OK...what can I do with the Kitty Poop/Kitty litter????
What??
My cats are indoors. They are 12 years old and live in a urban block..too many cats outdside to make them outdoor kitties. I don't anticipate being on our land for another 2 years. maybe one.
The only holdout we have for plastic bags is kitty litter/poop. We use wood stove pellets for the litter...so they are biodegradable. But how do we biodegrade them They are not the best substance for a compost pile or worm bin. I can start a worm bin for the poop...but what about the pellets??? I already have a compost pile...but it is hard to keep up with with just all of our kitchen waste in the winter that is.
I really want to stop throwing away kitty litter to the dump.
What can I do???
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I was just talking with someone the other day that said they trained their cat to poop/pee in the toilet. Seriously. I bet if you googled it you could find some stuff about how to do that. Otherwise, I don't know how solid wood stove pellets are, but they may work in a wormery if they aren't like really hard lumps of wood. Our curbside recycling allows vegetarian pet shavings but I don't suppose a cat is vegetarian. If it is then I would use wood shavings and put them in the worm bin.
I was just talking with someone the other day that said they trained their cat to poop/pee in the toilet. Seriously. I bet if you googled it you could find some stuff about how to do that. Otherwise, I don't know how solid wood stove pellets are, but they may work in a wormery if they aren't like really hard lumps of wood. Our curbside recycling allows vegetarian pet shavings but I don't suppose a cat is vegetarian. If it is then I would use wood shavings and put them in the worm bin.
The pellets disintigrate when they get wet. they are just pressed sawdust. The worms just don't like sawdust. NOt vegetarian...the poop I can put in a the worm bin..and I am OK with that. But the sawdust I am not sure what to do. When we have land I will just have a huge compost pile and add as much green matter as I can. But on a small city lot, I don't' have room...and dh is worries about smell critters. funny, cuz if they were outdoors, they would just go outside and he would not worry about smell or critters...
THere is no way with one toilet that my kitties can share. i just could not handle it...lol! but i have heard of that as well.
dh is worries about smell critters. funny, cuz if they were outdoors, they would just go outside and he would not worry about smell or critters...
Can you sneak it into the compost and when it doesn't stink and critters don't come say "I told you so" ? Sorry - I know I am not helping.
Hmmm... you know I really think it wouldn't smell. Does it smell in the house? And smell critters would probably stay away because urine is a territory marker. I think I would just put it in the compost bin and toss the poo either in the toilet or the worm bin.
Can you sneak it into the compost and when it doesn't stink and critters don't come say "I told you so" ? Sorry - I know I am not helping.
Hmmm... you know I really think it wouldn't smell. Does it smell in the house? And smell critters would probably stay away because urine is a territory marker. I think I would just put it in the compost bin and toss the poo either in the toilet or the worm bin.
you know Katie, the urine being a territory marker is a REALLY good point to help dh mentally shift to be able to do this. THANK YOU!!!
You might want to do a google search on
"cat litter" compost
I'd be a little concerned about using any compost from a compost bin with cat "products" in it. Maybe vermicomposting kills more of the possible disease organisms, though? There was an interesting experiment done here: 2005 Young Naturalist Awards - Got Cats? Get Worms!
You might want to do a google search on
"cat litter" compost
I'd be a little concerned about using any compost from a compost bin with cat "products" in it. Maybe vermicomposting kills more of the possible disease organisms, though? There was an interesting experiment done here: 2005 Young Naturalist Awards - Got Cats? Get Worms!
Hi MArgaret!
Vermicomposting is definitely the way to go with any feces, or animal products. I have read about it and there are no issues if you use the worms. I would not compost it. The biggest issue I have is the sawdust left behind. Wroms don't like it, so not good for the worm bin. I don't want to incinerate it and I don't have enough space for a Big composting system. The sawdust produced is too much to keep up with for our sized compost.
That article yo linked me to is GREAT. I am so passionate about vermicompost. I read a great book on it...
Organic Growing With worms by David Murphy. I really should purchase it and send it on to the States for everyone to read. It is such an amazing book. He sites a chicken processing plant that deals with its waste with huge worm farms...the throw in the claws, feathers etc...all the things they don't use and the worms eat them all up in a very short cycle. Then they have vermicast at the end. No rotting animal material to dispose of. THere are trees planted and growing along the huge cement worm bins that reflect the health of the worm piles.
What a great solution!!!
ok...gotta figure out how to deal with the sawdust. dh is not going to help me, so it is allll on me.
Is there something that you might substitute for the wood pellets? maybe something made of corn - would the worms eat that? Or do you not have the space for such a large worm area? I wonder... if you got in touch with the author of that experiment... it has been a couple of years since - maybe he has something in the works for a future commercial product for fellow conservation-minded cat-lovers. Or check out some more of the google links - I remember some of them being quite interesting, including some conversations on other message boards.
Is there something that you might substitute for the wood pellets? maybe something made of corn - would the worms eat that? Or do you not have the space for such a large worm area? I wonder... if you got in touch with the author of that experiment... it has been a couple of years since - maybe he has something in the works for a future commercial product for fellow conservation-minded cat-lovers. Or check out some more of the google links - I remember some of them being quite interesting, including some conversations on other message boards.
that is possible...and a good idea. I did not think about switching the litter. The reason we use wood pellets it is 'natural' and healthy and inexpensive...and biodegradeable if I have the space.
The poop isn't the issue, really it is the LITTER...I need to read through the article and see if I get any ideas.
I know there is a wheat based product, but ironically enough I KNOW my male cat is allergic to wheat, so that would not work.
I'll price and investigate the other options. Cat litter here is SUPER expensive...I think that is why most people have indoor outdoor cats, really~lol!I also think it is all imported which is not good. At least the wood pellets are manufactured in NZ. Living on an island has its limitations.
Julie~I could put the poop in the toilet...although dh is paranoid about the sawdust in the plumming...I still have the litter issue to dispose of.
Amine~thank you! I have seen that before. I am pretty motivated to get my specs out and build an offiical worm box just for the cat poo....so I have that covered. I can buy that enzyme stuff here, so that is COOL. I am just super stuck on what to do on the litter.
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