Did I damage my cartridge?

Thanks for the research Doug, however I'm gratified to see that Scott no longer suspects he damaged his cart after all. In my experience, it's usually all or nothing: either the cantilever is across the room under sofa, or you've lunched a delicate wire and there's no signal, or it's a false alarm and everything's OK (save for the heart attack). Cart's are pretty tough little buggers - right up until the point that you destroy them...
:-)

Scott, that's good news. Glad your cart is okay. Did you figure out why the sound went fuzzy?

I haven't destroyed one (yet) Zaikesman. But with two cats and a klutz of a user it's only a matter of time. Maybe I should keep an old, cheap one nearby to attract accidents. If there are two cartridges the probability that I'll wreck the expensive one is reduced by 50%, right?!

It seems that when I pushed the cantilever down in the goop. It built up on the top. A good quick cleaning solved the problem. Now I know beeter and have just let the weight of the tonearm settle onto the goop, and everything works fine.

Good to hear, you might contact the manufacturer and tell them of your experience and let them know this may have been a lack of good instructions included with the product.
You may help someone down the line,