flushing cat litter down toilet - should landlord forbid this?

[Tom Rodman]

I'm a landlord now dealing with problems in a basement floor drain (Palmer valve) - sewer gas smelling up basement - smell is musty, not clear what it is but I could convince myself it's like cat/crap cat/litter/.

This is an old single family (Milwaukee WI, 1903), converted into a duplex from a single family. The upper unit has a good tenant with three cats.

Should I insist that the tenant refrain from flushing *any* of the cat crap or soiled cat litter down the toilet?

One plumber friend I talked with last night was shocked that cat litter might be getting into the drain system. His concern was that the litter might accumulate in the drain pipes, and might require an expensive repair- cutting out the cast iron pipework to remove the eventual hard blockage.

Comments?

-- regards, Tom Rodman pls run for my address: perl -e 'print unpack("u", "1\:6UP\,\$\!T\

[Joseph Meehan]

Some types of litter is said to be flushable. All others are a big no no. I might also suggest that even the "flushable" types have been questioned and I don't think it is a good idea to even allow these.

Personally I have two cats. I buy the rolls of plastic bags that they use in the produce departments of grocery stores. Once in the bag it goes in the trash, no smell and no problems.

[Jim Thompson]

Require that the cat owners use a litter box with disposable liners. I use the kind with draw strings. Open the litter container, pull draw strings and tie, toss in garbage can. No muss, no fuss, no getting too close to the odor ;-)

...Jim Thompson

[Lee Bray]

Where do you buy those bags at? The market or ???

[Michael Baugh]

By the way, regarding the sewer gas, make sure the basement drain has water in its trap.

[JNJ]

We use those cat box liners -- works like a charm when we do litter changes. In between, stuff ends up in pretty much any plastic bag we have laying about.

James

[JNJ]

There are flushable litters on the market but I'm cynical about them myself. Sometimes I'll scoop and toss THAT into the toilet, but in those cases there is little litter on fecal matter; clumps of urine still go into a bag.

You'll need to get with your tenant on the issue -- confirm that he/she is even flushing litter. It may turn out that this is not the case at all. If it is, I'd definitely make notice that this is not allowed.

Have you tried snaking the drains, see if anything comes back out? I know Roto Rooter is now offering a camera inspection of drain systems -- that might allow you to identify the problem with greater certainty.

James

[Bruno]

Even *if* the cat litter is flushable, where the hell do you think it ends up anyway?

[cc0112453]

All cat litters and renters are not created equal. Some renters are smarter than others and some cat litters are flushable and some aren't. I would make it an across the board rule that no cat litter can be flushed. It isn't that big of a deal to put it in a plastic bag and place it in the trash. Unfortunately when dealing with a broad spectrum of the public, you often have to set basic guide lines.

[Joseph Meehan]

[HandymanNW]

Consider mixing the cat crap with tuna fish in the blender and feeding to the cat. Nice kitty. The Dog

[PhilÃ]

Maybe off topic, but I had a Labrador that used to eat the cat shit (with attached litter) from our cat litter tray.

It was great, just topped it up every couple of days. Only problem was the dogs breath...

[Bruno]

Was he a friendly dog? Liked to lick peoples' faces?

[Loose Cannon]

Your first mistake was to permit tenants to have pets. Never heard of a renter with pets who wasn't a pain in the butt in one way or t'other.

[MSu1049321]

My wife trained her cat to use the toilet directly, she never had to use a litter box. No joke: there's a kit you use to train the cat with, takes the average young kitty a week or so to learn. No, he didn't flush, but he DID complain loudly when I left the seat cover down;-)

[Tom Baker]

My direct, personal, long time experience: The litter is clay. We took out a length of waste pipe and found it half full of cat litter for a

30 foot length. TB

[JNJ]

The city's waste recycling plant.

James

[Bob]

Structure this into your lease: The water closets and waste pipes shall not be used for any purpose other than those for which they were constructed, nor shall any sweepings, rubbish, kitty litter, soiled kitty litter, or any other improper articles be thrown into them. Any damage to the building caused by the misuse of such equipment shall be paid by the Tenant.

And while your at it put this in too: NO ANIMALS, FISH, BIRDS OR PETS OF ANY KIND SHALL BE PERMITTED IN THE PREMISES WITHOUT THE LANDLORD'S PRIOR WRITTEN CONSENT. The granting of consent to others shall in no way be deemed the granting of consent to the Tenant, nor obligate the Landlord to grant consent to the Tenant.

Of course, with the no animals clause, you can get rid of the kitty litter clause. Do yourself a *big* favor. Get rid of the animals. Do one of the following: have the tenant sign a new lease with the no pet clause, give the tenant a notice stating you're not renewing or if a "tenant at will" (month to month) give the tenant the required notice to vacate.

The tenant may think you're not nice, but, it's your property, and you, ultimately will have to pay for any pet damage you find after the tenant leaves.

Of course, their are various laws concerning everything I've stated above. Consult a lawyer schooled in landord/tenant law before acting.

Bob

cat/litter/.

[Stormin Mormonn]

Only if there is enough water flow to move it down the line. Doubtful.

[Ned Flanders]

It is OK to put kitty litter down drain as long as you have a disposal under your sink. You can put ANYTHING down a sink with a pig.

Local cat lady here was flushing clay and cat shit down drain for a few years untill the whole line was plugged up. Had to be replaced. When the scum with the digger lifted the 10 foot section of PVC out he let it tip to one side and the shit came out. That is the Worst stink I have ever smelled in my life. Worse than grease trap. The digger almost tipped over when it tried to lift one section of the pipe.

Oh yeah check this out!! The strangest part of the whole thing was she kept some of the cat shit. In her basement there were over 50 plastic grocery bags with about 2 pounds of shit each

There were piles of garbage bags full of clothes and shit from the 70's. The pile was biggest at the stairs and was starting to back up. Her hot water tank had rusted out a while ago and had been leaking out into the basement. the floor was soaked and reeked of mold.

She was an old drunk and very nasty. I tried to be nice to her but she was so lonely she wouldnt let me go. I finally had to say I was going, that I was going to get in trouble. She got pissed and said, "I bet you think I'm dirty". I was kinda shocked but kept going and just said, no, no I don't, we'll see you now, you have a nice day dear.