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I promised I'd report back and the results are in...
My cats do their business in pine shavings, aka horse bedding. The pine shavings are a by product from lumbermills and furniture making in my part of the country. When I posted about the possibility of composing it I got some good advice...keep the bin far from any food producing beds, mix with generous amounts of lawn clippings to speed up the process, let it cook for two seasons and only use on acid loving ornamentals.
A month ago I broke down the bin, shovelled out the contents and spread the brown crumbly stuff on my azaleas.
Results - azaleas are very happy, putting out new growth and looking green and healthy. Throughout the process there was no bad odors or critter problems. I've made a new bin with green fence stakes and lattice. It'll be easier to break down and the neighbors will be none the wiser. Heh.
My cats do their business in pine shavings, aka horse bedding. The pine shavings are a by product from lumbermills and furniture making in my part of the country. When I posted about the possibility of composing it I got some good advice...keep the bin far from any food producing beds, mix with generous amounts of lawn clippings to speed up the process, let it cook for two seasons and only use on acid loving ornamentals.
A month ago I broke down the bin, shovelled out the contents and spread the brown crumbly stuff on my azaleas.
Results - azaleas are very happy, putting out new growth and looking green and healthy. Throughout the process there was no bad odors or critter problems. I've made a new bin with green fence stakes and lattice. It'll be easier to break down and the neighbors will be none the wiser. Heh.
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Re: kitty litter composting experiment
Thu, May 28, 2009 - 5:59 PMWow, thank you for reporting back on this, it's really good to know kitty litter can be composted successfully. Congrats! -
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Re: kitty litter composting experiment
Sun, May 31, 2009 - 9:24 AMWell so can human poo but I am not going to add it to my compost pile..along with dog or ferret poo or any other animal poo that consumes a protein based diet. I am even particular about hog poo. Taking into account all the hormones and by products that go into food products for all of our pets and farm animals. I only get my poo from what I know are organically raised animals that consume a mainstay diet of plant products. -
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Re: kitty litter composting experiment
Sun, May 31, 2009 - 9:43 AMThis was an experiment to see if I can use what I have (lotsa cat poo) instead of sending it to the landfill.
I have two other bins on the opposite side of the yard that I reserve for veggie garden compost. I only put the traditional composting materials in those.
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Re: kitty litter composting experiment
Sun, May 31, 2009 - 12:25 PMWell Deborah, all that poo has to go somewhere. -
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Re: kitty litter composting experiment
Mon, July 27, 2009 - 9:37 PMCongrats on a successful experiment!
(Hm...if it's acidic, I suppose that means worm composting is "right out"?) -
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Re: kitty litter composting experiment
Tue, July 28, 2009 - 7:21 AMI don't know. Can worms survive in pine shavings?
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Re: kitty litter composting experiment
Wed, August 19, 2009 - 2:31 PMI've never found worms in a shaving-rich pile, even from freshly felled trees with no poop involved. I use my cat pine leftovers on the dog yard- let me explain that, I have 2 dogs who have a fairly large yard to go pee in (as long as they get their walks, there's very little poop,) now this, of course, burns out the grass. If I spread the used kitty litter (sans poop, I remove chunks and compost separately,) in a thin mulch layer over the grass in spring. At this stage, it still doesn't have enough pee to balance out the nitrogen absorbing qualities of the sawdust, and it seems to last long enough to prevent grass burnout until late summer. The difference if I don't do this is huge bare patches of lawn. Ah, I'm getting used to talking to kids- I used to say urine and feces....sigh.
My poopy pile takes gross stuff (I mean, more disgusting than usual-redolent fish bits, duck poo, things that are a bit anaerobically decomposed already, etc.) slow composting leaves and chunks (bark bits, dried poo) gets large amounts of nitrogenous, green materials, anything sloppy. It breaks down sweet-smelling, although chunks often go back for further mouldering. It goes on everything, and I haven't succumbed to any strange diseases yet. When using lots of wood in the form of chavings or chips, I never seems to get a black result, more dark or medium brown. And one must be careful not to overheat the pile! -
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Re: kitty litter composting experiment
Wed, August 19, 2009 - 3:23 PMGreat information. Thanks. -
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Re: kitty litter composting experiment
Fri, September 18, 2009 - 11:07 AMwow, that's really interesting info, Leila.
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Re: kitty litter composting experiment
Tue, December 15, 2009 - 12:40 PMVery interesting!! A life long cat lover, I never imagined the 'litter' useful for anything!
TY... if I every get myself out of apartment living again, I will definately try this!