She started a fresh load in the washing machine and walked away — 30 seconds later, an intense howl sent her running back
Cats like to rest in the most unusual spots and when her feline did just that, TikTok user Lexi Carper (@lexicarper) was faced with her worst fear. When she decided to do her laundry, she did not know that just seconds later, she would hear the scariest screeching and howling noise she had ever heard in her entire life. Sharing the scary experience on Monday, February 9, 2026, Carper revealed on TikTok that she was left shaken by the whole ordeal.
Lexi Carper is a cat mom whose feline often enjoys resting inside her washing machine. In the video shared by the TikTok user, she was seen holding her cat, who looked soaking wet. She clarified that she did not bathe her cat herself, revealing that she was about to do her laundry and had put the clothes and detergent into the machine. She shut the machine door and switched it on. 30-40 seconds into it, she heard the scariest howl she had ever heard. She quickly realized who it was from. Her cat, who had been resting inside the machine, was unaware that she was going to do the laundry.
Carper, too, had been oblivious to her cat's presence inside the machine and had unknowingly turned it on. "I have never heard those noises come out of a cat in my whole life." She ran to the machine and switched it off, but she had to wait until the machine completely drained all the water. "I could see her (cat) in there, and she was just screaming," Carper said, her voice trembling. Luckily, her cat was safe and uninjured, as the cat mom wrapped her pet in a towel.
Recalling the "worst nightmare" of her life, she shared how both she and her feline were left shaken by the experience. "She is shaking so bad," the cat owner said as she expressed her guilt of leaving her cat inside the washing machine.
Carper's video hit 10.9 million views, and many online users chimed in to share their thoughts on it. Alerting her to take her pet to the vet, @MLGardens advised, "There can still be problems with the lungs if any water was aspirated, and inflammation can cause a ridiculous amount of problems in the cat, which could wind up with aspiration pneumonia. You need to go to the vet." @Action Figure joked, "Bad news: she's terrified of that washing machine now. Good news: she's terrified of that washing machine now. No more midday machine naps."
@ictoria remarked, "The good news is you’ll never make that mistake again! This is one of those mistakes you make ONCE then feel intense anxiety about for the rest of your life. You'll stay overly cautious from now on!"
For more such interesting videos, follow @lexicarper on TikTok.
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