For some reason, when I saw this picture over on Jay’s Blog I had terrible images of the best cat I’ve ever owned…whom I killed in the dryer about three years ago. The picture just gave me images of Jack tumbling helplessly in the dryer…. (Sorry Jay, I LIKE your picture. 
I think I’m still a bit traumatized about this incident though…)
I’ve never been so upset over an animal as I was at finding out my cat buddy, Jack, had been in the dryer sleeping when I threw a comforter in there to dry. Threw it right on top of him and shut the door and started the dryer. I didn’t know he was in there. I DID know that he slept in there once in a while. But like an IDIOT, I didn’t think to check in there before I tossed in the comforter. And it didn’t register in my brain at the time that after I put the comforter in there and started the dryer – that an unusual thumping noise began coming from inside the dryer which couldn’t be caused by a light, soft comforter.
Now this was late at night and I was going to wait for the comforter to dry so I could take it upstairs and put it on the bed before I crawled in with my wife…but I was too tired and couldn’t wait for it to finish drying…so I went to bed.
Next day I couldn’t find Jack. Went looking all over for him. Even drove around the neighborhood because I thought he’d got outside somehow (he was a housecat).
Crazy thing is, earlier that day I had already removed the comforter from the dryer but somehow didn’t notice his dead body in there. Though I couldn’t figure out why the comforter smelled so bad at the time.
Later on I went back to the dryer because I thought I’d threw some more clothes in there to dry (which I hadn’t). Opened it up and there was Jack’s body – all singed, twisted, and broken from a 45 minute tumble in the dryer.
My heart dropped at seeing him. I lost it after that. Literally had a break down. I hurried to my wife and – in shock – I told her that I’d found Jack…in the dryer…dead. And that I’d killed him. And then had to explain to her how it was my fault.
I’d never killed a pet before. Especially one with whom I was so close. I just kept having these images of Jack sleeping soundly in the dryer one minute and the next tumbling around in there uncontrollably to his death. I can’t imagine how that cat felt as he tumbled around. I’m sure it took a little while to kill him. Poor little guy.
I had to trash the comforter after that for obvious reasons. The worst part was taking Jack’s broken body out of the dryer. But I managed to do it after working up the nerve and I took him out back and buried him.
Then, after that, I had the terrible job of cleaning and sanitizing the dryer which was very emotionally difficult too.
Jack was an awesome cat. The BEST cat I’ve ever had. He loved me to death and I loved that little cat.
Jack used to follow me everywhere around the house. He always had to be by my side, rubbing on my legs and purring at me – waiting for me to bend down and give him a scratch behind the ears or a rub on the head… OR waiting for nap time! -
He LOVED to take naps with me in the afternoon. He’d lay right next to me and go to sleep. We were good buddies.
I still feel guilty about killing poor Jack. I’ll probably never get over it.
I’m still sorry Jack. I wish I would have checked in there first. You’d probably still be alive today if I had only checked before I tossed in the comforter.
I still miss ya good buddy…and I always will 
)
Jack and I at nap time.
OMG, I can’t imagine how horrible you must feel about that. I bet you always check the dryer now. You can bet I will check mine after reading your story.
Yep, I still feel bad about doing that to Jack.
For a long time after that I checked the dryer. Even when I DIDN’T have any cats!
I don’t have any indoor cats anymore so I don’t have to worry about it. Unless one of the dogs crawls in there…LOL.
When I was vacationing at my mom’s last month she informed me that her cat likes to sleep in the dryer. I saw him sleeping in there a few times. There was one time that I forgot to check before I threw clothes in her dryer and started it. Then her cat went missing. I had a panic attack!!
Thankfully, we found him hiding under the bed.
As I said, I think I’m still traumatized. Perhaps I have PTSD and need some therapy
That’s so horrible, I understand you feeling guilty, but it’s not your fault. When I was very young I jumped on one of my cats, I don’t remember it, but apparently I was playing with her, not understanding that I was hurting her. My mom once also accidentally closed the door on one of our cats, heartbreaking. It’s hard to lose a pet when they grow close, they hold a special place in our hearts.
Oh Josh, what a sad story. I can see how you would keep flashing back to the loss of your beloved Jack.
I lost my little Nocha (a beautiful black and white cat) last Fall. I miss her so much…..she got a disease called Cushings Syndrome, and there was not any medicine that worked for her. The vet even tried a medicine that had to come from England….but she just got sicker and sicker.
A special pet remains precious in our memories.
Hugs, Grandma BEV
What a sad, horrible story. I always make sure I keep the dryer door closed and we don’t even have pets! I guess I’m paranoid about anything crawling in there I wouldn’t know about.
i found your posting when i shut my dryer door and ran the dryer with my cat in it for about ten minutes, two days ago and killed my own cat. i needed to have contact with the issue because the only one i can tell is my husband. the sadness i feel at the way she died is something i don’t want my kids to have in their minds so i can’t tell them how she died. i feel like i will feel sad and guilty forever. sharing this feeling even on an internet site helps a bit. i can’t even tell my friends in case they let it slip to my kids. i feel sadder and sadder and am going to talk to someone about it next week at the hospital. the guilt is so bad. i wish that i could turn back time. thank you so much for your story tho. it has helped a bit .
my heart goes out to you
I just experienced the same thing. My darling little kitten must have jumped in when I wasn’t looking. I started the dryer and walked away. I never even thought to look in the dryer before closing the door. I was horrified when I found my little Buddy the next morning. I blamed myself and wouldn’t forgive myself. My heart still aches for him. I plan on writing a letter to our Vete pleading with them to please tell all cat and kitten owners to always, always look in the dryer before closing the door. I would not have believed in a million years that something like this could happen. I wish I had heard of this happening some how.
I don’t feel as bad now cause i thought i was the only one that has done this, My 10 yr old cat jumped in the drier with out me knowing. I don’t think she was in there before hand as my drier unlaches and opened by it self when i have a heavy load in it so i can’t really say or no when it happened, All i know is that i kept shuting the door so my clothes would dry. Well when hubby went to get the clothes for me he found her all curled up like she was sleeping but when he went to take her out she was very stiff. So i don’t know if the drier killed her or if she passed due to old age or what, all i no is i am having a very hard time sleeping, i blame my self. She was my baby i had he at 6 weeks old, took her for car rides she loved going for car rides, she played fetch, she was almost like a dog but better.
I hope this get easier. No other cat will replace her, but i do know none of my other cats will be near me or in the laundry room from now on
Rest in peace my Sabrina, Mommy is so sorry
Last night I was doing laundry and found my husband had left his wallet in pants pocket a little to late. So I took the wet wallet out of the washer and threw the close in the dryer. I guess I was so pre occupied wth the wallet and my son throwing a tantrum in the other room because he did not want to go to bed, that I didn’t notice my cat Ramsey jumping into the dryer. She does this quite often, but I always notice and pull her out. So I start the dryer and leave the room. I brought another load of wash into the laundry room a couple minutes later and heard the thumping and thought what else could my husband have had in his pocket. Opened the door and saw my Ramsey. Thank god she was o.k. Very shaken up and feaked out, but o.k. I cried and was shaking thinking about what would have happened had I not gone back in there. My husband had to calm me down. I will be more carefull now. So sorry for your losses.
Thank you so much for your stories. Our cat Pootie died last night in a dryer accident. I am still hysterical over it… I feel disgusted and guilty, I can’t eat or sleep. She was such a sweet cat and we loved her so much. It comforts me a little to know I’m not the only one.
This just happend to my 11 month old kitten, who has had a horrible lift of being neglected by his mother, in there for 10 minutes, came out with blood in his mouth, vomiting it, and at 109 body tempature. Poured water on him, took him to vet, might live.
Thanks for your story Josh. I know it washard to tell but I needed to read it. I killed our cat yesterday in the dryer just yesterday and I did’nt sleep all night. We only had the cat for two months but it was long enough to be like a brother for my boys. My that kitten follwed my 3 yr. old and 18 mo. old all over the house. They napped and went to bed together at night and boy did they play! I can still hear my 18 mo. old laughing histerically as he ran back and forth with his blankey dragging and the kee cat chasing him as he called it. He wokeup last night asking for the kee cat. I can’t stop asking God for forgiveness. Knowing that I am not the only one provides some kind of closure. So sorry for your losses.
I’m sorry for your loss of Jack. He sounds like a great cat! I know what your going through as I did the same thing to one of my kittens last night. I was putting a load in the dryer and he must have jumped in there when I wasn’t looking and I must have thrown the clothes right on top of him. He didn’t meow or anything. After the dryer running for a whole hour I opened it up and starting taking the towels out when I noticed my kitten Ahlie with a snapped neck in the dryer. She was not moving. I felt so bad and couldn’t sleep all night. The hardest thing about it was mustering up the strength to take her lifeless body out of the dryer. And cleaning up the aftermath. She lost a lot of bodily fluids in the whole ordeal. The smell was atrocious. I feel horrible and don’t think I will ever get over this. I didn’t mean to kill her. Next time I will triple check to make sure I see all of my other kittens around before turing it on. I will pobably be super paranoid about the dryer for years to come, but atleast I will know I wont do that again. But thanks to your article now I don’t feel so alone. She was the sweetest kitten always wanting to cuddle, she will be greatly missed. RIP Ahlie.
the same thing happened to me 2 nights ago, my kitty was only 5 months old, we had her since she was only a month old, her name was princess, because we treated her like one… she always slept with me at night, i spoiled her unlike any other cat i had. she was special and i loved her. she liked to sleep in the dryer ontop of the warm clothes, i kept getting her outta there every time i saw her in there, but one time i didnt even think, like it didnt click in, wheres my kitty, she could be in the dryer yanno and i just closed the door, didnt even look and i turned it on.. she went through a whole cycle without anyone even noticing, she was soo little and here was soo many clothes in there that we wouldnt have heard her banging around, not to mention her meow wasn’t very loud. so im not sure if she suffered or if she was already sleep when it happened. i hope she was… and i hope she knows how much i miss her and didn’t do it on purpose, i would have pulled her out in a heartbeat, and be holding her to this day, loving her. i miss her, and i want everyone to know that these things do happen, they are tragic but you are not alone. just remember to close that dryer door even if you leave it open for a second, it’s not a good idea. animals are quick and sometimes too small to see. lessons learned in our case. r.i.p baby kitty i love you&miss you. and god bless everyone this has happened to, remember it’s not your fault, your kitty loves you no matter what and is happy.
I am so sorry for your loss. I too had a cat who died in the dryer. She must have jumped in so quickly that I didn’t see her. Even when I couldn’t find her some time later, it never dawned on me that she had gotten in the dryer. I was so horrified when it sunk in – what had happened, as sad as I was over losing her, I was more shaken up by the fact that it was at my hands that she was gone, and that my poor cat had suffered. I still miss her and tell her “I’m so sorry” almost every day. The only consolation I have is that this is a very common cause of death for inside cats. It was the first time any of my cats ever got in the dryer, but now I am sooo careful. Gracie-Lou, rest in peace.
this happened to me the other day- I was “babysitting” a cat, the actual ower had been moving around a lot so I ended up with the cat for a few months. I had NO idea that for one, this could even ever happen, so I never bothered to check and 2- I was there right by the dryer the whole time, I guess there was so many clothes I didnt hear thumping until the end of the cycle, or any noise, no crying clawing , anything- I have not eaten for like 2 days- I feel like such a disgusting person. And to make matters worse I cant tell anyone- not even the actual owner. I mean I cant bring back the cat , why should she know the gruesome details. But above all of that, I really really loved that cat, she was 17 and the sweetest thing ever. I love cats so much, all animals, and I am aching and sick over this whole thing – I remember seeing a news story about a woman who’s 12 month old drowned in a washer, and I remember thinking “that dumb bitch” but now I dont think that anymore, I realize now how even some one like “miss perfect me” can have such a horrible accident happen- this is the worst thing psychologically to ever happen to me – i dont know if i will ever get over this- Jack and everyone else on here- you are so brave to share your story- we all need to know it just could not have been prevented, its not intentional, I think some times god works in mysterious ways, this experience very much humbled a person who sometimes becomes too self righteous.
I hate to say this, but how can this many people have lost their pets in a dryer? I mean, come on. Is no one in the habit of shutting the dryer door after use? Perhaps I am neurotic, paranoid and/or just very careful, but I never leave my dryer door open after use, because I know that I have small curious animals that could eventually find their way in there.
Jane- that’s not how it happens. I never left the door open when the dryer was empty. I was loading the dryer, and had two armfuls. She got in after the first, and my arms were too full on the second to see her already in there. Who looks inside the dryer while your’e in the middle of loading? (I do now, and take a cat headcount)
Dani, I completely agree. I never leave the dryer door open, but yesterday, I needed a couple things washed pretty quickly, so I just took the couple things out of the dryer that needed dried. I opened the dryer to see what was in there, after that, I got into the washer to get out what I needed. Coby (our 3 month old cat) must have climbed in when I did that. About 10 minutes later, I heard a thumping sound. I ran to the dryer, but slowed down my pace once I got there hoping that what I thought may have happened, didn’t. I can’t get the image out of my head of my Coby laying there with only a couple breaths left. I tried unsuccessfully to get him back. I wrapped him in a towel, sat on the floor, petted him, and cried for over an hour. I feel so bad. To everyone else this has happened to, don’t let it tear you apart. I am struggling with this. I keep thinking “What if I had checked” or “What if I had put him back in his room earlier.” I am devastated.