can i recycle or compost cat litter

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can i recycle or compost cat litter
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cinders

Joined: 04 Jun 2007
Posts: 2437
Location: norfolk The daft old bat club

Posted: Mon Jun 04, 07 5:46 pm Post subject: can i recycle or compost cat litter
I have a fair weathered cat,who uses a litter box.Has anyone any ideas if i can compost it or recycle it.

Blue Sky

Joined: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 7658
Location: France

Posted: Mon Jun 04, 07 5:49 pm Post subject:
Not that I am aware. You would probably be best burrying it in a corner far away from your veg plot. I heard long ago that it doesn't do any good to plants.

cinders

Joined: 04 Jun 2007
Posts: 2437
Location: norfolk The daft old bat club

Posted: Mon Jun 04, 07 5:52 pm Post subject:
mmm think i'll end up with a huge mound lol

gil
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 18420

Posted: Mon Jun 04, 07 7:34 pm Post subject:
Not a good thing to add to the garden, or compost. Bury it somewhere else.

frewen

Joined: 08 Sep 2005
Posts: 11431

Posted: Mon Jun 04, 07 8:06 pm Post subject:
Could it be digested in one of those green cone things? I have a vauge recollection of a claim that it could manage dog poo .

toggle

Joined: 30 Dec 2006
Posts: 11622
Location: truro

Posted: Mon Jun 04, 07 8:49 pm Post subject:
guess it's gonna depend what sort of litter you use. The paper or wood ones would compost, I'd just worry that it wouldn't get hot enough to kill off all the nasties in the cat shit

mrutty

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 1578

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 07 7:53 am Post subject:
You can place it through a worm bin or a digestion system, but I won't want it on my garden, I have enough trouble stopping the cat having a poo there anyway. Really must train it to go next door more often.

chez

Joined: 13 Aug 2006
Posts: 35935
Location: The Hive of the Uberbee, Quantock Hills, Somerset

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 07 8:35 am Post subject:
I think technically it does compost, but takes ages. And it needs to be very efficient hot-compost to kill all the nasties. I still wouldn't want it on my veg plot (or the roses), even after that. I'd probably go for burying it. Or having a separate litter disposal hot-compost heap that literally just sat there and didn't get used for anything else.

dougal

Joined: 15 Jan 2005
Posts: 7184
Location: South Kent

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 07 10:58 am Post subject:

toggle wrote:

guess it's gonna depend what sort of litter you use. The paper or wood ones would compost, I'd just worry that it wouldn't get hot enough to kill off all the nasties in the cat shit

I don't think the litter itself is any problem at all. Might even be a soil conditioner...

Its the cat's contribution that is the problem. AFAIK specifically because of it being a carnivore, potentially with intestinal parasites. Yuk.

Just a BTW, cat litter is wonderful stuff for gathering up spills - like oil in the garage...

sara jane goodey

Joined: 12 Apr 2005
Posts: 45
Location: north wales

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 07 11:16 am Post subject:
Don't forget that cat poo can have the toxoplasmosis parasite in it, which can cause intrauterine death of a human foetus, but in general causes lympthadenopathy, and malaise, I would say a big no to trying to recycle it, as the parasite is a resilient little sod.

dougal

Joined: 15 Jan 2005
Posts: 7184
Location: South Kent

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 07 11:28 am Post subject:

sara jane goodey wrote:

... but in general causes lympthadenopathy,

Undoubtedly. But what is it?

toggle

Joined: 30 Dec 2006
Posts: 11622
Location: truro

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 07 11:46 am Post subject:

dougal wrote:

toggle wrote:

guess it's gonna depend what sort of litter you use. The paper or wood ones would compost, I'd just worry that it wouldn't get hot enough to kill off all the nasties in the cat shit

yeah, but you're not going to be able to compost something that is mostly an inorganic product, like the clay based litters, with an organic based litter, you might be able to get it going in a hot composter to kill the nasties in the cat shit, therefore the material used for the litter is relavent.

sara jane goodey

Joined: 12 Apr 2005
Posts: 45
Location: north wales

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 07 12:38 pm Post subject:
spelling a bit wrong, lymphadenopathy is an enlargement of the lymph nodes, from infective episodes to more serious things like toxoplasmosis and AIDS and HIV.

cinders

Joined: 04 Jun 2007
Posts: 2437
Location: norfolk The daft old bat club

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 07 8:51 pm Post subject:
This may sound completely mad...... don't laugh............ i may try it as an experiment What if i removed all cats poo and washed litter throughly outside (which is clay based) Let it dry in the sun. I could reuse it. Of course i would have to keep the cats away during this process

James

Joined: 11 Jan 2006
Posts: 2866
Location: York

Posted: Thu Jun 07, 07 10:20 am Post subject:

Its made of bentonite, a type of clay which holds water at a molecular level. If you wash it, it’ll take up SOOO much water, it’ll never work properly again, even if you leave it outside to dry off. I think bentonite needs to be baked at quite a high temperature to remove the water.
When we moved into our house, there was a cat litter mound in the back garden about two feet tall. We levelled it out and put the garden shed on top.

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