Certainly, disposing of your cat’s litter is not your favorite cat-related chore. We have been using several conventional methods to dispose of them but we had never tried to peep into the adversities it can produce. So we need to know how to dispose of cat litter appropriately.
As per the APPA pet owner survey 2015-16, there are 85.8 Million pet cats in America. They produce about 1.2 Million tonnes of poop as mentioned in a 2013-Study published in Trends in Parasitology. Whatever method you choose to dispose of the cat litter, the cat litter is a growing problem that may play its role in ‘Major Health Problem’, according to the study’s author.
Methods to Dispose of Used Kitty Litter
Considering the effects of cat litter on the public health, we need to understand and adopt the safe methods for disposing of cat litter.
#1 Bag & Trash
All you need to bag & trash cat litter is a scoop, a surgical mask and a couple of two-lined bags. Purchase a clumped cat litter that can easily be scooped by a scooper. Take a two-lined bag and scoop the clumped litter into it. Put this two-lined bag in another similar bag so that the chances of leaking of the litter and bad odor of it are eliminated. Put this bag in a dedicated trash and dump it off into the main dustbin.
Make sure that the trash bag is outside your house and safe from other cats. Keeping the trash box into the home will result in an unhygienic environment. And not keeping it protected outside the house can attract other cats which can scatter it off. A surgical mask can help you to prevent the poop particles entering into your respiratory system.
People usually adopt this method to dispose of kitty waste as you make sure it won’t affect anyone’s health in the surrounding. The Toxoplasma gondii bacteria inside the cat excretion is the main cause of the health hazards for humans and sea otters.
#2 Poop Collection Services
Some of the towns in the United States have poop collection services. However, this expenditure will make it to your monthly budget. This is the best way for anyone to deal with the cat feces without much ado. These services provide meticulous cleaning and hygiene on a regular basis.
#3 Flushing, Nope!
It might be surprising for you to know that the method to dispose of cat litter you have been using is not appropriate. The reason is the Toxoplasma gondii bacteria shed in your kitty’s feces. Flushing them will make it their way to the sea. Recently, a study suggested, these bacteria are directly responsible for illness and death of sea otters in California. People will have a dispute and may argue that water treatment plants can take care of that. No, most of the modern water treatment plants are not designed to kill Toxoplasma gondii eggs.
Despite some of the cat litters are marketed as flushable, you should never flush it down in a commode. Moreover, in 2006, California’s legislature passed a law regarding selling a cat litter product in the state with a warning not to flush down these kinds of product in a toilet or dump into gutters or storm drains.
#4 Go Green
If you are a profound nature lover then you might be thinking of extracting the best organic benefits from cat litter. This is the best way of excrement disposal for you. Use corn-wheat or paper-based biodegradable kitty litter. If possible, use paper bags to collect litter.
You can dump this cat litter in your garden as a manure or a garden fertilizer. Moreover, the odor of cat feces would keep other animals from feeding on your garden plants. However, you should not use the litter if yours or your neighbors’ garden grow edibles.
There is one more way to dispose of it. A small pit in your backyard and burying the used cat litter can solve the problem. You need to make sure that your kitty litter doesn’t carry any clay or crystal material as they are not biodegradables. The pit should not be so shallow that a rain would wash it off and the dumped litter would come out on a surface. Moreover, make sure that the pit is not near any sewage or gutter line. This cat litter will languish in the course of the time and will add to the fertility of your backyard or garden soil.
You can choose any of the methods to dispose of used cat litter discussed over here. A small awareness about disposing of cat litter can save many lives on this planet.
Let us know more about the safe and convenient methods in the comment section. Till then keep reading more such posts on Petlovesbest!