|
|
 |
|
PATCHES
by Laura Mills-Alcott
First, let me say that I really agonized over
writing this. Why? Because I know there will be
those who, after reading this, will want to make
me the poster child for bad pet owners.
However, I finally decided if it saves one cat's
life, it is better written than not.
So here it goes...
Yesterday, I was racing around the house, getting
ready to be presented on the football field at
Parent's Day, with my son, Jared (he just turned
12, and this is his first year of football).
I was getting ready to dry my hair, when I decided
to wear a blouse I'd just washed. I ran into the
laundry room, opened the dryer, rooted around in
the washer until I found the blouse, and threw the
blouse into the dryer - with a load of clothes I'd
dried several hours earlier. I reasoned the blouse
would dry faster when added to the already dry
load.
The dryer thumped loud, but at that moment, my
concern was drying my hair - not the tennis shoes
I'd washed that were now in the dryer making all
the noise. So I ignored it. For probably close to
8-10 minutes.
The blouse was thin material and I checked it
after just around 8-10 minutes so it wouldn't be
wrinkled. When I opened the dryer and pushed the
clothes aside to try to find the blouse, there was
my cat, Patches.
He was alive. I could see that right away, because
he cried and was panting furiously.
I lifted Patches out of the dryer carefully and
yelled to my daughter, Jordan, to get me the phone
and water. I dialed 911 (who else do you call when
your cat has spent 8-10 minutes in the dryer on
HIGH heat?), and put water on Patches's tongue,
trying to get him to drink.
911 told me to hang tight, they'd call Animal
Welfare and the police. But how can you "hang
tight" when you're cat is gasping for breath
and his mouth is slacking and eyes glazing, just
like you've seen happen to other cats before they
die?
I had Jordan get me a towel, wet with cool water
and I put it over Patches, and I stroked his
little head while I called my Mom and babbled
something (probably asked her what to do, but I
don't remember).
Animal Welfare called, and though they were nice
enough, the bottom line was, they couldn't do
anything, because the cat was not a stray.
I called the animal emergency clinic and then
raced the cat down there (after calling my mother
back to tell her I had to take Patches to the vet,
and could she please try to call the football
field to get a message to my son, so he wouldn't
think I'd forgotten him when I didn't show up).
It was at least 30 minutes after I got Patches out
of the dryer before we made it to the vet (I
really don't remember - time is a blur when you're
panicked). His temp was still 105 degrees (after
30 minutes, a cool towel and air conditioning in
the car).
Even in my panicked state, I had hope - the only
blood was in the drool, and it just tinged the
saliva pink, so I knew he wasn't bleeding from the
lungs, and guessed (correctly) that he'd just
bitten his tongue and that was the cause of the
blood I saw. Also, while still at the house, after
the cool towel, he'd jumped over the child safety
gate in the laundry room and was moving.
On the other hand, his ears, nose and mouth were
bright pink from heat and trauma, his cries were
pitiful, he was in major pain, and he was in bad
shape.
The vet administered fluids and steroids (to keep
him from going into shock), and put alcohol on his
pads to help get his fever down. He was hooked up
to IV's and monitored (so much for the mortgage
payment being on time - I couldn't have denied him
anything he needed at that point).
I left the vet's knowing his ribs were not broken
and he had a very good chance (apparently this
emergency clinic has seen many cases of cats
caught in the dryer cycle, and many of them in
worse shape than Patches.)
We picked Patches up around 1:30am this morning.
After only around 12 hours since the accident, he
was looking much better. And his eyes were bright,
although weary. I took him in the laundry room
(where his food and litter box is), and he ate for
a few minutes - apparently he'd regained his
appetite.
Today I am watching Patches for any signs of
trouble, primarily bleeding in the urine or stool.
He's taking it easy, sleeping a little more than
usual, and staying clear of the dogs and his two
brothers, Birdie and Salem (all from the same
litter). He's hurting - each movement is done
carefully and slowly. He's bruised from head to
toe - his ears, his nose, his body.
Now, the most difficult part of this story over...
My cats have always loved the dryer - all cats do.
There's nothing better in the world to them
(except maybe defenseless mice to torment) than a
pile of warm clothes. But I've always seen them
hanging around waiting for the dryer to open, or
heard them jump in (they are all large cats and
when they hit that open dryer door, you know it).
Even though the clothes in the dryer were not warm
when Patches jumped in, he knows the open dryer
means the likelihood of warmth. And even though
the dryer was only opened for about 30 seconds
while I searched for the blouse, that was enough
time for him to jump in, unheard and unseen.
If you have a cat, or know anyone that does,
please remember Patches's story. Make sure you
look in the dryer before you close it, even if it
was only open while you put the clothes from the
washer into the dryer.
Don't think the "thump" will warn you
that the cat might be trapped inside. In my case,
I'd done a load of clothes that included a pair of
tennis shoes. When I heard the "thump",
I assumed it was the tennis shoes - but in
reality, those tennis shoes were still in the
washer, and were not big enough (they were my 8
year old daughter's) to make that loud of a noise.
You will find a reason for any thumping, just like
I did (you did a load of tennis shoes at some
point, and that must be the cause for the sound,
right?)
Patches was lucky. The load of clothes that was
already in the dryer was sweaters and sweats -
big, thick clothes, and lots of them. So when he
was being thrown around, he was hitting thick
material instead of the dryer drum. Because they
were already dry, they weren't heavy, like wet
clothes would have been, which probably saved him
even more injury. These clothes weren't even the
least bit warm because they'd been dried hours
before, so it took some time, I guess, for the
heat of the dryer to fully heat up the clothes,
which may have protected him from the heat for at
least a few minutes.
Patches is also a young cat (2 years) and big
(he's big in size, plus he's been neutered and has
put on a few pounds as a result). I would imagine
that his size helped him, so that the clothes
didn't suffocate him and he was rolled more than
thrown.
But another minute in the dryer, and I have no
doubt that I would have found him not only hurt,
but dead.
Patches had a lot of things in his favor (I mean,
if he had to get trapped in a running dryer, the
fact that he was young and healthy, large, the
clothes were thick and dry and cool were all
things in his favor). In a weird sense, you could
say conditions for being locked in the dryer were
optimal.
Were any of these conditions different, he
probably wouldn't have survived.
So again... please do a quick check before
shutting the dryer (or washer) lid - just to make
sure there are no cats (or, God forbid, kids) in
there before you turn it on. And if the dryer
thumps, even if you've done a load of tennis
shoes, open it up right away and make sure, just
to be on the safe side.
In the meantime, keep your fingers crossed for
Patches. He's doing well, all things considered,
but we're not out of the woods yet.
UPDATE: This article was first written a
little over a year ago. Patches is fine - fat and
healthy.
I admit I babied him for some time after this
happened, and as a result, he thinks it's fun to
hang with me in my office and watch me write
(there is no room for him on my desk, but he makes
room for himself!)
Since this happened, I've talked to a rather large
number of people who have known friends or
relatives who've accidentally locked their pet in
the dryer. Of all the stories I've heard, NONE of
the pets survived. In every case, by the time the
pet was found, it was dead.
We were very lucky.
If you know pet owners, especially cat owners,
please have them read this article. Hearing about
this may make people a little more watchful and in
turn save a beloved pet from a horrible fate.
AUTHORS
|
iTRC Radio! |
Listen today
|
|
To Play
a Show: click on "Play MP3"
To Download a Show:
right click, and "Save
Target As" to desktop! |
|
Sign up for our
FREE
NEWSLETTER!
|
|
|
|
BOOK TALK
RADIO
MOVIES
CLASSIC RADIO DRAMAS
|
NEWSLETTERS FOR
READERS
WRITERS
|
