I used to foster cats and once had a kitten then got into the washing machine without me realising it. Machine was running for a bit over 5 mins before I realised what had happened. He was ok, just really wet and shaken up, and took ages to calm down. Little idiot still tried to climb in again the week after. But after that, I did kitten counts whenever I did ran a load. As in, filled the machine, closed it , then counted all the kittens. Did this until I stopped fostering. And even with that, I’d have moments of panicking hearing the washing machine and have to go count again. Even had times when the house was cat free that I’d get that feeling.

[–] Mirshe 3 points 1 year ago

I've never had a cat get hurt this way and I'm still paranoid, and will check both my cats are safe and not in the machine before I turn it on. One in particular feels the need to explore anything that opens - cupboards, dishwasher, dryer, refrigerator, even the oven. I've luckily trained him to keep far away of the dangerous stuff like the dishwasher and dryer and oven, but he'll still try to climb into the fridge if I don't pay attention.