This is a seriously stupid string of events.

I'm not a a cat owner, but I've heard the horror stories of their ability to get into things and knock things over, but I have to ask: Why couldn't you just put the trashcan into a cupboard?

first, why would you knowingly put cat shit in your washing machine? trash receptacle aside that is gross. second, how lazy of a pet owner and how bad of a house keeper can you be if you don't feel the need to take a bag of shit to the outside trash? the least you could have done would be tie the bag off and hang it on the outside door knob.

What I want to know is: What kind of hellish noise does a washing machine with a trashcan in it make? And how on earth did you not know something was wrong and stop it?

Don't put things inside places that are never meant to store things. Ever. This is how my mother managed to have a kitchen appliance melted inside her oven. I'm all for checking on things before you get things started, but that isn't a requirement for appliances that are absolutely not meant to hold things until you find time to deal with them! This is why we have cabinets, countertops, high shelves, the outdoors, an actual trashcan, etcetera. Crazy choices result in crazy outcomes, because no one expects the completely unexpected.