Dear Dot,
My biodegradable cat litter says it’s flushable. We have a septic tank, which makes me hesitant to flush. What should I do?
–Rona, West Tisbury
Dear Rona,
I too am possessor of both a septic system and a number of cats (two of my felines insist that I do not possess them but am merely granted the privilege of attending to their needs. The third is asleep on my clean laundry). So I was curious to hear the answer to your question. And hear it I did. You perhaps did too. For it was loud. And resounding. When asked for his thoughts about whether or not to flush biodegradable “flushable” cat litter, the voice of environmental consultant and registered sanitarian Doug Cooper rang out from Edgartown and it said thus: “NOOOO!”
When pressed to explain, Cooper put it this way: “Even if biodegradable, it is introducing solids that unnecessarily burden the tank. It can settle in low spots in the plumbing system, can coalesce with paper products to create clogs…” Or, more concisely, “NOOOO!”
So what can you do?
Clay litter is nasty from start (mining) to finish (landfill) and both the dust and the litter itself is dangerous for pets who can breathe it in or ingest it when they clean their paws, creating clumps in their digestive tracts. So stick with the eco stuff. The greenest way to dispose of biodegradable cat litter is composting, with some caveats: Separate out urine or feces and dispose of them in the trash, then take what’s left, put it in your compost heap, but use that only in gardens that have non-edible plants. According to the EPA, pet waste is considered a pollutant that we do not want getting into our waterways. Cat feces can carry the parasite Toxoplasma gondii, something any formerly or currently pregnant cat companion (nobody “owns” a cat, my cats insist) can attest. Even many municipal water treatment plants can’t effectively treat that.
Purringly,
Dot
