Great, just great. My cat sleeps in my clean laundry basket, too. It happens to be in a dark secluded area, and now every time I reach in there I’ll be reminded of this thread. :smack:
Don’t let appearances fool ya; the water in the tank is clean. That’s just rust you’re seeing in there. 
Hellcat hasn’t pooped in the laundry. She has puked on the computer(twice) and down a heating duct(once). Maggie the beagle wet the bed once. While I was in it.
We have gone 23 hours(and counting) into the new year without vomit or violence.
In the “Last Post” column on the main SDMB page, the title of this post was abbreviated to “The cat’s in the laundry…” Thus, I came in here expecting to see a repeat of bodypoet’s kitty-in-the-dryer story. Imagine my relief to find that this was not the case.
I’ve never had a cat crap in the laundry basket. Nor even in the linen closet when I accidentally shut him up in there before I went to work for the day. (He liked to sleep on the folded towels in about three inches of space-it never looked very comfortable to me.)
Replaced the handle yet?
One note of worth screech-owl is that the nut inside the toilet tank is usually left-hand thread. Don’t ask me why-but it usually is, so when attempting to install the replacement part you picked up at Home Despot, reverse the rightey-tightey, leftey-loosey rule. Also, don’t overtighten the new part-Mr. China gets cranky when stressed.
Be warned even toilet trained kitties can occasionally kak up a unexpected hairball… especially when they are sitting in clean laundry
Aside from whatever mental associations you might make from its physical proximity to the toilet bowl, the water in the tank is no more icky than any other cistern. Water goes strictly FROM the tank into the bowl, and there’s no possibility of back flow. The worst you have to worry about it hard water buildup and rust.
Our cats love the laundry basket too. In fact, we have a basket full of old clothes and laundry that would otherwise be thrown out that we keep around for the cats. We also keep empty boxes in four rooms for the cats’ enjoyment. The male cat, in particular, seems to think that he is Invulnerable if he’s sitting in a box, and likes to take swipes at anyone passing by his box. He always looks very pleased with himself if he’s in a box or basket, and any new box that comes into the house has to be closely inspected by both cats, whether it’s been emptied yet or not.
25 years of living with cats, 8 or 9 cats total, and not one of them has ever pooped, peed or puked in the laundry basket. In fact, the only way we can get them to use their own baskets is to pile holey socks in them…then they will gladly sleep in their own beds.
But know what’s even more attractive than a basket of clean laundry? A partially filled suitcase. Grandma once almost sealed Muffin in the suitcase because she had crawled in and snuggled down…and the lid was only open a few inches!