Our washer broke recently. You wouldn’t think this would be a big deal to us cats since we don’t wear clothes, but Pierre loves his clean sheets more than just about anything else. Our old washer was pretty old.
Well, maybe not quite that old. But it was old. And our new washer is all fancy and opens on the front.
Doesn’t that look like a great place to hang out if you’re a cat?
Of course, that’s not a photo of one of us. Our washer is in the garage, and we aren’t allowed out there. Lots of kitties live in houses where the washer and dryer are right inside the house, and there is no way that we would be able to resist such a tempting hiding place.
Unfortunately, a lot of cats have trouble resisting staying out of washers and especially warm dryers. That can be really dangerous. How often do you check the inside of your washing machine or dryer before starting to put laundry in there? Unless you said “every single time,” there’s always the risk that your kitty may have gone in there to take a nap when you weren’t looking. Washers with dirty clothes smell like their favorite people — you — just like your laundry basket does, and that makes them especially inviting. Not to mention that dryers are often warm. We all know how much cats like finding warm spots to rest.
We know someone whose kitty was sleeping in the dryer when it was started, and it didn’t turn out well, and we don’t want this to happen to you! Things you can do to help prevent this include:
- Always checking the inside of the washer and dryer before putting in clothes or running it, even if it was unattended only briefly.
- Securely closing the doors that access laundry rooms.
- Closing the washer and dryer door between loads to prevent access. For washers that get musty if left closed and do not have a built-in way to prop them slightly ajar, look into getting a gadget to hold them ajar just enough for air to dry the washer without allowing access to your kitty.
With a little extra diligence, your cat can be safe even around your tempting front-loading washer and dyer.
Photo Credits
Washing the Old Way by Dean Wiles on Flickr
Fate by Andrew Follow on Flickr
