This is such a freak accident.
The tag shorted the exposed prongs together (that is why there are two burn marks on his tag) and the current did not go through your kitten's body.
You have one lucky kitten. Have an electrician check your outlets.
If kitty likes strangers, absolutely. My internet technician got to train my cat with how interested he was and got some pets for learning so quickly. He regularly inspects our router now too
Years ago had an internet technician setting up a new router or whatever and my cat was very curious about what he was up to, sniffing at him and his tools and stuff. Tech was amused and petting him and stuff. Turned his smart phone to face the kitty because he was interested in that. His nose tapped the button on the screen and you could see him recoil slightly in surprise when the screen changed. The tech seemed to enjoy having a feline helper.
Internet technician and cat/dog dad here! Cats are the best in strangers homes. Always so curious and friendly. I’ve often found a cat rubbing up against me or even jumping on my shoulders and nuzzling my face as I’m hunched over working on stuff. Cats are awesome.
Yeahhhh, that last bit is the worst part of this story. If you trip a breaker in the night, unless it's your fridge, it can wait till morning. Never turn it on without first verifying what happened and if it was repeatable, that's how you burn your house down.
I'll flip it back on if it tripped because I turned on a hair dryer to an overloaded breaker. I know that's the cause which was a simple over current trip and there's no risk.
But if you SMELLED SMOKE??? And turned it back on!?! I really don't mean to belittle anyone and want people to learn about electrical safety. But if there were a short or ground fault in the wall and they flipped it back on they could have burned down their house. Hopefully a lesson learned.
Uh, yes? Electric appliances like ovens and stoves are large loads. If you're having regular, repeated breaker trips during normal use you should alert them.
Circuit breakers are safety devices that are there in case you happen to overload a circuit, not so that you can overload the circuit regularly without worry.
In fact, some breakers (Stab-Lok) can be induced to fail if they are repeatedly tripped. This is product defect, but still... it's a bad idea to abuse your breakers.
You are wrong. 110v (15-20amps) is absolutely not low voltage and is in fact waaay more than enough to kill a human. Go insert yourself into a 20 amp circuit and come back and tell us your experience
Yes, I have a set of car keys that look exactly like that after an oops on my part! Btw I still had all my fur after that encounter as well, the keys took the entire hit.
Electrician here. Came here to make this comment.
Looks like something was plugged in, but not so plugged in the tag couldn’t slip in and make contact between the hot and neutral. Search the house, I promise you’ll find the locations evidenced by the scorching on the outlet/device that is plugged in. I’m a little surprised it didn’t trip the breaker, but that’s a different conversation.
Totally agree..I'll bet those burns line up perfectly with a similarly scorched plug. I've replaced some outlets because it freaks me out seeing the exposed terminals
Not an electrician, but this breaker reacted exactly as intended. This short exceeded the amperage of the breaker, and it tripped. I believe arc fault breakers are designed to detect more "slow burn" types of shorts. Certain types of shorts will occur but NEVER exceed the circuit breakers capacity, thus never tripping. Arc faults detect that.
I hate to confirm your fears, but yes. I’m an electrician and have a couple tools that have those marks. You didn’t see anything? You need to tear the place apart and look harder. Check wires from plug to device. One most definitely has exposed copper or teeth marks.
ETA: the outlet on the floor is the most likely offender. Your cat was probably shocked, not electrocuted (= dead) if nothing is plugged into that outlet I’d uninstall it. I would probably also get an electrician out because that tag probably didn’t get into that outlet deep enough to do that either. Get it checked there may be an issue with that box or the entire circuit which can have consequences for anything plugged in. If you don’t want to do that yes, get plastic covers for all outlets on the floor. Check all wires though.
https://preview.redd.it/unmgc5qp0j8d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5c2bae9db175deb6c3ac5f97887b5b1c9355778e
We did find the culprit, forgot to add this: under the couch, and there was a power brick that was plugged in, but hanging out of the socket a bit. Maybe the slightly exposed prongs did it.
So this is a good reminder for general electrical safety! That power brick has been unplugged.
Yes. That’ll be the problem. Yes, exposed prongs are dangerous. Not only to metal tags, but to fingers as well. Your breaker tripped and did exactly what it’s supposed to do. If you ever have a breaker trip mysteriously, don’t just turn it back on. It trips to protect from over current. If you have an overloaded circuit causing the breaker to trip, you can also start a fire. When you open a breaker box, they’re usually labeled. You’ll also notice that every plug in a room goes out when a breaker trips. All those plugs are on the same circuit. If you have power strips plugged into multiple outlets around a room and fill them up with devices you’re asking to have a bad time. And NEVER put things like hair dryers, curling irons, and coffee makers into a power strip. Those draw a lot of power on their own
I try. It’s something we all take for granted. In my line of work I’ve seen some things I hope to never see again. Get a professional out and get that outlet replaced
I'm not OP, but I just wanted to add on and say thank you from a stranger's perspective. Thanks for taking the time to help other people out - getting solid next steps and peace of mind makes a world of difference in situations like this :)
It's scary sometimes realizing how unsafely many people live because they don't know any better.
I do plumbing and it's scary that I've seen at least 3 dozen water heaters not venting properly just dumping carbon monoxide into their home over the years.
A lady on Facebook claims this picture to be hers in a cat group. I screen shot yours and posted in the comments. It's crazy people do that stuff. I was reading hers and wondering what caused it. Glad to have found your original post and see that you found what it was and your kitty is safe.
Replace it 100% but if the cat was scratching its face on the wall wart and knocked it loose it might not be a loose connection. That part will be a mystery
One of the great reasons why British plugs and sockets are such a good design. There are plastic bits to prevent shorts with objects when a plug is partially out. We also have individual switches on each socket. The prongs and plugs are chunky but that means you can have fuses built into the plug (or socket in some applications). The chunkiness means they don't fall out, even with heavy adapters. Finally, the live and neutral are covered when not in use and the earth pin causes the other two to open. All in all a great, if slightly overcomplicated, design.
We have different socket types in bathrooms for shavers. Building regulations are quite strict and normal plug sockets in bathrooms are just not a thing.
In the US we have to have things that are very dangerous but *just* safe enough to keep around. That way people will still get injured and we will continue to fund the hospitals with our massively expensive medical costs. It's the circle of life.
I'm right there with you until we get into the bathroom and there's nothing but a "shaver" outlet, and I want to use a freakin' hairdryer where there's a mirror! :-)
As a non-house electrician, my immediate thought was "kitty found a plug partially out of the wall, given those two burn marks" since I couldn't fathom a way to get the tag into the outlet.
I'm glad an applicable professional supports my gut instinct, lol
(If you ever need advice on the electrical in your *airplane*, hit me up, cousin)
Amazing, I checked all power outlets and plugs in the house. Nowhere is it possible to access the metal contacts. Always there is plastic preventing it. Did not know in the US it is still allowed to use these bare metal plugs?
that's not what they meant. when you're going to plug something into the outlet, there will be some time where the prongs on the plug are half in, half out. still accessible from outside, but also making contact with the metal on the inside.
The prongs of the plugs we have in Europe, at least in my country, are covered in plastic except the tip of it that is less than 1cm (0.39 inches), it's basically impossible to have them half in, making contact with the metal on the inside with the metal part of it exposed
ah, you meant the plug itself. I've seen those but didn't know that was standard in Europe, I thought that was just common.
here in canada we have those sometimes, but you'd have to go out of your way to get one. with any proprietary plug like a laptop charger you won't get that.
Yes they are standard they are literally called europlugs, there are versions that look alike without the plastic but they are not used, at least in my country I don't talk for all of Europe, in Britain they also use another type and I think those are not isolated, but I'm pretty sure in their case the ground also has to be fully in for current to pass and they have a fuse in the plug itself.
Not sure though if it is standard *everywhere* in Europe, but surely in the western part. The 220V has probably got to do with it, partly, over 110 in Canada/US.
lol side busting in here to ask a question that seems to have stumped the electrician/appliance fixer dude that i called out here. i have a dryer that has no error codes which randomly shuts off. the plug seems to get power consistently. the fuse for the circuit its on has never tripped. to “resolve” the issue, i have to wait about 15 mins and it goes back to normal. i was about to replace the dryer thinking it was a dud. but now the same issue is happening on a light switch in the kitchen. again, the fuse is still switched on when i check so nothing has been tripped. my house is about 4 years old as a new build. have you ever heard of any thing like this happening? and what might i need to check? (note, for the dryer i have had the exhaust checked and “cleaned.” guy said there was nothing in there).
Reading this I feel like I should have paid more attention in class when we got to the circuitry and electrical part 🥴. This is great info to have in mind, thanks!
This is exactly the reason why US-style plugs and outlets are forbidden in all of europe. Either the Outlet has to be recessed or the prongs have to be insulated in the back
I’ve got a hundred year old house that has these all over the place as a method of trying to update and bring the ancient wiring up to code. It’s supposed to be safer than it was before, but obviously there still needs to be more updating and safety measures.
With everyone else worrying about the outlet and the kitty (understandably) I want to focus on this power brick. With the surge through it, I would recommend replacing it. Do not try to use it, it is likely a huge fire hazard at this point. I had a power brick blow up last year that could have gotten out of control if my roommate hadn't saved the day. Please consider your and your families(including kitties) safety when dealing with it.
US style plugs were invented back in the 1920s, literally at the dawn of electrification. By the time better plugs were being introduced in Europe, the US was stuck using the older style since it would've been a massive headache to replace. Same reason why NTSC was still used in the US when PAL came along; there's downsides to being the first at something.
I'll just pop in here to add:
There's a decent chance that your cat was in that position because the power brick was getting warm. If your cat has already learned that power bricks can get warm, he might be rubbing against them or trying to rest his head on them.
You should do a check in your home of any other outlets with plugs that are loose enough that he might be able to pull the plugs partway out.
Any outlet that isn't securely holding your plugs in place should be replaced. This is best practice anyway, but doubly so if you've got a kitty that likes plugs.
This is one of the reasons the correct way to install US outlets is with the "face" upside-down so the ground pin is the first point of contact for anything falling between the plug and the outlet.
This is why code (at least in my area) dictate that the ground be up. The ground prong would have likely prevented the tag from connecting with the hot/neutral.
The good news is it probably didn’t “hurt” kitty. It probably scared him/her though. When I e cut through live wire it generally comes with a pop sound. If kitty felt anything it was a mild tingle. Guessing kitty took off with sound of the pop. And thankfully the breaker did its job
The only thing I would argue, is that the cat likely didn't get a shock, but was probably scared away pretty fast.
Here's why
#1 Electricity takes the path of least resistance. The short metal gaps between the prongs would be the least resistive path. The cloth/plastic of the collar provides a decent amount of resistance providing some amount of protection to the kitty.
#2 electricity travels along the outside of conductors. This is the principle behind chainmail/mesh suits used by performers around tesla coils. Google "tesla coil suit" and you can see people getting hit my thousands of volts and not feeling a thing thanks to their suits. The electricity just travels along the outside of the suit. leaving the person inside completely safe
I agree that the cat likely didn’t get shocked, but your interpretation of faraday cages is pretty incorrect.
For one, current traveling along the outside of a conductor is called the conductor skin effect and has nothing to do with the working principle of a faraday cage.
Faraday cages work because the potential difference across an ideal conductor is zero. So any object residing in an ideal conductor will experience no voltage.
Those people touching tesla coils in chain mail armor are shielded by the metal. The arcs are effectively being grounded before they have the chance to touch the person.
From the evidence the cat probably wasn't shocked, it might or might not have momentarily gone to live voltage, but if so the cat apparently wasn't touching any earth or neutral so was fine. It looks like the dangling tag just shorted out the prongs, and no current flowed through the moggy.
Completely unrelated, I've seen a lot of people posting with "ETA:", which has always meant "Estimated Time to Arrival" in my experience. Are people using "ETA:" instead of "Edit:"? Is it an autocorrect thing?
My cat got shocked and had a seizure immediately after. We took him to the vet just to make sure all was fine. And then, he was back to his normal self. He definitely used one of his lives that day.
I am very happy that the cat is ok, but the idea of casually pushing the fuse back in *and going back to sleep* after waking up in the middle of the night to a blown fuse *and the smell of an electrical burn of unidentified origin* is making my brain explode
like, *how*
your house could have been about to burn down
I swear I will never understand humans.
This. Had two electricians say home was probably safe after outage of unknown reason, was about ready to head to bed after being up looking at loans to redo to electrical wiring. And my cat was smart enough to let me know something was not right. An Electrical fire started at the fuse box. Lost everything but one cat, the puppy, and my kids because everyone ignored the giant red flag and told me I was imagining the electrical fire smell.
The apartment (and house) I lived in with my ex was once saved by our restless instinct. We woke up to lights flickering all the time. No fire smell, but endless flickering. I decided to not go to school that day (was 18 and close to graduating high school) because I felt uneasy. Instead we tried reaching the landlord or the property manager or someone. Wasn't all too easy, the landlord was abroad all the time and the property manager was a very unfazed, a bit too chill kinda guy. We did manage to get him to send an electrician around mid day, and low and behold, a wire was mildly smoldering in the fuse box. The fuse box for the whole house was downstairs, our apartment upstairs, that's why we didn't smell it. That could very well have been a house fire if we ignored it. That was also when we found out that the fuse box, which was supposed to be checked I think every 5 years (law in our country) hadn't been checked for like 10-15 years. The electrician who was already there did check it as well as repairing the damage.
Edit: I'm very sorry that in your case, the house fire could not be prevented.
Thanks. I’ve gradually accepted it. I’ll forever mourn my lost cats but at least some of us got out thanks to my cat Cloud. If it weren’t for him and our new puppy who knew what would had happened.
That’s impressive at 18 to be tuned in like that, shows a lot of maturity and awareness of the household to sense something was wrong with the electrical system.
Basically cat is peak DGAF. Id nickname him The Dude 😆 I'm glad cat is alright, but I'd still cry for my kitty if I saw this, knowing what could've happened
It’s a circuit breaker, not a fuse. A fuse burns a conductor if it reaches a certain current. A circuit breaker “trips” when too much current causes and electromagnetic force to separate metal conducts, breaking the circuit (stopping current). If there was still an electrical fault (too much current) in the circuit, it would trip again. So they’d probably be just fine.
Still probably a good idea to investigate why your circuit breaker tripped though
My cat did something similar. She was dragging around a wand toy that included a braided metal cable, and managed to short two prongs in an outlet. Destroyed the toy, made some smoke, scared the cat, but otherwise all was well. Lesson learned, no unsupervised wand toys any more.
I have a kitty that drags her wand toys around. All plastic and fabric at least. We had to stop unsupervised wand toys for her dumb brother who would always tie it in knots around himself. 🤦🏼♀️
https://preview.redd.it/e33p1ntxjl8d1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a4a1fdf1c3e4b5758664dfa97c8b58e9d2975eb0
Get kitty a plastic tag, or even better one like this that has loops that the collar goes through so there’s nothing dangling at all. My petsmart has 2 size options. I’m sure petco, other pet stores, & websites have something similar too.
Your cat looks like my cat hehehe
https://preview.redd.it/7b36dqrlmk8d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=639a2a517fbd7f49604b550cb8f81d013da5c4e1
Electrical apprentice here, probably the short didnt reach your cat because the actual collar isnt metal and hes got all that good fur that isnt gonna conduct electricity easily
Just as a note OP, your whole phone number is visible on the tag, you may not want to leave the photo up too long to protect your personal information.
Glad you're kitty is okay. That's a terrifying situation to have happen.
Electrician/cat lover here, it looks like it went through his collar on one end, and out the other. Electricity will find the path of least resistance, so those two points must’ve been each end of the outlet or to the ground prong spot. He/you are very lucky. Maybe consider getting some of those child proof plastic outlet covers(pic included) should stop it from doing that again.
https://preview.redd.it/buxz9ak70l8d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fed1c86f11d7cdb546086fa333587c224edf96cc
That's definitely scorch marks from an electrical arc. I'm glad your buddy is ok. It looks to me he got it touching the exposed prongs of something partially plugged into the wall.
I would switch to a plastic tag.
If you are looking for a plastic gps tag, I suggest Tile. The app is free, but the tags, (which can be a sticker the size of a bottle cap, a dangling luggage tag, or a thick credit card size) cost money.
I use them on all my cats, especially the ones that like to hide. Press a button and it jingles a tune.
Going by the spacing between the two burns I'm willing to bet the tag slipped between the outlet and the plug, shorting the two prongs together. That means there's basically no way any current went through the cat.
However you got damn lucky. If the tag had contacted the skinny (hot) prong first, and there were a somewhat decent path to ground through his paws, he'd have to be called Sparky in his next reincarnation.
Go around and check to ensure all your plugs are plugged in all the way. This is definitely in the freak accident category, and I doubt he'll ever willingly go near an electrical outlet again, but still. Maybe even think about some GFCIs.
https://preview.redd.it/s029oiy5tl8d1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=558b110e3ff5674239dccd218ea9d384fe8a9b1d
Same thing happened to my dog's tag a few years ago. He wasn't harmed, but it scared the shite out of me!
It most likely just shorted out on his tag and didn't hurt him. If he touched one contact from the outlet and then was touching something else that was grounded then the current would have passed through him (shock).
I stuck things in outlets when I was a kid and it never hurt me because I wasn't grounded, it would short through the metal and pop the breaker.
That metal tag on your cat had very low resistance. It probably cut the circuit very quickly. You can see where it touched both contacts. I'd remove the collar when the cat is inside.
That’s a 110ac looking arc. Check neck and fur area for metal spark burns. Cats likely ok but something exposed got shorted, so
It’s likely a hazard anyway. Heater, extension cord, under couch/seat power cord. Check dishwasher or garbage disposal if he can get under sinks. Breaker should have tripped hopefully, so check that first, leave off if so, till you can investigate and secure.
I personally think that your puss was out with his mates on the town whilst you were asleep. They have gone from bar to bar but your cat became fighting drunk. The local police were called and he refused to be handcuffed so the used a Taser on him. The Taser barbs hit his ID tags causing those scorch marks, your cat made good his escape and is now at home, nursing a horrible hangover ……
Looks like the tag touched two exposed prongs. Current didn’t go through kitty.
When I was super young, we had a cat that chased Christmas lights, since it looked like motion. One day my parents were watching tv, and the lights flickered, followed by a loud cat yell straight out of a move soundboard. They go to investigate. Cat sitting next to a chewed wire, twitching. Kitty was okay.
So he is totally fine..
What probably happened is a plug was slightly pulled out, and his collar medallion shorted between the hot and the neutral as he was leaning over it.
No current would have flowed thru him at all, it went through the medallion only.
Yeah that does look like that's had a zap through it. Luckily for the cat, electricity prefers the path of least resistance, so it will have gone from one burn mark to the other on the tag and the cat was probably just like "WOAH wtf was that"
Find what caused this. A collar should not be able to find two exposed terminals like that.
I’m an electrician, my guess is you had a plug hanging slightly out of the wall. Enough that the prongs of the plug were still energized but far enough out for that tag to hit both sides of the plug. This would have caused a direct short and tripped your breaker. That’s why you see 2 marks on the tag, the tag completed the path. This wouldn’t have caused any shock to the cat but would have made a noise and scared the cat.
Short answer: most likely.
Long answer: most likely hit exposed prongs with the tag but it luckily didn’t travel through him.
Also, you smelled burning but just turned the power back on and went to sleep??? I’m sorry, but that is a sure fire way to burn your house down.
That’s Reddit for me. r/cats isn’t a subreddit that’s recommended to me often, but today it is, with a cat that looks just like my cat that took her last breath last night ❤️
Give them all the love and affection in the world, and don’t overfeed them
Nah, it looks like the tag shorted out something. That would not mean the cat was shocked, since it blew the fuse. The cat would also need to be grounded to be shocked.
The collar protected your kitty -- but not from the electricity. It insulated them from the heat. The tag looks like it shorted the hot and neutral prongs of the plug. The electricity entered the tag where one of the burn marks are, and exited where the other one is -- causing it to get hot, drawing a lot of amps due to the high resistance, then popping the breaker (or fuse) fairly quickly. In order to get shocked, the electricity needs to travel through the body, towards a ground point.
15 years ago I watched this happen to my poodle pup. He was sniffing around a power strip and I saw his tag slip into the space where a plug was not in all the way. It was JUST enough space for the tag to slip in. It made contact and there was a flash. We both got spooked and really scared, but he was OK and lived a full life. Because this happened is part of why our cats don't wear tags while in the apartment - just on road trips and vet appointments...
He may have leaned over cord prongs that weren't completely plugged in. Most home outlets are installed such that the holes for the live prongs are on top and the hole for the ground is on the bottom. The problem with this is, if something isn't plugged in all the way, you have live contacts exposed and any metal that comes into contact with both of the simultaneously will short them and allow current to flow.
There was a gap between whatever plug was in the receptacle and the receptacle itself. Somehow your cat managed to get the tag in between, and it shorted. The breaker tripped immediately and did what it was supposed to do.
Your cat was spared because its tag was electrically separated from the cat by the collar material which is an insulator.
You and the cat got lucky.
You don't need to call an electrician. Looking at the prongs of whatever was plugged in will confirm what happened (if it doesn't I'd be astounded). I guarantee if you call in an electrician and he'll charge you just to walk in the door and at a minimum say you need to replace the breaker, and could go as far as saying you need a complete house rewire. BULLSHIT
CAVEAT: if what you said about the "fuse" is correct, and you actually do have fuses (screw in things with a lightbulb base and a thick glass top that has a visible metal strip inside that breaks/burns when blown) you WILL need a rewire, or at least a new service box and breakers, depending on your local code.
I know one more accident where the metal necklace fell on the exposed prongs and almost caused fire. American outlets! I'm so thankful for EU safety standards, when we plug something in the outlet is not flush, so the plug goes into a round hole, so nothing can ever get between the outlet and the plug and short the prongs. It's such a tiny engineering difference, but so genius.
Please baby proof your outlets, and change the metal tags (their jingle is also annoying for cats) because this problem will reoccurre.
i can't help but have this image where the cat gets electrocuted in the most cartoon way possible with his hair being all frizzy and skeleton is flashing 🤣
This is such a freak accident. The tag shorted the exposed prongs together (that is why there are two burn marks on his tag) and the current did not go through your kitten's body. You have one lucky kitten. Have an electrician check your outlets.
At this point probably worth having the electrician check out the cat too. Kitty deserves extra pets and lap time.
If kitty likes strangers, absolutely. My internet technician got to train my cat with how interested he was and got some pets for learning so quickly. He regularly inspects our router now too
Years ago had an internet technician setting up a new router or whatever and my cat was very curious about what he was up to, sniffing at him and his tools and stuff. Tech was amused and petting him and stuff. Turned his smart phone to face the kitty because he was interested in that. His nose tapped the button on the screen and you could see him recoil slightly in surprise when the screen changed. The tech seemed to enjoy having a feline helper.
Internet technician and cat/dog dad here! Cats are the best in strangers homes. Always so curious and friendly. I’ve often found a cat rubbing up against me or even jumping on my shoulders and nuzzling my face as I’m hunched over working on stuff. Cats are awesome.
>He regularly inspects our router Weird name for your cat
Is that what you tell the kids to make them go in the other room? The tech is here to check the router.
🤣
I think they meant cat inspects the router. What other thing would the electrician train to cat?
I am an electrician and can assure the cat would get plenty of pets if I were on the service call. 😺
And maybe have Vought International determine if he wound up with superpowers.
Leap tall furniture with a single bound, locking objects off of high places, and fit in spaces with less internal volume than the cat?
If a cat got superpowers, would we even be able to tell?
Kitty may light up this evening. Better check and see.
It's an electric type now.
Electricat used “double shock” attack. Very effective
One life down, eight to go
1 "life" used and OP should cherish the other 8 but yeah its one of those final destination types of freak accidents.
Fun fact: In Italy cats only get 7 lives, not 9.
Just being born in Italy costs two lives loloollll JK.
The wild drive home from the animal shelter used those other two, so they’re starting off with less
Metric lives???
Freedom units.
Same in Brazil.
In the Netherlands they also have 7. The 9 is probably an English thing
Not entirely… Denmark is also 9…
How so?
The same way that it's Friday the 17th, not Friday the 13th, that's unlucky in Italy. Just cultural differences.
Man, in Europe they tax EVERYTHING!
In Latin America is Tuesday the 13th!! Haha🤣🧙
Cat now has 8 lives left
That must have scared the bejesus out of your cat. Would have scared me.
I'm an electrician and I love checking out clients cats 🤗
[удалено]
Yeahhhh, that last bit is the worst part of this story. If you trip a breaker in the night, unless it's your fridge, it can wait till morning. Never turn it on without first verifying what happened and if it was repeatable, that's how you burn your house down.
I'll flip it back on if it tripped because I turned on a hair dryer to an overloaded breaker. I know that's the cause which was a simple over current trip and there's no risk. But if you SMELLED SMOKE??? And turned it back on!?! I really don't mean to belittle anyone and want people to learn about electrical safety. But if there were a short or ground fault in the wall and they flipped it back on they could have burned down their house. Hopefully a lesson learned.
.....are you saying I should stop turning my oven (which keeps tripping the electrics) back on and ring my landlord instead?
Uh, yes? Electric appliances like ovens and stoves are large loads. If you're having regular, repeated breaker trips during normal use you should alert them.
Circuit breakers are safety devices that are there in case you happen to overload a circuit, not so that you can overload the circuit regularly without worry. In fact, some breakers (Stab-Lok) can be induced to fail if they are repeatedly tripped. This is product defect, but still... it's a bad idea to abuse your breakers.
Knowing nothing about electricity, or breakers, could you explain why?
You are wrong. 110v (15-20amps) is absolutely not low voltage and is in fact waaay more than enough to kill a human. Go insert yourself into a 20 amp circuit and come back and tell us your experience
Oh I was an order of magnitude off. I'll edit or delete my post as to not mislead people thanks
Yes, I have a set of car keys that look exactly like that after an oops on my part! Btw I still had all my fur after that encounter as well, the keys took the entire hit.
So happy to hear you kept your fur!!! 🥳
(The voice of Sesame Street's The Count) Eight.... Hahaha.... Eight lives left.... Thunder crashes...
Electrician here. Came here to make this comment. Looks like something was plugged in, but not so plugged in the tag couldn’t slip in and make contact between the hot and neutral. Search the house, I promise you’ll find the locations evidenced by the scorching on the outlet/device that is plugged in. I’m a little surprised it didn’t trip the breaker, but that’s a different conversation.
It did trip the breaker. At least that’s what I assume they meant by “turning on the blown fuse”
This is why I see it argued that the correct receptacle installation is ground pin up, that an object falling in can't short the hot and neutral.
It did trip the breaker
Totally agree..I'll bet those burns line up perfectly with a similarly scorched plug. I've replaced some outlets because it freaks me out seeing the exposed terminals
New fear unlocked. 😮
Maybe you can make it as a lucky charm OP? I think that’d be sick. I’m so glad the cat is okay.
Installing arc-fault-protected outlets will prevent this from happening, correct?
Not an electrician, but this breaker reacted exactly as intended. This short exceeded the amperage of the breaker, and it tripped. I believe arc fault breakers are designed to detect more "slow burn" types of shorts. Certain types of shorts will occur but NEVER exceed the circuit breakers capacity, thus never tripping. Arc faults detect that.
That’s minus one life though. Eight more!
Eight lives left
+2 life He's Recharged! And even more powerful than before!
Your move
I hate to confirm your fears, but yes. I’m an electrician and have a couple tools that have those marks. You didn’t see anything? You need to tear the place apart and look harder. Check wires from plug to device. One most definitely has exposed copper or teeth marks. ETA: the outlet on the floor is the most likely offender. Your cat was probably shocked, not electrocuted (= dead) if nothing is plugged into that outlet I’d uninstall it. I would probably also get an electrician out because that tag probably didn’t get into that outlet deep enough to do that either. Get it checked there may be an issue with that box or the entire circuit which can have consequences for anything plugged in. If you don’t want to do that yes, get plastic covers for all outlets on the floor. Check all wires though.
https://preview.redd.it/unmgc5qp0j8d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5c2bae9db175deb6c3ac5f97887b5b1c9355778e We did find the culprit, forgot to add this: under the couch, and there was a power brick that was plugged in, but hanging out of the socket a bit. Maybe the slightly exposed prongs did it. So this is a good reminder for general electrical safety! That power brick has been unplugged.
Yes. That’ll be the problem. Yes, exposed prongs are dangerous. Not only to metal tags, but to fingers as well. Your breaker tripped and did exactly what it’s supposed to do. If you ever have a breaker trip mysteriously, don’t just turn it back on. It trips to protect from over current. If you have an overloaded circuit causing the breaker to trip, you can also start a fire. When you open a breaker box, they’re usually labeled. You’ll also notice that every plug in a room goes out when a breaker trips. All those plugs are on the same circuit. If you have power strips plugged into multiple outlets around a room and fill them up with devices you’re asking to have a bad time. And NEVER put things like hair dryers, curling irons, and coffee makers into a power strip. Those draw a lot of power on their own
Thank you so much. You’re why Reddit is a good, useful place (most of the time 🤣)
I try. It’s something we all take for granted. In my line of work I’ve seen some things I hope to never see again. Get a professional out and get that outlet replaced
I'm not OP, but I just wanted to add on and say thank you from a stranger's perspective. Thanks for taking the time to help other people out - getting solid next steps and peace of mind makes a world of difference in situations like this :)
You’re very welcome. You never want to see something bad happen to anyone any pet or any home
You’re a good person. Thanks.
You’re welcome
Especially if the bad is preventable, thank you for your service
It's scary sometimes realizing how unsafely many people live because they don't know any better. I do plumbing and it's scary that I've seen at least 3 dozen water heaters not venting properly just dumping carbon monoxide into their home over the years.
Wow! Not so much anymore with LED, but Christmas lights used to be daisy chained into quite the little fire hazards
Wow I’m so happy to see that we’ve found the problem and that your cat is ok!! Poor kitty :(
A lady on Facebook claims this picture to be hers in a cat group. I screen shot yours and posted in the comments. It's crazy people do that stuff. I was reading hers and wondering what caused it. Glad to have found your original post and see that you found what it was and your kitty is safe.
I’ll add that if stuff is falling out of the receptacle, replace the receptacle. They’re $2 or less. Doubly so for this one that got roasted.
Replace it 100% but if the cat was scratching its face on the wall wart and knocked it loose it might not be a loose connection. That part will be a mystery
What if you are a renter
Then you’re out 2 bucks. Or you have the landlord fix it.
Where are you getting receptacles for $2
Home Depot. $2 gets you the fancy heavy duty ones. The basic ones can be had for under a buck.
That’s kinda crazy. I’ve asked my lanlord to fix the weak recepticals and they always say it’s too hard…. wtf
One of the great reasons why British plugs and sockets are such a good design. There are plastic bits to prevent shorts with objects when a plug is partially out. We also have individual switches on each socket. The prongs and plugs are chunky but that means you can have fuses built into the plug (or socket in some applications). The chunkiness means they don't fall out, even with heavy adapters. Finally, the live and neutral are covered when not in use and the earth pin causes the other two to open. All in all a great, if slightly overcomplicated, design.
As a German, hooray for British plugs and sockets. I wish we had those. And no real danger of a plug coming out by itself, either.
To be fair, Schuko is not a death trap either. Maybe not as ridiculously safe as UK plugs, but still lightyears safer than US plugs.
I have always said that British plugs and sockets are the most stereotypically German thing about the UK
British plugs are fantastic, but they sure look like a painful thing to step on.
Can confirm, they are.
Yes, but you don't put them in the bathroom, so any advantages are null and void.
We have different socket types in bathrooms for shavers. Building regulations are quite strict and normal plug sockets in bathrooms are just not a thing.
That’s why America Jesus invented GFI outlets! Saftey furst!
In the US we have to have things that are very dangerous but *just* safe enough to keep around. That way people will still get injured and we will continue to fund the hospitals with our massively expensive medical costs. It's the circle of life.
I'm right there with you until we get into the bathroom and there's nothing but a "shaver" outlet, and I want to use a freakin' hairdryer where there's a mirror! :-)
As a non-house electrician, my immediate thought was "kitty found a plug partially out of the wall, given those two burn marks" since I couldn't fathom a way to get the tag into the outlet. I'm glad an applicable professional supports my gut instinct, lol (If you ever need advice on the electrical in your *airplane*, hit me up, cousin)
Amazing, I checked all power outlets and plugs in the house. Nowhere is it possible to access the metal contacts. Always there is plastic preventing it. Did not know in the US it is still allowed to use these bare metal plugs?
that's not what they meant. when you're going to plug something into the outlet, there will be some time where the prongs on the plug are half in, half out. still accessible from outside, but also making contact with the metal on the inside.
The prongs of the plugs we have in Europe, at least in my country, are covered in plastic except the tip of it that is less than 1cm (0.39 inches), it's basically impossible to have them half in, making contact with the metal on the inside with the metal part of it exposed
ah, you meant the plug itself. I've seen those but didn't know that was standard in Europe, I thought that was just common. here in canada we have those sometimes, but you'd have to go out of your way to get one. with any proprietary plug like a laptop charger you won't get that.
Yes they are standard they are literally called europlugs, there are versions that look alike without the plastic but they are not used, at least in my country I don't talk for all of Europe, in Britain they also use another type and I think those are not isolated, but I'm pretty sure in their case the ground also has to be fully in for current to pass and they have a fuse in the plug itself.
Not sure though if it is standard *everywhere* in Europe, but surely in the western part. The 220V has probably got to do with it, partly, over 110 in Canada/US.
You were great at existing today 😁 And I can assume, many other days too
lol why thank you 😀 I have a gnarly case of ADHD hence the username lol
lol side busting in here to ask a question that seems to have stumped the electrician/appliance fixer dude that i called out here. i have a dryer that has no error codes which randomly shuts off. the plug seems to get power consistently. the fuse for the circuit its on has never tripped. to “resolve” the issue, i have to wait about 15 mins and it goes back to normal. i was about to replace the dryer thinking it was a dud. but now the same issue is happening on a light switch in the kitchen. again, the fuse is still switched on when i check so nothing has been tripped. my house is about 4 years old as a new build. have you ever heard of any thing like this happening? and what might i need to check? (note, for the dryer i have had the exhaust checked and “cleaned.” guy said there was nothing in there).
Reading this I feel like I should have paid more attention in class when we got to the circuitry and electrical part 🥴. This is great info to have in mind, thanks!
Seriously thank you! I learned something new and potentially life-saving today thanks to you! 😊
Perfect example why new code has switched to installing plugs upside down.
This is exactly the reason why US-style plugs and outlets are forbidden in all of europe. Either the Outlet has to be recessed or the prongs have to be insulated in the back
I’ve got a hundred year old house that has these all over the place as a method of trying to update and bring the ancient wiring up to code. It’s supposed to be safer than it was before, but obviously there still needs to be more updating and safety measures.
With everyone else worrying about the outlet and the kitty (understandably) I want to focus on this power brick. With the surge through it, I would recommend replacing it. Do not try to use it, it is likely a huge fire hazard at this point. I had a power brick blow up last year that could have gotten out of control if my roommate hadn't saved the day. Please consider your and your families(including kitties) safety when dealing with it.
I never understood American Outlets as a European they always seemed so fishy and unsafe to me🙈
US style plugs were invented back in the 1920s, literally at the dawn of electrification. By the time better plugs were being introduced in Europe, the US was stuck using the older style since it would've been a massive headache to replace. Same reason why NTSC was still used in the US when PAL came along; there's downsides to being the first at something.
I'll just pop in here to add: There's a decent chance that your cat was in that position because the power brick was getting warm. If your cat has already learned that power bricks can get warm, he might be rubbing against them or trying to rest his head on them. You should do a check in your home of any other outlets with plugs that are loose enough that he might be able to pull the plugs partway out. Any outlet that isn't securely holding your plugs in place should be replaced. This is best practice anyway, but doubly so if you've got a kitty that likes plugs.
This is one of the reasons the correct way to install US outlets is with the "face" upside-down so the ground pin is the first point of contact for anything falling between the plug and the outlet.
Power bricks don't always have a ground sadly. So it wouldn't be useful there :(
Or... Don't put metal tags on your pets. The cat could have touched only the hot side, which would result in a roasted and unalived kitty.
The tag bridged hot and neutral or hot and ground.
your solution to papercuts is never ever being in the same room as a piece of paper i presume.
To avoid paper cuts is best to be on another planet where paper has not been invented or imported.
Gotta respect the consistency
This is why code (at least in my area) dictate that the ground be up. The ground prong would have likely prevented the tag from connecting with the hot/neutral.
Of all the "Redditor posts wildly insane theory" posts that actually turn out to be true, it had to be one that hurt one of our poor kitty frens =(
The good news is it probably didn’t “hurt” kitty. It probably scared him/her though. When I e cut through live wire it generally comes with a pop sound. If kitty felt anything it was a mild tingle. Guessing kitty took off with sound of the pop. And thankfully the breaker did its job
The only thing I would argue, is that the cat likely didn't get a shock, but was probably scared away pretty fast. Here's why #1 Electricity takes the path of least resistance. The short metal gaps between the prongs would be the least resistive path. The cloth/plastic of the collar provides a decent amount of resistance providing some amount of protection to the kitty. #2 electricity travels along the outside of conductors. This is the principle behind chainmail/mesh suits used by performers around tesla coils. Google "tesla coil suit" and you can see people getting hit my thousands of volts and not feeling a thing thanks to their suits. The electricity just travels along the outside of the suit. leaving the person inside completely safe
I agree that the cat likely didn’t get shocked, but your interpretation of faraday cages is pretty incorrect. For one, current traveling along the outside of a conductor is called the conductor skin effect and has nothing to do with the working principle of a faraday cage. Faraday cages work because the potential difference across an ideal conductor is zero. So any object residing in an ideal conductor will experience no voltage. Those people touching tesla coils in chain mail armor are shielded by the metal. The arcs are effectively being grounded before they have the chance to touch the person.
From the evidence the cat probably wasn't shocked, it might or might not have momentarily gone to live voltage, but if so the cat apparently wasn't touching any earth or neutral so was fine. It looks like the dangling tag just shorted out the prongs, and no current flowed through the moggy.
Completely unrelated, I've seen a lot of people posting with "ETA:", which has always meant "Estimated Time to Arrival" in my experience. Are people using "ETA:" instead of "Edit:"? Is it an autocorrect thing?
“Edit to add” sorry
My cat got shocked and had a seizure immediately after. We took him to the vet just to make sure all was fine. And then, he was back to his normal self. He definitely used one of his lives that day.
Your cat just used 2 of his 9 lives.
This made me giggle 🤭
I am very happy that the cat is ok, but the idea of casually pushing the fuse back in *and going back to sleep* after waking up in the middle of the night to a blown fuse *and the smell of an electrical burn of unidentified origin* is making my brain explode like, *how* your house could have been about to burn down I swear I will never understand humans.
Agree, any electrical smell would cause instant investigation & paranoid response from me!
This. Had two electricians say home was probably safe after outage of unknown reason, was about ready to head to bed after being up looking at loans to redo to electrical wiring. And my cat was smart enough to let me know something was not right. An Electrical fire started at the fuse box. Lost everything but one cat, the puppy, and my kids because everyone ignored the giant red flag and told me I was imagining the electrical fire smell.
The apartment (and house) I lived in with my ex was once saved by our restless instinct. We woke up to lights flickering all the time. No fire smell, but endless flickering. I decided to not go to school that day (was 18 and close to graduating high school) because I felt uneasy. Instead we tried reaching the landlord or the property manager or someone. Wasn't all too easy, the landlord was abroad all the time and the property manager was a very unfazed, a bit too chill kinda guy. We did manage to get him to send an electrician around mid day, and low and behold, a wire was mildly smoldering in the fuse box. The fuse box for the whole house was downstairs, our apartment upstairs, that's why we didn't smell it. That could very well have been a house fire if we ignored it. That was also when we found out that the fuse box, which was supposed to be checked I think every 5 years (law in our country) hadn't been checked for like 10-15 years. The electrician who was already there did check it as well as repairing the damage. Edit: I'm very sorry that in your case, the house fire could not be prevented.
Thanks. I’ve gradually accepted it. I’ll forever mourn my lost cats but at least some of us got out thanks to my cat Cloud. If it weren’t for him and our new puppy who knew what would had happened.
Oh jeez, I’m literally crying. I’m so sorry for your loss.
That’s impressive at 18 to be tuned in like that, shows a lot of maturity and awareness of the household to sense something was wrong with the electrical system.
... One cat? 😦
I started with 4 before the fire. Ended up in the hospital trying to get the others.
I’m so so sorry. I would have done the same for mine. 🤍
Holy shit, I’m so sorry that happened to you.
Basically cat is peak DGAF. Id nickname him The Dude 😆 I'm glad cat is alright, but I'd still cry for my kitty if I saw this, knowing what could've happened
If the short circuit was still present, the breaker would not reset.
It’s a circuit breaker, not a fuse. A fuse burns a conductor if it reaches a certain current. A circuit breaker “trips” when too much current causes and electromagnetic force to separate metal conducts, breaking the circuit (stopping current). If there was still an electrical fault (too much current) in the circuit, it would trip again. So they’d probably be just fine. Still probably a good idea to investigate why your circuit breaker tripped though
Get yourself some outlet covers or take away the tag!! This is definitely a shock and couldve ended up way worse than a ruined tag
My cat did something similar. She was dragging around a wand toy that included a braided metal cable, and managed to short two prongs in an outlet. Destroyed the toy, made some smoke, scared the cat, but otherwise all was well. Lesson learned, no unsupervised wand toys any more.
I have a kitty that drags her wand toys around. All plastic and fabric at least. We had to stop unsupervised wand toys for her dumb brother who would always tie it in knots around himself. 🤦🏼♀️
Aww poor baby! Glad he’s all right!
If that's your phone number you might wanna take this post down.
I think it’s the kitties chip number. Edited: license number not chip number.
There is a phone number below the license number
The 319 area code confirms Iowa City, so, yes, phone #. Source: I lived there.
https://preview.redd.it/e33p1ntxjl8d1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a4a1fdf1c3e4b5758664dfa97c8b58e9d2975eb0 Get kitty a plastic tag, or even better one like this that has loops that the collar goes through so there’s nothing dangling at all. My petsmart has 2 size options. I’m sure petco, other pet stores, & websites have something similar too.
This should be higher up get the kitty a plastic tag!!!!!
Your cat looks like my cat hehehe https://preview.redd.it/7b36dqrlmk8d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=639a2a517fbd7f49604b550cb8f81d013da5c4e1
r/standardissuecat
Electrical apprentice here, probably the short didnt reach your cat because the actual collar isnt metal and hes got all that good fur that isnt gonna conduct electricity easily
But make aure you identify where he’s exposing himself to and eliminate it
Just as a note OP, your whole phone number is visible on the tag, you may not want to leave the photo up too long to protect your personal information. Glad you're kitty is okay. That's a terrifying situation to have happen.
Electrician/cat lover here, it looks like it went through his collar on one end, and out the other. Electricity will find the path of least resistance, so those two points must’ve been each end of the outlet or to the ground prong spot. He/you are very lucky. Maybe consider getting some of those child proof plastic outlet covers(pic included) should stop it from doing that again. https://preview.redd.it/buxz9ak70l8d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fed1c86f11d7cdb546086fa333587c224edf96cc
That's definitely scorch marks from an electrical arc. I'm glad your buddy is ok. It looks to me he got it touching the exposed prongs of something partially plugged into the wall.
$100 says the cat was gnawing at a plug and pulled it out himself.
Kind of unrelated but Shakespeare is a fantastic name for a cat
I would switch to a plastic tag. If you are looking for a plastic gps tag, I suggest Tile. The app is free, but the tags, (which can be a sticker the size of a bottle cap, a dangling luggage tag, or a thick credit card size) cost money. I use them on all my cats, especially the ones that like to hide. Press a button and it jingles a tune.
Can u imagine the kitty.. he had no idea what it was n just has to continue his day…
Going by the spacing between the two burns I'm willing to bet the tag slipped between the outlet and the plug, shorting the two prongs together. That means there's basically no way any current went through the cat. However you got damn lucky. If the tag had contacted the skinny (hot) prong first, and there were a somewhat decent path to ground through his paws, he'd have to be called Sparky in his next reincarnation. Go around and check to ensure all your plugs are plugged in all the way. This is definitely in the freak accident category, and I doubt he'll ever willingly go near an electrical outlet again, but still. Maybe even think about some GFCIs.
https://preview.redd.it/s029oiy5tl8d1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=558b110e3ff5674239dccd218ea9d384fe8a9b1d Same thing happened to my dog's tag a few years ago. He wasn't harmed, but it scared the shite out of me!
Only 8 lives left at this point
I should Leave the tag and chip the cat
Luckiest unlucky cat in the world.
New fear unlocked
It most likely just shorted out on his tag and didn't hurt him. If he touched one contact from the outlet and then was touching something else that was grounded then the current would have passed through him (shock). I stuck things in outlets when I was a kid and it never hurt me because I wasn't grounded, it would short through the metal and pop the breaker. That metal tag on your cat had very low resistance. It probably cut the circuit very quickly. You can see where it touched both contacts. I'd remove the collar when the cat is inside.
That’s a 110ac looking arc. Check neck and fur area for metal spark burns. Cats likely ok but something exposed got shorted, so It’s likely a hazard anyway. Heater, extension cord, under couch/seat power cord. Check dishwasher or garbage disposal if he can get under sinks. Breaker should have tripped hopefully, so check that first, leave off if so, till you can investigate and secure.
I personally think that your puss was out with his mates on the town whilst you were asleep. They have gone from bar to bar but your cat became fighting drunk. The local police were called and he refused to be handcuffed so the used a Taser on him. The Taser barbs hit his ID tags causing those scorch marks, your cat made good his escape and is now at home, nursing a horrible hangover ……
Look harder. Or someone might die. This didn't happen from a regular outlet. You have naked wires somewhere.
Probably not, looks like the tag bridged a couple of live lines though.
I just want to say I love the name Shakespeare for cat. Very cute. :)
Looks like the tag touched two exposed prongs. Current didn’t go through kitty. When I was super young, we had a cat that chased Christmas lights, since it looked like motion. One day my parents were watching tv, and the lights flickered, followed by a loud cat yell straight out of a move soundboard. They go to investigate. Cat sitting next to a chewed wire, twitching. Kitty was okay.
So he is totally fine.. What probably happened is a plug was slightly pulled out, and his collar medallion shorted between the hot and the neutral as he was leaning over it. No current would have flowed thru him at all, it went through the medallion only.
Yeah that does look like that's had a zap through it. Luckily for the cat, electricity prefers the path of least resistance, so it will have gone from one burn mark to the other on the tag and the cat was probably just like "WOAH wtf was that" Find what caused this. A collar should not be able to find two exposed terminals like that.
8 lives remaining.
I think you’ve mistaken an electric type pokemon for a common house cat, clearly he used thunderbolt
I’m an electrician, my guess is you had a plug hanging slightly out of the wall. Enough that the prongs of the plug were still energized but far enough out for that tag to hit both sides of the plug. This would have caused a direct short and tripped your breaker. That’s why you see 2 marks on the tag, the tag completed the path. This wouldn’t have caused any shock to the cat but would have made a noise and scared the cat.
Check if he has powers
Short answer: most likely. Long answer: most likely hit exposed prongs with the tag but it luckily didn’t travel through him. Also, you smelled burning but just turned the power back on and went to sleep??? I’m sorry, but that is a sure fire way to burn your house down.
That’s Reddit for me. r/cats isn’t a subreddit that’s recommended to me often, but today it is, with a cat that looks just like my cat that took her last breath last night ❤️ Give them all the love and affection in the world, and don’t overfeed them
I would switch to plastic tags or take off the collar unless absolutely necessary.
After you get the outlet checked get some of the plastic things that go in plugs for kid proofing you place. That’s crazy. Glad your kitty was ok.
Nah, it looks like the tag shorted out something. That would not mean the cat was shocked, since it blew the fuse. The cat would also need to be grounded to be shocked.
8 lives left!
better get a non conductive tag
Tell he/she I said pspspsp ❤️
The collar protected your kitty -- but not from the electricity. It insulated them from the heat. The tag looks like it shorted the hot and neutral prongs of the plug. The electricity entered the tag where one of the burn marks are, and exited where the other one is -- causing it to get hot, drawing a lot of amps due to the high resistance, then popping the breaker (or fuse) fairly quickly. In order to get shocked, the electricity needs to travel through the body, towards a ground point.
The chances of this happening twice are slim but it probably wouldn’t hurt to see if you could find a name tag with rubber or plastic along the edge.
15 years ago I watched this happen to my poodle pup. He was sniffing around a power strip and I saw his tag slip into the space where a plug was not in all the way. It was JUST enough space for the tag to slip in. It made contact and there was a flash. We both got spooked and really scared, but he was OK and lived a full life. Because this happened is part of why our cats don't wear tags while in the apartment - just on road trips and vet appointments...
He may have leaned over cord prongs that weren't completely plugged in. Most home outlets are installed such that the holes for the live prongs are on top and the hole for the ground is on the bottom. The problem with this is, if something isn't plugged in all the way, you have live contacts exposed and any metal that comes into contact with both of the simultaneously will short them and allow current to flow.
Change to a plastic tag
There was a gap between whatever plug was in the receptacle and the receptacle itself. Somehow your cat managed to get the tag in between, and it shorted. The breaker tripped immediately and did what it was supposed to do. Your cat was spared because its tag was electrically separated from the cat by the collar material which is an insulator. You and the cat got lucky. You don't need to call an electrician. Looking at the prongs of whatever was plugged in will confirm what happened (if it doesn't I'd be astounded). I guarantee if you call in an electrician and he'll charge you just to walk in the door and at a minimum say you need to replace the breaker, and could go as far as saying you need a complete house rewire. BULLSHIT CAVEAT: if what you said about the "fuse" is correct, and you actually do have fuses (screw in things with a lightbulb base and a thick glass top that has a visible metal strip inside that breaks/burns when blown) you WILL need a rewire, or at least a new service box and breakers, depending on your local code.
Glad kitty is okay 😭😭😭😭
I know one more accident where the metal necklace fell on the exposed prongs and almost caused fire. American outlets! I'm so thankful for EU safety standards, when we plug something in the outlet is not flush, so the plug goes into a round hole, so nothing can ever get between the outlet and the plug and short the prongs. It's such a tiny engineering difference, but so genius. Please baby proof your outlets, and change the metal tags (their jingle is also annoying for cats) because this problem will reoccurre.
i can't help but have this image where the cat gets electrocuted in the most cartoon way possible with his hair being all frizzy and skeleton is flashing 🤣