For all of my life I have thought that cat poo was bad for the soil.
I remember my Dad years ago moaning about the cat doing it's business in his garden.
I've sort of had this turned on its head recently.
We have a cat tray behind the bath in the bathroom and they all use it (despite having access to the outside at all times) except Mummy Polly, she prefers to go outside in the little square of soil in the Bijou Garden.
She always goes in the same spot and every now and then we go and clear it out.
With health problems and the weather we have not done it as often as maybe we should, but as it was nice the other day I got the hoe and started to scrape the 'poo' away to clear it.
To my surprise, underneath was teeming with red worms, so many that I would have damaged them if I had continued.
So is this myth about cat poo being bad for the garden busted?
If you put the cat poo in a big bucket and then mix it up with dry grasses and straw you can make an excellent fertiliser. Leave it on a pile to rot down for a few months to release the acids and ammonia content of the excreta. I use my bare hands to do the mixing but you may wish to don your yellow Marigolds.
ReplyDeleteIt will be interesting to know wouldn't it.
ReplyDeleteI think that the warning against using cat poo on a garden is more for vegetable gardening. Maybe cross contamination of disease or something. Anyhow when we had a veg garden we did put cat poo on it with no ill effect. I don't know why cat poo would be any different than horse, cow or rabbit except for that those animals are vegetarian. Oh well, the worms are great.
ReplyDeleteSeriously? F started to garden a small scrap of public land at the end of our street because being the only bare earth for blocks, and concrete hard, it stank to high heaven of all the cat poo deposited on top. Her theory was if she dug it, the cats would at least be able to bury their contributions. It grew the BIGGEST chilli plants we have ever seen (and it doesn't stink any more.) I, The Tigger, suspect that cats digging disturbs seedlings and seriously annoys gardeners (because we always like the fine tilth and patted smooth surface where you humans put your seeds in), but what we actually leave behind does no harm at all. As you say, the worms deal with it quick smart.
ReplyDeleteDealing with the litter box is a daily thing [sometimes more than once per day]. We have cats who hurry outside to dig furiously, creating a spot to 'relieve' themselves, others who having been outdoors for hours come hurtling in and rush to do their business in the litter box. Odd creatures! Must say I don't appreciate when freshly turned/planted earth in my garden plot becomes a handy cat latrine!
ReplyDeletemy 3 cats did that... mad!
DeleteThere you go, let the earth worms take care of it and save you the trouble. A lot more sensible than wrapping it in plastic!
ReplyDeleteHear hear.
DeleteI have a feeling there are many myths that we can bust. Sometimes we are told things and just believe it to be truth and that becomes passed down as fact. Any poop that sits long enough is going to rid itself of any pathogens and break down naturally. I'm guessing most people, though, don't want to run into fresh poop in their gardens. ;)
ReplyDeleteInteresting idea. As a kid, I sorta remember my Dad and Mom saying the same thing. We had a dog who didn't run wild, as the 2 cats next door did and they would irritated when the cat used our yard; but maybe it was because they thought it was unfair since our dog was on a dog run? Interesting. Hope you're staying well, staying safe from the Covid and are able to get your shots soon....if you've not already done so.
ReplyDeleteSandy's Space
Nope, it's not good, Briony. Even the poop from a healthy cat can carry disease, not to mention it will start stinking pretty quickly. Your Dad was right... best to carefully clean it up. ~Andrea xoxo
ReplyDeleteI think the problem is not the poo itself, but the chance of toxoplasmosis. Knock on wood, I've had cats for a lifetime and never been ill from them, but one rescued kitty did have toxoplasmosis (and lived).
ReplyDeleteGood grief, what a story! So I wonder if anything will pop up and grow there in a few weeks.
ReplyDeleteI think as long as you don't dig in the place where the cat poops, especially with your bare hands, it's fine to let them go in the garden. In nature, cats poop in the wild and it doesn't hurt anything, right? If those worms looked happy, let 'em at it!
ReplyDeleteI always thought the problem with cat poo in soil was getting it on your hands/gloves while gardening.
ReplyDeleteI think composting it would be safest before adding it to garden soil.
ReplyDeleteCat poo is like nuclear waste ...horrendous
ReplyDeleteWell I don't know one way or the other and it seems like the opinions here are varied also
ReplyDeleteSorry, but I have no idea either. I do know that I hate finding cat poo when I'm on my knees gardening and plunge my hand into it! I'd rather not take the risk of leaving it anywhere near our veg plot either.
ReplyDeleteWell you and me should be experts on this with having 5 cats each! I still dont really know,but I am willing to give it a try,lol.Anything for an easier life!.I hate dealing with cat poo and one of mine has thought it a great idea to poo at the side of the litter tray.I do all my own compost so if I could put it in there,that would be great!.It is hit and miss in my garden...shall I grow food or plants?.I never buy any seeds.I just regrow what I have already got.Like growing my tomatoes from one sliced tomato.But I could put pots in my kitchen window.So tomorrow...or over the next dew days,lol..I will have a look around my garden and see what ideas I can come up with.One area of my garden does have cat poo in it,so I will go worm hunting,lol.Wish me luck!xx
ReplyDeleteTom went qnd cleared the corner yesterday and the worms were still there, I think putting it in the compost would be a good idea but we don't have a compost bin. All these years I thought cat poo was bad for the garden and it turns out its not.lol
DeleteI live in a tenement and have a veg plot in our shared backgreen; we always have cats (and foxes) coming into our backgreen. I leave any poo that i find and dig it into the soil so that i don't have to look at it! I wouldn't put it onto our compost heap because it is an open stack and i wouldn't want to encourage the animals to use it for a toilet. gillian
ReplyDeleteFor issues of cats doing their business in my flower bed I sprinkle generous amounts of a product called Critter Ridder. It has to be done from time to time. But I find it effective. It contains all kinds of spices that cats, skunks etc do not enjoy.
ReplyDelete