Composting: Cat Manure

[Dick Adams]

Is there any reason not to put cat manure in a compost bin?

Dick

[Brooklyn1]

[David Hare-Scott]

Yes. Human transmissible diseases are possible. Flush it.

D

[Billy]

cryptosporidiosis, giardiasis, and toxoplasmosis

[Farm1]

Many reasons. Look up 'zoonoses' and 'cats' in the search field. The same for dogs - the poops from both are no-nos in compost.

[Higgs Boson]

Dog (and maybe cat) poop is a definite negative for people who want to reclaim an empty lot and use it for growing food crops. Too often they simply do not realize that 'n' years of dog poop in empty/ abandoned lots have deposited dangerous parasites in the soil. It must be treated for a long time by various methods. Some, but not all, involve covering the area with plastic and letting the sun bake the dog poop until it is innocuous. Opinions differ re: black or transparent plastic. If you know someone who is planning to do a "good thing" by growing food crops in an empty lot, steer them to the crucial information.

HB

[Billy]

3Resistance of infective oocysts (Toxoplasmosis)

3.1Environmental conditions

Oocysts are spread in the environment mainly via wind, water, manure and by earthworms and arthropods: they can contaminate surface water, soil, harvest feeds, fruits and vegetables [11,28 31]. They have been recovered from naturally contaminated soil but never from water [11].

Unsporulated oocysts lose their capacity to sporulate after freezing (1 day at "21?C or 7 days at "6?C) and heating (50?C, 10 min) [23,32]. Refrigerator conditions (4?C for 6 11 weeks) are not sufficient to prevent development of oocyst infectivity [33]. As shown in Table 1, sporulated oocysts can remain infective in water for at least 54 months at 4?C [35] and in experimentally infected soils for 18 months under various temperatures [29]. Increasing temperatures results in decreased survival time. Freezing may not be sufficient to kill sporulated oocysts as they can survive for 28 days after constant freezing at "21?C [32]. In addition, fluctuating temperatures do not notably affect oocyst survival time both in water and in soil and oocysts can remain infective after severe winters [29,32]. Drying of uncovered suspensions or by direct exposition to sunlight is moderately deleterious to sporulated oocysts [11,34,36]. Oocysts probably survive in marine waters since T. gondii infections have been reported in marine mammals [11]. Oocysts can be removed by oysters from experimentally contaminated sea water [39]. Thus, molluscs can act as a potential source of T. gondii infections due to their consumption by humans or marine mammals, as shown for C. parvum oocysts [40,41]. Cool and moist fruits or vegetables may provide an optimal environment for oocyst survival. Kniel et al. have recently shown an 8-week survival time of infective T. gondii oocysts on raspberries stored at 4?C [37]. These fruits have been previously reported as an important source of human infection caused by Cyclospora cayetanensis, a closely related coccidia to T. gondii[42].

[Billy]

Speaking of toxoplasma gondii.

A sea otter that some are calling the most important animal in Monterey Bay Aquarium history died Saturday morning, according to aquarium representatives.

Toola, a sea otter rescued by the aquarium from Pismo Beach in 2001, was the first rescued sea otter to ever rear pups that were successfully released to the wild, according to the aquarium. She died this morning at the age of 15 or 16 in the aquarium's veterinary care center from natural causes, aquarium staff said.

The longtime aquarium resident suffered from a seizure disorder that veterinarians believe stemmed from a brain infection known as

toxoplasma gondii.

Despite her illness, the pioneering sea otter was a surrogate mother to

13 rescued pups over the years. At least five of those otters are still alive, and many have given birth to pups of their own, the aquarium found. She also inspired former state Assemblyman and current state Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones to draft a bill to better safeguard the state's threatened sea otter population, according to aquarium staff.

"Toola was without question the most important animal in the history of our program," said Andrew Johnson, who manages the aquarium's Sea Otter Research and Conservation program, in a statement.

"She showed us that captive otters could successfully raise orphaned pups for return to the wild. She inspired a critical piece of legislation that is helping protect sea otters. And she inspired millions of visitors to care more about sea otters. We will miss her."

Although she lived at the aquarium for more than a decade, Toola's caretakers say the sea otter remained a wild animal at heart.

"It was clear to everyone on the sea otter exhibit team that Toola, not me, was really in charge," said the aquarium's Associate Curator of Mammals, Christina DeAngelo, in a statement.

"When she wanted to work on something in a training session she'd give me a 'look' or vocalize and I'd immediately cave in and do whatever she wanted."

Toola was one of roughly 600 ill and injured sea otters the aquarium has rescued under its Sea Otter Research and Conservation program -- which aims to study and save threatened sea otters -- since 1984.

-- Bay City News