This is something Ive been looking into but I need to change my cat over to another litter because the litter I buy wouldnt be suitable. I would check the bag and see what the litter is made of. many of the kitty litters are made of zeolite - zeolite is also sold as an expensive garden amendment which holds water and nutrients and is said to slowly release them to plants, or bentonite clay is also another one used for clumping litters and also sold as a soil amendment for sandy soil. If you scoop the poop and dispose of it, the rest it should have lots of nitrogen from the urine in there and the rest is clean litter normally anyway. the main pathogen risk would come from the poop. I think this is something that someone needs to do a study on to see if there is a better way to dispose of and find a better end use for it.

I do the same, but we use ground up corn cob litter. I also compost dog feces in the same batch as the cat litter bin. Works good for ornamentals and non- edibles!

or you could get them clear plastic forks and put them all around in there, she'll get into there a few times and that will be the end of that, handle end down, clear for your convienience. sp. but i guess some say it works wonders. for me, it'd be the painball gun, just for fun!! Hee Hee, or the bbgun!! but then when your not looking they MIGHT be right back there. also they don't like lemon. so you could start out with lemon. and the clear plastic forks. IF it was ME, that's what i'd do. then if they went back in, then the paintball gun. ya that's what it'd be!! just to make hubs happy i'd start out nice!! **onery grinn/wink** LOL ~Medo

Wow - I was surprised to see this old post rise up to the top. As long as it's here I'll share an update. This old cat is still hanging in there but I think he is nearing his final days. He is getting more frail and eating less. He has some anemia and deteriorating kidneys but we have decided not to put him through more vet visits when he seems to be comfortable, peaceful and enjoying the heat registers and his basket by the heat duct. I have only seen evidence of peeing outside the box a couple times since I last posted but I do keep him in the bathroom at night now. It got to the point where he would just go in there himself and curl up in his basket so I decided he kind of liked it. Also, this gives him a chance to have a bowl of food to himself all night. He eats just a little at a time so the other cats would always get his food if they weren't kept away from it. This poor old guy has had a lot of health problems over the years and several times I didn't think he was going to make it. I think he truly is winding down now but it still warms my heart to see him curled up in his basket or on the heat registers or next to us on the sofa or next to the other cats on the bed. I would really like him to go peacefully on his own, at home, if possible if he isn't suffering. Here's a recent picture of him enjoying one of his heat ducts.