Is it just me, or...

[rose_cat]

Is anyone else bothered by a picture of a cat in a dryer?

Cats are adorable, and a cat snuggled in a pile of clothes is even cuter. A cat in a basket full of clothes is one of my favorite things ever. But I digress.

The specific picture I'm referring to is at tumblr, and is not disturbing in itself: Get out of there, cat, you are line-dry only.

But it gave me chills and a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, and the caption just made it worse. I've heard a few horror stories of what has actually happened when someone is doing laundry and doesn't see where the cat is. One of them happened to a cat I'd met a few weeks before, when she was having a routine checkup at the veterinary hospital where I was working at the time. I didn't blame the owners; it was an accident and they were devastated.

Maybe you don't feel the same way as I do about animals. In that case, I think a picture of a small child, playing in an old refrigerator in a junkyard, is comparable.

I'm not saying that nobody who's aware of the danger can think it's cute, just that I can't. (Perhaps I need to learn to compartmentalize more.)

I'd like to explain this to the tumblr poster, and to get the word out about preventing this kind of awful accident, but I'm not a member and can't comment there. So I'm saying it here: never, EVER run a dryer -- or washer, for that matter -- full of clothes without carefully checking first. Even if you don't have any pets of your own. Because it could be someone else's.

Comments

[sue-denimme.livejournal.com]

That's exactly why I don't leave the washer or dryer open when I've just loaded them and go do something else. I load, then start it immediately. If the phone rings just then, that's what answering machines are for.

One of our cats, River, is just one year old and still in the "get into everything" stage (though she's slowed down a bit).

[rose-cat.livejournal.com]

Good for you!

When Missy was a wee one (extremely wee!), B and I learned to be extremely careful what we sat on. She had the habit of nestling into a blanket or throw and sleeping like the dead. Come to think of it, she still does :)

[aviv-b.livejournal.com]

MTE - cats and kittens especially have a way of getting into the most unexpected places. And you never know when some asshat/kid/clueless person will see a pic like that and think 'oh that looks like fun.'

[rose-cat.livejournal.com]

Seriously. I think what bothered me more than the photo was the poster's joking about how the cat would shrink in the dryer like a sweater. I've still got the creeps over this.

[i-want-2.livejournal.com]

My cat liked to sleep in the washer when we had a frontend loader. We kept the door open to air it out after uses. He got caught in the dryer once, but I pulled him out before I turned it on.

[rose-cat.livejournal.com]

Our previous frontloading washer had a faulty design -- water collecting in the gasket -- so we left the door open. At least it's easy to see in one of those, and a cat's not going to be in the bottom. (The new washer is better designed, and also has a door-cracked-open position you can leave it for airing.)

I'm just as happy to have the laundry machines in the garage. I'm still careful, though, in case of mice, lizards or what have you. (Which reminds me of the bat I need to write about.)

[i-want-2.livejournal.com]

If I saw a mouse or rat in my washer/dryer, it would experience the hell the likes it has never imagined.

[rose-cat.livejournal.com]

I'm not really sure if I want to know how you mean that D:

[i-want-2.livejournal.com]

Let's just say, vermin die. I don't torture, but I have stomped a mouse that was in my house to death, of course I was doing the dance of the wiggens at the time and it was an accident.

[rose-cat.livejournal.com]

I hate killing animals, but sometimes you have to. Ideally you could trap it and release it somewhere safe, but a lot of the time it's just not the best thing. (Think house mouse in the jungle.)

We had a roof rat move into our house in Del Mar. It was very sneaky; it took us quite a while to figure out why apples and walnuts were disappearing from the kitchen table without a trace.

"Did you eat it, dear?"

"No. Are you sure you didn't?"

I was up late, with the lights out and the TV on, when it popped out from behind a bookcase and bounded (yes, bounded) across the rug, presumably looking for a midnight snack. I jumped and it did too.

The nest was behind a bookcase (which didn't look as bad as you'd think -- mattress stuffing with apple cores and walnut shells). I was pretty freaked out. Not just by having a non-pet rodent living in the house, but also because my grey-cheeked parrot might be in danger.

We didn't have a lot of time to experiment, because we were getting the house ready for sale. ("Live-in rat on premises" doesn't exactly pique buyers' interest.) But we tried a live trap at first, because YUCK at snap-traps (and they can be horribly cruel). The rat was too clever; it either stole the bait or ignored it.

I don't remember if we ever tried snap-traps, but we finally had success with a glue trap. Those things are awful. It's not as though we could have taken it to a vet to get it removed and cleaned up (and what would we do with it then?). B wrapped it in a newspaper, then took it outside and finished it off with a shovel as quickly as he could. I stayed inside and covered my ears.

On a lighter note: The Wiggins Dance

[i-want-2.livejournal.com]

I prefer snap traps. They are quick and efficient. Plus, they satisfy my bloodlust when it comes to these bastards invading my home without me having to get personally involved. Outside, I don't bat an eye at seeing one fly by in a hurry to get outta sight. In my home, it's a death sentence.

We have rats, though, and the snap trap isn't working. We may end up using glue if that will work. I've seen on shows where the poison boxes and these jaw shaped black box traps were the only things that worked with any real success. We have poison out, but they've only finished off the one box and didn't touch the rest.

[i-want-2.livejournal.com]

Nah, the dance of the wiggins is a lot more frenetic and moves you.