inside to use the bathroom, I heard the odd guttural meow that usually indicates a cat is stalking something from the window. Except, our new 8-week-old kitten wasn’t in any of the windows.

    As I investigated further, I realized the meowing was coming from inside the utility closet. Specifically, from inside the washing machine. Except the washing machine had been running for about a half hour.

    I yanked the door open and saw a couple of blinking eyes looking up at me as if to say, “Thanks. But what the fuck?”

    The kitten managed to survive 30 minutes of vigorous washing completely unscathed. I didn’t tell him he was only 5 minutes away from the spin cycle. And since I was washing darks, the water was not hot and I didn’t add bleach. I still count his escape from being bludgeoned, boiled and chemical warfared as three bonus lives.

    That was the day we all learned an important lesson: Front-end loading washers do in fact use less water than top loaders.

  144. My husband recently threw one of the kids’ comforters in the dryer, went to grab a dryer sheet, put the rest of the sheets in the dryer, shut the door, and started it. As soon as we heard the thumping, he pulled the door open to see our not-quite-elderly-but-old-enough-to-know calico cat jump out and run for her life. In the 10 seconds it took to get a dryer sheet and shut the door, she had jumped into the dryer and burrowed into the WET laundry! I’m betting she never does it again.

  145. Oh my gosh – this post made me remember when my sisters put me in the clothes hamper & put books on the lid so I couldn’t get out. It had air vents, thank goodness. I was too young to be offended – I fell asleep & took a nap, very baffled when my mom was angry with them for it. I appreciated the peace, poor little introverted me.

  146. you know those things have a door on them for a reason. Of course if i ever caught my cat in one (which would be a surprise, because my cat lives outside, and I don’t own a front load washer) I would just close the door and leave it in there for a bit.

  147. It was a gorgeous summer day, so the family and I were hanging outside enjoying the fresh and doing Sunday type things, which mostly just includes doing the laundry because I’m lazy and only own about a weeks worth of clothes.

    When I went inside to use the bathroom, I heard the odd guttural meow that usually indicates a cat is stalking something from the window. Except, our new 8-week-old kitten wasn’t in any of the windows.

    As I investigated further, I realized the meowing was coming from inside the utility closet. Specifically, from inside the washing machine. Except the washing machine had been running for about a half hour.

    I yanked the door open and saw a couple of blinking eyes looking up at me as if to say, “Thanks. But what the fuck?”

    The kitten managed to survive 30 minutes of vigorous washing completely unscathed. I didn’t tell him he was only 5 minutes away from the spin cycle. And since I was washing darks, the water was not hot and I didn’t add bleach. I still count his escape from being bludgeoned, boiled and chemical warfared as three bonus lives.

    That was the day we all learned an important lesson: Front-end loading washers do in fact use less water than top loaders.

  148. Crack me up! Seriously though, you can just have the gasket replaced like I did on my washing machine. It was a lot cheaper than replacing the entire machine.
    Happy New Year!
    Theresa

  149. I have a sad ‘cat in the dryer’ story from 20+ years ago that I won’t tell here because I’ll feel bad about it all over again. Damn! Too late… 🙁 Glad HST is safe and sound 🙂

  150. Mine like to sleep in the bird’s cage. Small wonder the bird attacks the cat in my home! (Oh, and by bird? I mean chicken. *grin*)

  151. I think someone needs to start a petition for one of the appliance companies to make Jenny a Tardis-themed washer and dryer.

  152. My old cat used to come RUNNING the second I opened the dryer door (when the cycle was done) and he’d jump inside with the warm clothes. It was hell for getting the fur off, but hilarious for us. We called it his Narnia.
    I always do checks as well. And bang car hoods. And all the other cat stuff. Those creatures are SNEAKY.

  153. I see your cat and I raise you a toddler in the dryer. (Okay, so she’s not a toddler anymore and there was no way I was going to be able to shove clothes in there with her, but my eldest used to LOVE hiding in the dryer. It got to the point that I would wedge the door open, just in case.)

  155. I keep hearing “merow-ka-thunk, merowp-ka-thud, merow-ka-thunk, merowp-ka-thud” in my head…and am trying not to laugh hysterically at work.

  156. My cats both love hanging out in the dryer with the warm clothes. Every so often when I’m doing a load I go back and make sure one of them isn’t in there.

  158. Loki LOVES to get in the washing machine – and he *will* sometimes make it turn like a hamster wheel. He also loves to stand in front of the washer when it’s running, and watch the clothes swirl through the door.

  160. The only time my cat goes into the laundry room is to use her litter box. So I have to go in there quietly as not to startle her and make her run off mid poo.

  164. This makes me wish I had a cat… but then I’d be needing a washing machine and my NY apartment just can’t handle that… unless I’d be sleeping in it. And then I just know no good can come of that. So I guess I’ll just stick with the plant on my fridge and hope it’ll do something funny one day, too.

  166. My friend was once telling me a story about how she was moving some laundry from the washing machine to the dryer, and moved half the load, then the other. She switched the dryer on, and went upstairs to do some work. Half an hour later, she heard her Mum screaming her name from downstairs, and went to find her Mother cradling the slightly cooked remains of their cat. Life lesson: don’t leave dryers unattended.

  167. I do a cat count before leaving the house, on getting home, before bed, etc. I’m in an apartment and don’t have a washer or dryer in here but have had a cat jump in the fridge while I was making dinner and get shut in there. Goofy things.

  168. Seeing HST looking so cute made my crappy day much less crappy.

    Are front loaders more prone to mold? I am thinking of one but have heard mixed things.

    Thanks Jenny!

  171. I’ve never found my cat in the dryer. I did find my 85 pound black lab in the dryer. I still haven’t figured out how he folded himself up and turned around so he could lay down and look out the door.

  173. Oh man, I am EXTRA paranoid about the cats when I do laundry. I always do a head count before I turn on the washer or dryer. 😛

  174. OMG I knew it! Our dryer is outside and I’m always yelling at my husband to close the dryer door at night because I just KNOW that one day a cute little animal is going to make it home for a night (or week). He swears animals don’t do that. Give HST a kitty high-five for me for the PROOF!

  176. I have a black cat who does the same thing, especially if there are clothes in the dryer.

  177. My husband send me your link (as if I don’t have the blog saved on my phone and check it once a day) and told me that “You and Bloggess could be the same person.” I think that is a compliment then I realize he was talking about doing laundry. I am gonna make a killer dinner surprise…meaning, Surprise, this dinner will kill you.

    Love you, BFF.

  178. My mom’s BFF had a horrible accident and turned on her washing machine with her beloved cat inside…it did not end well. We had her next kitty a collar made that said “Dry Clean Only.”

  179. I do a cat roll call any time I don’t see one of them. I just yell a name and say meow if you hear me. My mom thought I was wasting my time until she heard them answer to the roll call lol.

  180. Okay that’s super-cute and all, but I would be totally pissed if my pet was chewing up the rubber seal. Maybe you should get him his own washing machine to sleep in, like some old clunker that doesn’t run anymore, and close the door to your laundry room so he can’t ruin yours. But I guess you wouldn’t want your dear HST sleeping someplace where complete strangers have laundered their undergarments. Ew.

  181. Sorry about the washing machine, those things are a hassle to get fixed. On the bright side, you got a super cute picture out of the deal.

  182. My cat, Flick, LOVES jumping into the dryer, especially if there are warm clothes inside. It freaked me out at first until I realized that his royal highness is particular to the temperature of the clothes- too hot or too cold and he won’t bother.

  183. As long as we’re telling crazy cat stories….We’re currently remodeling our bathroom and my cat (accidentally, I’m hoping and not due to a malicious cat hating contractor) got drywalled into the wall. This happened on a Friday afternoon and we didn’t notice him missing until the next morning. My husband was out of town so I had to have my brother in law drive an hour and a half to cut a hole in the wall so my poor cat could get out. I would like to say he learned his lesson and will never do something so stupid again. But he’s a cat, so yeah…

  184. I wish I could say that would never happen—but it did. I opened the dryer to get towels that had been drying, and left the door open when the phone rang. I went back and closed the dryer door (I will fold the towels only if they are all warm and fluffy), and restarted the dryer. It started making a thinking noise and I stood there, like an idiot, wondering if I was drying a pair of shoes by accident. I decided to check, and that cat zoomed out of the dryer and hid for days. He was mad at me for a long time and would randomly jump on me from high places and attack me. He eventually stopped it, but he never went in the laundry room again.

  186. My cat growing up managed to climb through a hole high on the back of the dryer. Once he was inside, he couldn’t leap up to the hole to get out, so he was stuck. My dad ended up taking the entire cover off the dryer in order to get him out. Cat was smart enough not to try that one again.

  189. Once one of our cats jumped in while I was tossing in wet laundry. I turned the dryer on and heard this weird thumping. My husband asked what the heck I had in there & I was baffled as well. I opened the door and the fluffiest cat ever jumped out and zoomed away! He was fine and will still sometimes jump in there, but I’m a bit more watchful now. Laundry fresh kitty!

  190. When we had our washing machine in an outside laundry space (it’s an old house), we once found a dead mouse. Because it’s so dry here, it was a little mouse mummy.

    The cat tries to get in, but so far he’s only managed to get himself closed into the current, indoor laundry closet.

  192. One winter, our downstairs bathroom shower pipes froze. We had put a hole in the wall to repair the pipes. Simultaneously, we had adopted a kitten who didn’t know the layout of the house that well and was frightened. He crawled into the hole in the wall and got lost and couldn’t find his way out for a couple of days. We had to put an open can of tuna near the hole so he could ‘smell’ his way out. We could hear his meowing through the heat vents all over the house all night long. It was such a mortifying cry!

  193. My Grandmother had this happen with my Dads kitten when he was a teenager. It didn’t end well. My Grandma told my Dad that the kitten had run away. He still doesn’t know. My sister and I were sworn to secrecy and will never tell him what really happened.

  194. I have a cat that jumps into my top loading washing machine, and one that jumps in the dryer as soon as I start putting wet clothes into it. If they had hands, they’d be playing Russian Roulette, but instead they’re stuck with this.

  195. Speaking of cats and appliances….last week while helping me with dinner, my 15 yr old daughter revealed her (admittedly) unrealistic fear that she will someday open the pre-heated oven to shove something in to cook only to be charged by a flaming screaming cat. So of course this is the mental picture I now have everytime I open the oven.

  198. It’s amazing how much fun little fuzzballs can have with non-FDA approved items. Pretty sure humans aren’t approved for consumption, but Oberon tries to nom my hand every time I pet him.

  199. My wife uses one of those mesh bags for washing her bras so the hooks don’t snag the other clothes. I put 1 magnet* over the washer door, and 1 below it. Now when she’s done, she magnetizes the bag over the opening to the washer. This discourages our cat** from climbing in there.

    Now you can start a whole “household hints from Jenny” book!
    * I use magnets from an old hard drive (because I’m a geek), but I suppose pretty fridge magnets would work too.
    **your results may vary.

  200. My Mom has the same type of washer, she has a washcloth hanging on a hook nearby that she uses the dry off the rubber seal after each load and then she can close the door and keep the cats out.

  204. I love your caption! And your book! I just finished reading it yesterday! It was awesome. There were even some parts I read aloud to my 12 year old. And your Beyonce story was already famous around these here parts. 🙂

    Thanks for the (constant) laughs!

  206. On my wedding day, my flower girl’s mother threw a couple of things in my wedding coordinator’s dryer to de-wrinkle them. She turned on the dryer and heard, “thump thump MROOWWW”. She quickly opened the dryer and our friend’s cat Jack came flying out looking pissed.

    Kept me from sobbing copiously as I went up the aisle! 🙂

  208. Ditto on the comment that said be glad HST just rested in the dryer. I found out that there are pages and pages of “my cat peed in the dryer” discussions and advice on the internet. The best remedy was a new dryer. 🙂

  209. I think that just for admitting your cat chewed on the seal you should get one for free. There’s no way they’ve heard that one before!

  215. So incredibly funny. I guess my cats would sleep in the oven because I certainly never intend to use that thing. Thanks for the laugh again… Cheers.

  221. I’m going to have to send this to my mom. She drowned our cat in the washing machine when I was about 4. 27 years later and family members still “Meow” at her in hopes she’ll burst into tears. Good times!!

Leave a Reply

MY BOOKS:


shop

Subscribe to the bloggess, y'all.

Enter your email address and receive notifications of new posts by email. It\'s like I\'m stalking you, but more efficient.

Archives

ALL THE COOL KIDS ADVERTISE HERE:

I fucking love these people & not just because they support my wine-slushee habit:

Flourish in Progress: (T)hug Life: Part hood. Part good.

Pregnancy Calendar at Alpha Mom: Amalah’s week-by-week guide to the miracle of pregnancy and all the various indignities that come with it.

The Mack Files: Digesting life in bite-sized pieces through the lens of clichés, quotes & “truisms”.  Often irreverent, always honest.

Barking at the Moon: If your dog is your furry child, you will laugh out loud at Tracy Beckerman’s book about her family & a one-dog wrecking ball named Riley.

Kieran’s Humor: Not suitable for children, the sensitive or those hoping to get into heaven.

Go Doc Yourself Podcast: When a good doc ends, the klatch begins… Join hosts, scientists, and friends, Erin McCourt and Erin McCartt in weekly documentary dissection.

Welcome to xanaru: A mostly funny blog about the quest for happiness through authenticity, Great Danes and indiscriminate swearing. Plus hand-painted, custom artwork on bags, jackets, backpacks & more.

How the Hell Did I Not Know That?: Humorist Lucie Frost shares daily Instagram reels with learnings of the day—words, music, whatever–with plenty of laughs and all the curse words.

Beautiful Writers book: Writers! This coming-of-career memoir (w/ the BEST advice from celeb authors, real shit you haven’t heard) is life. A page-turning beach read doubling as how-to. #Magic

The Dating Days of Marta O: When I told my sister I was building a blog she said: “Do people still read blogs?” I do not know, but if YOU want to read it, here it is. Keep in mind, my stories about dating after 40 are for the brave.

Where Do I Belong? A memoir of Sarah Carrington: The unbelievable story of growing up in a religious cult in the mountains of Northern British Columbia. What happens to you in life doesn’t make you strong; rising above it does.

CONNECTED: A Personal Journal for Ketamine Therapy Created by writer & patient Katherine Davis for this powerful clinical treatment. If considering ketamine for major depression, check out this essential tool.

Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh: SO GOOD.

Discover more from The Bloggess

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading