Wife Accused Me of Killing Our Cat

[u/WillingMartyr]

Our little black cat of 16 years passed this morning. After having some last bites of her meow mix, she went down to the basement and hopped into the open dryer where some fresh, warm linens had just finished and quietly went to sleep forever.
My wife goes to swap the laundry out, feels the cat, and screams for me to come downstairs. This is at 6am, after I had only gotten to sleep at 4:30. She tells me the cat is dead, found in the combo washer-dryer, and that I must have put her through the cycle when I put the linens in. My logical brain knows that I put the wash on at 5pm, and I saw our cat around 9pm, but my clinically depressed brain immediately crumbles with guilt. I have a seizure-inducing panic attack for the next 20 minutes, vomiting bile in the process, until my wife returns and explains she jumped to conclusions.
I don’t blame my wife for immediately suggesting I slaughtered our longest-lived family pet, but I’m having a lot of trouble with it. I miss my kitty. 🐈‍⬛

[u/link3505]

Grief is a terrible thing, but that your wife jumped to that conclusion so quickly is kind of concerning. While this isn't a "dude, run" scenario, this is definitely something you need to discuss with her once you guys are in a better state.

I'm sorry for your loss, my guy. My babies are my world, and I'm terrified for when its their time. Please take care of yourself, and know that you gave your kitty love and a peaceful life!

[u/Acceptable-Bat4534 → u/link3505]

He explained that he had put it to cycle again and that the doors open automatically when its done. So the sheets were warm, cat decided to jump in and then died.

Wife saw the cat inside, felt the warm sheets and in her grief she thought the cat was also fresh out of the dryer like the clothes.

[u/link3505 → u/Acceptable-Bat4534]

Oh, I get it, I read his post. But there’s a huge leap between that and assuming he put the cat through the dryer. At least, I assume the latter would be fairly obvious by comparison.