Corn cat litter question

July 29, 2009 9:22 AM

Last month I switched over to a corn cat litter. (This one) And aside from the kitten occasionally deciding the scattered bits of litter are food, it's going quite well. But how 'flushable' is this litter?

After using the clay litter for so long, I hadn't even considered just flushing the new litter (either the clumps or the poops.) Then this morning I noticed the giant 'Flushable!'graphic and have been wondering exactly how well this works. Have you tried it? Has it worked for you for a long time now? Do the clumps actually flush, or just the solid poops with little litter attached?

If this works out, I'd be happy to save the extra trash bags, not send untreated litter into a landfill, not have the week's waste buildup in a nearby scooping bag, and so on and so on... But not at the expense of a plumber's visit.

posted by Barmecide to pets & animals (19 comments total)

I use a similar corn litter - yes, you can flush the clumps, but I'd advise not fully loading the toilet with them - so if you scoop multiple times per day, go for it.
posted by cptnrandy at 9:40 AM on July 29

As I see you're in San Diego, I'd say don't flush the litter. Cat feces contain Toxoplasma gondii, which is not filtered by sewage systems and ends up in the ocean, potentially poisoning sea life.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:40 AM on July 29 [2 favorites]

You should also look into the environmental costs associated with flushing. I know in some areas the bacteria from the waste can get into local water supplies.

Even otters get hurt! Cute, adorable, otters!

I only mention this since you seem concerned with sending litter to the landfill.
posted by elder18 at 9:41 AM on July 29

Ah. I'd been assuming the sewage treatment would take care of that bacteria, and so flushing would amount to safer water run-off than just sending the bags to the landfill. (Not to mention just being all-around easier for me.) If not, well, that leaves a bit of a dilemma.

Though I suppose I could flush the clumps and bag the feces. They do seem to dry out pretty quickly in the corn litter and generally stink a lot less than the half-moist clumps in the litter-bag.



(I wonder why that bacteria isn't treated for. Is it a matter of temperature? An extra additive? Longer treatment times to assure filtering?)
posted by Barmecide at 9:55 AM on July 29

That's not exactly what NOAA says:

The scientists’ best guess is that parasite eggs in cat droppings are being washed by sprinklers and rains into coastal-bound storm drains and creeks. Although many animals — such as birds and rodents — can serve as intermediate hosts for Toxoplasma gondii, cats are the only animals known to shed the parasite's eggs in their droppings.

So it's not sewage, but freshwater runoff that appears to be causing the problem. So, keep your cats indoors, for lots of reasons.
posted by electroboy at 9:56 AM on July 29

Interesting, Electroboy. So perhaps the eggs are treated by the normal sewage treatment procedures!
posted by Barmecide at 9:58 AM on July 29

Hard to say, the problem is that oocysts are difficult to destroy under normal treatment methods. My guess would be that they're not present in large enough concentrations to present a public health threat, so they don't worry about them. A similar parasite is Cryptosporidium, that also forms oocysts. Crypto is treated in drinking water by flocculation, which is basically adding a chemical that causes viruses and parasites to clump together so they settle out.

I guess it would also depend on how much cat poop people flush. Most people I know throw it in the trash, so it may not be significant.
posted by electroboy at 10:05 AM on July 29

Flushable, yes. Potentially poisonous, also yes.

I use TWBCL as well and love it, but I just scoop, bag, and throw out.
posted by InsanePenguin at 10:22 AM on July 29

Morro Bay is home to many sea otters, and the area has one of the highest rates of otter infection from the parasite Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii).

A prominent biologist with the California Department of Fish and Game names "the discharge of primary treated sewage" as a leading factor that may account for the Morro Bay T. gondii hotspot.

This is a summary from otterproject.org, but the source article notes that other reasons sea otters around Morro Bay have a higher rate of infection due to the presence of large numbers of feral cats, historic halogenated hydrocarbon contamination, and a power plant that discharges warmed sea water (full report from various sources).
posted by filthy light thief at 10:31 AM on July 29

My mistake, I just checked with a coworker that does more stuff on the treatment side of things and he confirmed that coagulation and flocculation are part of wastewater treatment as well, which should take care of Toxoplasmosis.
posted by electroboy at 10:33 AM on July 29

More from the "highest rates" link:

Although the Clean Water Act (CWA) calls for a minimum of secondary treatment, the Morro Bay/Cayucos Plant doesn’t have the capacity to treat the sewage of a summer weekend.... Except for San Diego, Morro Bay/Cayucos is the last coastal community to be granted waivers from the CWA.
...
The plant treats only part of its wastewater to secondary treatment standards, which utilize special strains of aerobic bacteria (bacteria that need oxygen to grow) to break down the organic waste left after primary treatment. Secondary treatment removes up to 95 percent of suspended solids in the waste stream and is significantly more effective than primary treatment in removing biologic pathogens from sewage. For example, secondary treatment removes 80 to 90 percent of shigella bacterium, 70 to 99 percent of salmonella, and 75 to 99 percent of enteric viruses prior to discharge of the effluent.

This is from 2008. You could probably find out if San Diego has a secondary treatment facilities or capabilities now, as that could answer your concerns.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:46 AM on July 29

My friend the wastewater treatment engineer says don't flush anything that isn't poop or toilet paper, if you can possibly help it. Nearly everything else causes problems in one way or another.

In this case, you have a clumping granular material that is not going to break down at all by the time it hits the treament plant. At the very best, it'll settle out and hasten the day the plant has to pump out solid sludge. At worst, it'll play merry hell with their filters. That's assuming it doesn't clump in your sewage pipe, of course...

Toilet paper generally doesn't need to say "flushable!" on the package. Anything else that does say it? Don't believe them.
posted by rusty at 11:01 AM on July 29

I took a tour of our local wastewater treatment plant a few months ago, and the guide was very insistent that we should not be flushing cat feces or litter.
posted by vickyverky at 11:04 AM on July 29 [1 favorite]

I'll note a few things:

1. Morro Bay is 350 miles north of San Diego.
2. Your link states "The Morro Bay-Cayucos Sewage Treatment Plant is one of the only treatment plants in California operating with a waiver from federal sewage treatment standards." which means it's operating significantly below normal standards.
3. "Large numbers of feral cats"
4. There's no study that confirms anything but freshwater runoff being an issue. The rest is hypothesizing.
posted by electroboy at 11:10 AM on July 29

electroboy: the article goes on to say "Except for San Diego, Morro Bay/Cayucos is the last coastal community to be granted waivers from the CWA. (Clean Water Act)."

No, it's not near San Diego, but it might be a similar case. I don't claim to know enough to say someone should or shouldn't flush cat feces, but I'm providing what I found with a quick internet search.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:58 AM on July 29

No, it's not near San Diego, but it might be a similar case.

Similar to what? There's been original research that looked into it and rejected treated sewage as a cause.
posted by electroboy at 12:23 PM on July 29

Environmental and waste management effects aside, World's Best is very flushable. I've tried flushing clay litters that claimed to be flushable before, but they never went down quite right, and left residues in the toilet. World's Best is different.
posted by Tooty McTootsalot at 12:23 PM on July 29

I was pulled away for a bit, or I would have responded individually to more of these responses.

But!

I'll check on the treatment plant my waste water goes to. Find out if this is safe. I knew this was a potential problem from the beginning and was looking for advice on that as well as the simple practical flushing.

Also, just from observing while I scoop, the clumps definitely look flushable, even if I need to help break them up somehow. The little corn pellets basically dissolve in the urine and then re-harden in a nice soft clump. I can see not flushing clay particles, but the extent the corn breaks down to leads me to believe I won't have issues. (And hopefully my next question won't be about unclogging corn masses from pipes!)
posted by Barmecide at 1:14 PM on July 29

I've used and flushed that same litter for about two years and have never had reason to believe that it causes problems with the piping. And I agree with captnrandy -- don't overload the toilet!
posted by JohnFredra at 5:35 PM on July 29