Minnesota woman horrified to find pet cat blinded, barely alive inside washing machine after hour-long wash cycle
In a nearly miraculous incident, a cat from Minnesota survived an entire wash cycle after it snuck into a washing machine and remained there for almost an hour.
The cat's owner, Stefani Carroll-Kirchoff, from Maplewood, a suburb of St. Paul, said that she was doing her laundry on Wednesday when her one-year-old cat, Felix, jumped inside the washing machine when the door was open.
"I must have turned my back for a few minutes folding clothes and he apparently went in there when I wasn’t looking,” Carroll-Kirchoff told Fox News. "It’s horrific. It’s absolutely horrific," she added.
Felix's owner said that the incident has been haunting her and she has not been able to sleep since Wednesday.
"This will haunt me for the rest of my life,” she said. “It’s the most traumatic experience," Carroll-Kirchoff added.
Carroll-Kirchoff's daughter, Asha Carroll McCullough, while talking to the outlet, said that her mother is a "devoted animal lover" and that she called her immediately after realizing what had happened. "She was crying so hard I couldn’t understand what she was saying and she said Felix went through the washing machine," Carroll McCullough said.
Her daughter added that, after starting the laundry, her mother went upstairs and came down after an hour. When she opened the door of the washing machine to take out the clothes, she realized Felix was inside the machine the entire time.
"All of a sudden, she heard a meow and saw a little white foot. The way she describes it was she was just in shock and she immediately phoned my grandpa and said come with me to vet," Carroll McCullough said, adding that they "raced to the vet" after the incident.
When they arrived at the Animal Emergency & Referral Center of Minnesota, veterinarians said that Felix was in critical condition and added that it was "rare that cats make it through something like this."
Vets reportedly put Felix on oxygen support and administered intravenous therapy. "I will do anything I can for him to stay alive,” Carroll-Kirchoff said. “After what he’s been through, I feel like we owe it to him.”
The experts reportedly told them that the cat's recuperation would require the pet to spend a few days inside an oxygen chamber.
Carroll McCullough told the outlet that Felix's therapy appears to be working and that her vision was returning. She has also begun to eat again, however, her recovery would likely take a few weeks.
“We feel so, so lucky. He is the miracle cat," Carroll-Kirchoff added.
The oxygen chamber has reportedly cost the family nearly $1,000 per day, and they have started a GoFundMe campaign in an effort to cover the cost since they do not have pet insurance.