05/06/2024
So, as long as I've had cats, they've been trying to get into things they're not supposed to be in -- the washing machine, the dryer, the oven... and I learned early on to double check the surroundings, and I'm adamant about checking inside everything before I start it.
My current washing machine makes noise, and momma cat, Toffee, hates it. I've tried to avoid doing laundry while the kittens were younger.. but I had to do some the other day. I'm so used to double checking there are no cats (or in this case, kittens) in the danger zones, that I don't even think about it any more. But here I am, and the washing machine has reached its spin cycle.
"Fee" starts yelling like one of the babies is in serious distress. I let her in the room, but I don't hear any kittens crying, and she stops having a fit, so I think she's just fussing. Then... she starts screaming again, so I go investigate, and I'm thinking, oh no, did I check the washing machine before I started it? I go and start looking for kittens. Green and Purple collars come running out and sit at my foot, as per usual. No sign of Yellow.
I look, in their little cat house-- nothing. I stop the washing machine. I wait for it to stop and then release with my heart in my throat. It finally stops and I open it. No kitten. I start picking the items up one by one, dreading every item for fear that's going to be the item that I'm going to find a kitten in... until I get through them all and... nope, no kittens (thank goodness). I take a moment to let my heart stop racing, and then I start looking around. I'm tearing stuff apart, moving stuff to see if she's behind the washing machine, looking in all the cabinets to see if she got into one somehow.
Nope, nothing. Did she get out of the laundry room? Started looking around the rest of my house. Nothing (not that there aren't plenty of places for a 2-lb kitten to hide). Back to the laundry room. Is she buried in the clean towels??
And, there, sound asleep, I see --- not even a flinch from her. Bless her little heart.