cat litter in compost?

[den_the_cat]

I know that you're not mean to use animal poo in compost, and therefore cat litter is always listed as a thing not to compost.

But, since I'm about to enter the dreaded 'keep cats in in new house' phase.....

If I use paper cat litter (the recycled stuff) and remove the solid waste, is there any problem in putting the paper (possibly soggy) on the heap? I know its recommended that weeing on the compost pile helps things and paper is fine, so I cant see why it would be a problem, but don't want to sabotage the new heap before it gets started properly by doing something silly.

[Wombat]

G'Day Den!

Mate, I compost the paper cat litter after fishing out the cc (cat crap),........well alright I compost the cat litter after Mrs Wombat fishes out the cc.

Anyway, no ill effects so far!

Nev

[red]

erm. if you don't put cat poo in the compost.. but once they are outdoor cats again they will poo outside... does it make any difference if the poo rots a tad en route, it all ends up in the garden? what are you sposed to do with cat do? We used to bung it down the loo, and it would go into the sceptic tank....

we used to put the cat litter (the kind made from chewed up bits of recycled paper) on the compost heap and it seems to rot away ok. Luckily they are no longer kittens and can use the outdoor facilities now.. erm sometimes seen using the compost heap....

[den_the_cat]

thsnks guys, I've never quite figured out why you're not meant to use it but all the info I've seen says not to If the two of you haven't gone down with denge fever from it I'll give it a go.

Red, well trained cats go and use next doors garden

[the.fee.fairy]

you're not supposed to compost waste from meat eating animals because of pathogens.

That's as much as i know about crap!

However, i have 2 rats and i compost everything that comes out of their cage (well, not all of it, they've got carpet in the cage now - they're both blind and need the texture and to have the wires covered so they dont break their ankles or something!). But i compost their poo, and any sawdust/newspaper thats in there.

I'm not rich enough to afford all natural carpet for them yet, so i can't compost what's in there at the moment.

I did ask a man a couple of years ago about composting the rat poo, nd they said that should be ok as rats are mainly vegatarian (well, mine are, they have rat nuggest and not many bones) so there's less risk of pathogens.

Hope that helps

[Muddypause]

you're not supposed to compost waste from meat eating animals because of pathogens.

I've heard something like that, too, but it would seem to knock the theory of a compost toilet on the head.

I take your point, though, because I've read loads of warnings about using some kinds of grey water to water vegetables with - in theory, bath water may contain nasty pathogens which can then be transfered into the food chain.

Suddenly, I'm not sure I fully understand the implications of all this.

[the.fee.fairy]

apparently so.

The man who explained to me didn't explain what the pathogens were or how to kill them though.

I would presume that as long as the compost got to a certain heat it would basically pasteurise the compost and kill the pathogens. The man didn#t know though.

I see what you mean about the composting toilets!!

Personally, i put dog poo down the drain and into the sewerage system. I figure that if he eats meat, and everyone in the house eats meat, and everyone down the street eats meat then the sewage plant should be able to treat dog poo in the same way as it treats human poo.

Could you compost veggie human poo? what about the blood cells and stuff? Surely veggie animals secrete blood and cells in their poo too?

Its all very complicated methinks...

[Shirley]

Interesting topic....

Perhaps it could be used in compost that won't be used to grow food producing plants?

You can put small quantities of dog poo into a green cone... perhaps cat poo too???

[den_the_cat]

there's a bit on it here

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/loa ... 59795.html

and they seem similarily confused about why it would be wrong.

[Wombat]

If you worm your cats regularly (as one should) The worm killer remains active in the poo and gives worms in the compost a hard time!

Nev

[Annpan]

Bump

I was thinking the same thing myself, I compost all sorts of stuff. ie paper, cardboard, tissues, cardboard boxes, labels peeled off of things, weeds, leafs, grass (lots of) So... seen as I am already going to have a dodgy compost is it worth while sticking in the cat litter? (with pee, without poo)

[frozenthunderbolt]

Can i strongly suggest everyone googles "humanure handbook" goes tot he publishers site and dowloads the ENTIRE book in pfd for FREE - it may provide a bit more info about safe composting of Poop.

[the.fee.fairy]

That is a great book!

I don't know if you have to keep meat eating/pathogen producing animal manure separate.

However...when i was in India, i found that all the morning ablutions were performed directly onto the field (the 21 bum salute as its locally known).

Now...Supermarkets probably import from india - i haven't looked, but i bet some of the veg comes from there, so people will be eating veg manured with poo and not even know about it (because its been cleaned and comes in a plastic bag). I havent seen any scares about food poisoning from these veg, so it can't do you that much harm...

Personally, i'd be worried about handling someone else's - you don't know if they suffer from any blood/fluid borne diseases, ad i wouldn't want to be digging veg near a fresh deposit - Hep B can live for either 30 minutes, or 3 days outside the body and can be actively passed on in that time. Scary or what!!

[Annpan]

Can i strongly suggest everyone googles "humanure handbook" goes tot he publishers site and dowloads the ENTIRE book in pfd for FREE - it may provide a bit more info about safe composting of Poop.

Not really in to downloading stuff... I think if you actually buy the book, then you fund the publisher (the same for movies and TV shows) who in turn can fund other similar projects. (such as Dave and Andy's book )
Also I don't have a super great computer so it tends to get bogged down downloading page upon page of crap (literately anfd figurativly )


I know about the whole pathogen stuff, but I have not found any definative answer, I think in John Seymores book, he recommends only using composting toilet goodies on fruit trees or on flowers...

Can you dig a big hole under a apple tree and empty poop in there?

I refuse to pay £70 for a green cone which is bacically a whole in the ground... what if you cut the bottom out of a black bin and half bury it in the garden... say under fruit trees... just thinking out loud but as cats poop everywhere anyway, is there a way to control the potential goodness in it.

[mrsflibble]

hmm. i always thought it was about the acidity; like chicken crap. oh well, leanr something new everyday... and every day i find another reason never to own a cat.
yesterdays reason : they are gorgeous, cute and furry but ALL are inherantly evil without exception.
todays reason : kittylitter trays *shudders*