I have five cats, so I go through a lot of cat litter. I began getting the 28 pound buckets when I realized the uses they had. (There's no way I can lift a 40 pound bucket.) Two of them are now housing tomatoes, and one is home to a bell pepper. What I'd love to do is turn them into self-watering containers, but the reservoir thingies I see for sale are for round pots, not for square ones. I have a massively huge tomato plant in a self-watering "square foot success kit" that I got from Gardener's Supply. Be nice to make a homemade one.

Ah, well, it seems I have survived the composting process myself! Anyway, for a cheap source of compostable litter, get 40 lb bags of stove pellets for wood burning stoves. It is about $4 a bag, as opposed to $8 for a 7lb bag of FelinPine®. As for toxoplasmosis, it is not pregnancy that is the issue, per se, rather it is only a VERY small time window (two weeks in the first trimester) during which the disease is transmittable to the fetus, and ONLY if the mother has not had prior exposure. And ONLY if the mother has a new cat, who ALSO has not been previously exposed, because th organism is only present in the feces during a brief window after initial exposure. I.e. it is almost impossible to get the toxoplasmid from cat feces. In fact, a study of the organism had to be scrapped and totally redesigned, because it was based on a sample population of cat owners, assuming they would harbor the organism. Instead, they found that there was no evidence that ANYONE had EVER contracted toxoplasmosis through this vector. Instead, they found that the vast majority of cases (close to 100%) resulted from pica.

Most cat litters (flushable or not) are made from clay. Exceptions would be Feline Pine, Swheat and Yesterdays News. I spilled clean cat litter on my basement floor,then the washer overflowed, clay plus water equals slippery mud. Took forvever to dry out. I opened the basement windows and set up fans. Finally dry, I was able to scrape up the mess and dospose of it. Never ever ever put anything from a cat in the toilet. You will definitely ruin your plumbing as Dan 1954 explained. I scoop my cat box (I now have just one cat) every morning. Put the scooped stuff in plastic grocery bag, twist and put with my household garbage for twice-weekly pickup. May be bad for the landfill, but what else can I do with it?

Mommabird . . . My late Smudge had the same attitude as yours did! I bought a thing at the pet store -- it was a clear plastic insert for the toilet and directions. The liner went between the seat and the porcelain, and you put some kitty litter in it at first. Theoretically the cat accepted that as his place to go. He was supposed to want to balance on the seat because the insert wasn't stable. Gradually you removed the litter and eventually removed the liner. Yeah, right. I was the laughing stock of my household and the whole experience just reinforced my DH's opinion that all cats are stupid. Oh, well, it gave us all a good laugh.