Kitten dies in washing machine; owners issue warning

[bobbins]

Such a sad story for the life of a poor kitty......

Story from the Vancouver Sun - June 1, 2010

An eight-month-old kitten died in Victoria last week after being accidentally put through a cycle of a family's washing machine.

Now grieving owners Chad and Corinne Lumley are warning others to know their pets' whereabouts when doing laundry.

"We don't have kids and our cats are our kids," Chad Lumley said yesterday.

News of the kitten's death followed weekend reports of a kitten in Australia that survived the wash cycle. The kitten had crawled into the front-loading machine when the door was open and curled up on the dirty clothes.

The Lumleys' mischievous female kitten, Scrapy, was not so lucky. Scrapy was in the laundry room with Corinne on May 17, playing in and around the washer and dryer, Chad said. The kitten jumped into the dryer and Corinne scooted her out again. The cat then jumped into the front-loading washing machine, but this time Corinne didn't see her. Scrapy died during the wash cycle. The discovery of her body has left the Lumleys devastated.

"I don't what to do. I've never experienced anything like this before and I'm trying to get awareness out there," Chad said.

It's the first local case of a laundry-related pet death Victoria SCPA manager Penny Stone has heard of.

"People have to be careful," she said Tuesday. "There are so many things that can happen."

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Vi...ssue+warning/3099916/story.html#ixzz0pk4OGdxM

http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Victoria%2Bkitten%2Bdies%2Bwashing%2Bmachine%2Bowners%2Bissue%2Bwarning/3099916/story.html

 

[nmassman44]

Thats sad to read. My sister had that happen to her years ago when my nephew threw a kitten into the dryer and my sister had no idea the kitten was in there...what a mess.
My Miele 4800 washer has a feature that will detect if a pet was thrown into the wash drum by accident...

 

[rapunzel]

An aunt of mine, who lived on a farm with dozens of cats, had this happen to her a couple of times. She'd put a load in the front loader, leave the door ajar and return to start the wash later. Twice she pulled a dead cat out with her wash. I would have thought she'd be more careful after the first time this happened. She was pretty cut up about it, but, I guess, it didn't sink in until it happened the second time.

 

[mixfinder]

The White Knight

I added a few articles to the some clothing in the washer and started the cycle. When the water begin to pour in the clothes shook and all at once something came flying out of the washer. I screamed like a little girl as the cat streaked by. There used to be a commercial about a giant in your washer and a great big hand came flying up with a box of detergent. While I was relieved to find it was the cat I was a little disappointed it wasn't a man behind the giant hand. Sadder were friends who washed a load of coveralls and heard thunking in the dryer and just thought it was the buckles. When they retrieved the overalls the cat had been in the dryer. They were understandably traumatized.

 

[qsd-dan]

11 years ago, my bother found a week old kitten in a dumpster. He brought it home and it wasn't long before that little guy was getting into EVERYTHING. I always had to triple check the dryer drum before starting it...and it paid off for the handful of times he got in there when I wasn't looking.

 

[laundromat]

Action chlorine bleach

was the commercial where the hand came out of the washer. It was a packet with bleach and detergent you'd drop in with your wash.

 

[whirlcool]

I'd be more than horrified if something like this happened to me. My sister, who is a cat person, never leaves her FL doors open because of this.
She has a Kenmore HE2T, uses CUPS of liquid detergent, tons of fabric softener, and never leaves the door open to air out. Yet the machine has never come down with odors.

 

[bertrum]

very sad story. . .

also out of interest nmassman44 what is the special feature that your Miele 4800 has to detect if a pet is in the machine?

 

[brisnat81]

Hi Bertrum,

My understanding is that when the machine starts, it sprays water into the drum and then the tacho senses whether the drum rotates at all.

The theory being that if something live is in there and gets wet, its going to move, which'll make the tub move.

Machine stops and beeps and wont continue until door is opened and closed.

 

[supremewhirlpol]

Curiosity Killed the Cat!!

Looks like a case of Curiosity Killed the Cat!! That's why boundaries need to be established when there are small furry animals. Also the same applies for people bringing their small kids to the laundromat. I remember several years ago, A little boy almost drowned because he crawled into a Gen 5 Wascomat. The money had already been inserted into the machine, and the boy wondered off and crawled into it. To make the story short, the customer saw the boy in the machine and busted the door open. The boy nearly drowned, but was ok. Unfortunately a perfectly good Wascomat machine was ruined.

 

[dj-gabriele]

Why I mean, why a thing like that hits the news!?!?!?

Can it be so hard to see what's inside a washing machine / dryer before starting it?

And it the kid goes into the machine that's HIS fault (and his parents too...) that's natural selection to me.

You can call me cynical if you like!

 

[retropia]

Pets and children do not always practice caution or common sense, alas. So we the adults try to look out for them as best we can. I can imagine how a cat could sneak into a washer or dryer while one was loading laundry. Their nature is to be quiet, stealthy, and curious.

I'm a little phobic about such a thing happening, so I always check the location of our cats before starting a load of laundry. I never turn away from one of our front loaders while a door is open.

We also never leave the washer door open to air out, and we've been lucky with our Frigilux to never have an odor problem.

 

[autowasherfreak]

I washed my oldest cat Ashely for a few minutes shortly after moving in to the new house. One of the main reasons I didn't see her in there is because the washer and dryer are no longer on pedestals like they were in the old house, and the washer and dryer are upstairs in the new place. I didn't take the pedestals when we moved because I didn't think the washer and dryer would fit under the cupboards if they were on the pedestals. Ashley was only in there for a couple of minutes when I heard loud thumping noise when washing a load of very light curtains. I have never been so upset in my life, I was screaming, I killed her, I killed her. Eric made me take the dogs for a walk to calm me down. She's doing just fine now, and now when I start a load of clothes I turn the tub before putting in any clothes. It's pretty easy to see into the dryer with the light and a white tub, but I check it out too even if the door was already shut. Better safe than sorry.