What to do with our cats poo

[jamiehamy]

Hi all. 

 

Something we hadn't thought about. We have two old cats. In the old flat, we just flushed their solid waste down the toilet with bits of litter stuck. In the new house we don't know what we should be doing long term - don't fancy the thought of the treatment plant getting filled with bits of litter over time. 

 

We use the dusty stuff just now, but options seem to be - 

 

Change to wood litter and flush down toilet. 

Create a cat poo compost heap somewhere in a far corner. 

Bag it and bin it. 

 

The latter option we did in naivity when we got the ladies and it isn't really a good option. 

 

Any pussy lovers got tips? 

 

Thanks, Jamie 

 

PS gratuitous cat pic.Tia 'helping' me finish the ensuite. 

[CC45]

Most cats around here poo in our garden.....

[Onoff]

52 minutes ago, jamiehamy said:

Any pussy lovers?

 

Me!

[Onoff]

Kevin McCloud did that Man Made Homes series using pet poo to produce bio gas I think.

[ProDave]

I presume you (they) use a litter tray as in a flat they did not have access to outside?

 

Now you have a house, fit a (passive?) cat flap and train them to go outside, starting with putting the litter tray just outside the cat flap (under a cover) then gradually moving it further from the house, then removing it.

 

Cats are clean animals, unlike dogs, and will dig a hole and bury their waste, so leave them a patch of earth for that (which is where the litter tray will end up before you remove it totally)

[Stones]

9 minutes ago, ProDave said:

I presume you (they) use a litter tray as in a flat they did not have access to outside?

 

Now you have a house, fit a (passive?) cat flap and train them to go outside, starting with putting the litter tray just outside the cat flap (under a cover) then gradually moving it further from the house, then removing it.

 

Cats are clean animals, unlike dogs, and will dig a hole and bury their waste, so leave them a patch of earth for that (which is where the litter tray will end up before you remove it totally)

 

+1

 

My wife had two cats when I met her, 1 indoor and one outdoor.  When we built our first house, we 'trained' the indoor cat exactly as Dave describes, worked brilliantly.  IIRC, you can buy pet waste compost units which may be an alternative.  

[ToughButterCup]

1 hour ago, jamiehamy said:

[...]

Any pussy lovers got tips? 

[...] 

 

Cat flap.......  Out you go 

[jamiehamy]

I'm afraid going outside isn't an option - hey are and always have been house cats (before we got them as rescue cats - condition was they must remain house cats) and at 16 and 18 that's not going to change. That's aside from my views on carats killing wildlife! @OnoffI was going to tag you on this originally ?

[Stones]

10 minutes ago, jamiehamy said:

I'm afraid going outside isn't an option - hey are and always have been house cats (before we got them as rescue cats - condition was they must remain house cats) and at 16 and 18 that's not going to change. That's aside from my views on carats killing wildlife! @OnoffI was going to tag you on this originally ?

 

The 'indoor' cat my wife had was a rescue (and quite old too, 14 IIRC when we got her going outside) but believe me, when she did get the opportunity to go outside, there was no stopping her.

[vivienz]

You could create a dedicated kitty compost heap for general use but not on edible plants.  There's no reason why it won't compost down, just add some other kitchen waste and shredded paper and it should get away nicely.

 

Cats don't always bury it.  Our two are free to roam outside and have always chosen to go in the border of the greenhouse, underneath another mini-greenhouse that was in there, for preference.  They hate getting their paws wet and heaven forbid that they should have to do anything so uncivilised as go outdoors or further than their own garden.  We stopped using the greenhouse border some time ago.  It's now called Turdopolis.

[Onoff]

7 minutes ago, Stones said:

 

The 'indoor' cat my wife had was a rescue (and quite old too, 14 IIRC when we got her going outside) but believe me, when she did get the opportunity to go outside, there was no stopping her.

 

+1. The stray we took on when we lived in the centre of town was scared of it's own shadow. It lived in the airing cupboard and was scared by frogs! 6 years later & taking it to the country where we are now and it virtually turned feral overnight and even grew tufts out of it's ears. Mainly a mouser than one for birds it'd clear a nest one by one in a constant stream of presents for us. Nothing like waking up and finding the "gifts" it'd brought us during the night. Never did find where it poo'd until it was in it's last legs then it was anywhere; lounge, hall etc. Still, she made 23.

[Stones]

I actually ended up building a small rain shelter at the back door for the cats, rather than messing about with a cat flap.  No smelly food (or litter) in the house at all.  Cats would come in from time to time for a cuddle / sleep, but otherwise would do what they wanted outside. 

[newhome]

I have dogs, not cats but scoop it from the garden into a drain outside as I am on mains drainage. If I wasn’t I would bag and bin it or look at one of the dog loo composting options. I haven’t researched these but I would probably look to see if birds eating worms that have digested cat poo presents any sort of problem initially. 

 

 

 

[Ferdinand]

Just to add another data point to provide more confusion.

 

Our outside cat, which was a stray which appeared of its own accord, became an inside cat at age 14 or 15 ish.

[Barney12]

11 hours ago, recoveringacademic said:

 

Cat flap.......  Out you go 

 

There is a way......

 

[Nickfromwales]

Select the neighbour you dislike the most and buy yourself a long-handled shovel.

Tally-hup......"Incoming!" Did that with one neighbours dog in a previous abode, back doors opposite each other. Their dog would shit on our back door step. Wife lost her rag and piled up a load by their back door. Then made me put a fence up. Oh, and he was a night-club doorman who finished work at 3am, and would insist doing a 3-point turn to have his car parked the right way for the morning. Wouldn't have been a real problem except his Rover 220 turbo coupe had no exhaust, and for good measure he and his missus would then argue loudly for an hour or two to add the cherry to the cake. 

Throw your shit at the annoying neighbours. They'll soon smell the coffee......or maybe they won't   

[SteamyTea]

22 hours ago, jamiehamy said:

at 16 and 18 that's not going to chang

It is a short term problem then.  Bag and bin.

 

As a general rule, collet it up in a box, then wrap it in Christmas paper, place on doorstep of disliked neighbours, set fire to it, knock on door and go and hide.

Fun to watch people stamping on a burning box.

[Onoff]

8 hours ago, Nickfromwales said:

Select the neighbour you dislike the most and buy yourself a long-handled shovel.

Tally-hup......"Incoming!" Did that with one neighbours dog in a previous abode, back doors opposite each other. Their dog would shit on our back door step. Wife lost her rag and piled up a load by their back door. Then made me put a fence up. Oh, and he was a night-club doorman who finished work at 3am, and would insist doing a 3-point turn to have his car parked the right way for the morning. Wouldn't have been a real problem except his Rover 220 turbo coupe had no exhaust, and for good measure he and his missus would then argue loudly for an hour or two to add the cherry to the cake. 

Throw your shit at the annoying neighbours. They'll soon smell the coffee......or maybe they won't   

 

I'd have built a tre-poo-chet...