Our new kittens, Pete and Dud, seem to produce a phenomenal amount of poo for such small bodies, which is generally deposited in the cat litter tray, assuming we've not done anything to annoy them.

Until they are old enough to go and poo in our neighbours gardens, we clean out said litter tray and refill it with cat litter every couple of days. This morning, whilst in the middle of this task (jonthegeologist aka Mr Hazel was "ill" and couldn't face it) I considered how much easier it would be to have disposable cat litter trays, ready to be filled with feline faeces without further ado. Convenient - and more hygenic.

Now, I am aware that various disposable cat litter trays are available. However, these are either just cardboard trays (which get soggy) or plastic trays which aren't biodegradable. Hence I propose a cardboard carton, with a shiny coating similar to fruit juice cartons to prevent liquid leakage, which can be opened in a diagonal fashion like a milk carton to give a tray shaped receptacle, prepacked with litter granules. Once used it can simply be binned and a new tray opened.
-- hazel, Jul 20 2003

(?) TetraPak http://www.tetrapak..._index=10&navid=122
a bit like this... [hazel, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004]

(?) Toilet Train Your Cat http://www.karawynn...ishacat/toilet.html
No more litter box, biodegradeable or otherwise. [Cedar Park, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004]

(?) Biodegradable plastics http://www.bpsweb.n...w_e/what_g/what.htm
[hazel, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004]

does the shiny side mean that the tetra-pak-poo isn't really disposable either ? a croissant for helping humanity try and avoid this daily cat-ass-trophy.
-- neilp, Jul 20 2003


perhaps these tetra-pak-poos could be dropped onto ones worm-garden, if they really are biodegradable. Or better still a combined indoor worm garden/litter tray. a worm-o-poo or something.
-- neilp, Jul 20 2003


You can get biodegradable plastics (see link) so you could use them in the box. Unfortunately I seem to remember that you can't put cat poo in a wormery because it gets too hot when it degrades and kills the worms. You could bury it in the garden, but I'm trying to get away from the whole handling of cat poo thing eg for pregnant women who need to reduce the risk of toxoplasmosis
-- hazel, Jul 21 2003


(+) I’m always yelling at Gala (my dog) when she takes it upon herself to clean out the cat box. “Why are you humans always so anal?” she seems to say to me, her golden muzzle covered with delectable crumbs of litter.
-- pluterday, Jul 21 2003


[hazel] is there something we don't know ??
-- neilp, Jul 21 2003


Don't panic [neilp]. You're not about to become [uncleneilp]!! However, I do have various pregnant, cat-owning friends who might appreciate the added safety inherent in such a product!
-- hazel, Jul 21 2003


[Hazel] FYI - If your friends already had cats at some point in time in their life before they became pregnant, more than likely they have already been exposed to toxoplasmosis and have developed the immunity. I'm sure you've already researched this but alot of people listen to the 'Toxo-terror' talk and get rid of their cats or make their men do all of the dirty work associated with them. (Although I have to admit it is a great excuse.) I would suggest if they don't want to get rid of their cats, they get a toxo-titer test done to see if they have already been exposed since they can't get it again. The symptoms are about the same as the flu.

Pregnant women are mostly at risk in the following situations...

1] they love to garden and they've never owned pets of their own, but someones neighbor cat makes a poopy in their flowerbed and the pregnant woman digs in it, thereby exposing herself to the airborn toxoplasmosis in the poopy particles.

2] outside cats (they get this primarily by eating dead critters, mice, etc. so strictly inside cats aren't really at risk)

3] they've never been around cats in their whole life and have rarely, if ever, had a cold and they got a new kitten.

**Just a little tid-bit from your resident Registered Veterinary Technician who had to sit through this speech about 4 zillion times in class while teachers ranted that Doctors force too many women to needlessly abandon their pets for fear of Toxo.**

Great idea though, have a flaky pastry!
-- vendetta, Jul 21 2003


[vendetta]: I throroughly agree about people exaggerating the risks involved with toxoplasmosis. Even if you do have to clean up cat poo whilst pregnant, wearing gloves and washing your hands well should be precaution enough - though you should probably take these steps if you're not pregnant too. There are far more risky things out there. Like cars.
-- hazel, Jul 22 2003



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