Let's Talk About the Environment: ANIMALS

I adopted both of my cats from a shelter and they are both spayed/neutered. I don't compost their poop (never thought of it) but I do use organic, biodegradable litter.

I adopted a cat from a shelter and took a dog from a friend that could no longer care for him.

That's awesome information. I did that with the one cat I had in my life but never thought about the poop composting.

Somehow I've managed to do something "green" despite my best efforts. All the news articles that I read tell you to do ridiculous things to help out the Earth. I can get into getting a cat from a shelter. My siamese(in my picture) is from a rescue, and is spayed.

The composting the poop is going to have to be left up to someone else however, I live in an apartment, and I highly doubt the complex would like to have a tub of rotting trash(excuse me, compost pile) sitting around. I'll have to save that for when I move to the country.

I apologize after reading that, my previous comment makes me sound like a fool. These really are good tips, and I do follow most of them. Thanks! :)

Yes, yes, and no :)

All six pets were rescued (most were abandoned at our apartments). I don't compost their poop because I had originally learned rabbit: yes, cat: no. (I do have a gold mine if it turns out this is ok. LOL)

Three of the six are a litter that Mama-Rescue had. She lost three and by the time the survivors were weaned, she was pregnant again. We opted to give her up for adoption and keep her three babies. It was hard to give her up but we felt she had a good chance for adoption. We are very blessed to have an amazing Cat Adoption Team in our area. By now, all six are definitely spayed/neutered.

We use Good Mews - recycled paper pulp for their litter (great note Amy B!)

I also have Real Food for Cats - though I have not gotten all the supplies to move forward, my goal is to produce our kitties food. I wanted to do it with the correct nutrition, etc. and this book is great. It includes a section on how to prepare their meals along side yours - ie using the same ingredients but making a few slight adjustments.

This will help to keep canned "mystery" food out of their systems, reduce costs significantly, and I can finally stop with all the little cans (granted, they recycle, but at the number per day I need to feed all six, it makes me sick to generate that much packaging.)

Thanks for including pets as a topic!

Adelaide, one of my babies could be a cousin to yours! His name is Satchel "Snork" Chocolate Sox. (The only way we could tell the difference between him and his sister Rachel "Foofy" White Sox...well, you get it.) With age he is turning a marvelous mocha color. Had to share, sorry :)

Hadn't thought about that and the animal feces, but will start TODAY! We have flowers all around the house here. I recently started watching the Green channel and just love it. I plan on watching those shows this evening.

hadn't thought about the animal feces as compost for the ornamentals--good one will have to give this a try--i do know that cat urine is a pretty good deterent for some of our pesky rodentia and birds.

Our dog and our cats were neutered. We made a point to do that as soon as they were old enough. We saw too many dogs and cats just set out to starve to death. There were even a pack of dogs that had banned together just to survive in the woods near our home. We did not want that to happen to any other animals.

We take care of our animals.

If we composted our cat's poop we'd probably be picketed by the entire neighborhood.

The way we handle human waste isn't exactly good for the environment either. There has to be a better way.

I need to figure out if I have the Sundance channel, what I've been watching all evening is the Planet Green channel.

One change that I made this last year was switching over to the Pine Cat litter - I think there are a few brands, but I use Feline Pine. It is much better for the environment than the clay or scoopable & It's better for the kitties. It also lasts much longer than other types - one bag easily lasts a month for 2 cats who are indoors all the time and 2 others who are indoor/outdoor. That cuts down on the packaging/manufacturing waste for other types of litter. An easy change that is good for the environment and saves me $. :)

All pets are rescues and spayed or neutered. I have fostered animals and volunteer for Humane Society. Our cat has biodegradable corn processing byproduct litter at the moment.

As our preschool storytime insisted today "the worst bug is the litterbug!" I find that it's the small things that really make a difference in living green.

And yes, Blue Cat is spayed and second-hand. (She's not from a shelter, but she's from a friend who's living overseas and can't keep her.)

We have adopted 6 dogs from the shelters and ALL of them have been Spayed or Nuetered. We just LOVE our other children... I had not thought about composting their pooh though- that is a great idea!!

Going Green also means keeping your "Cat" indoors!!!!

Many, if not most, "owners" of companion cats believe that their pets cannot or should not be confined in any way, that it is the cat's innate nature, its inherent, inalienable right, to roam wherever it pleases.

Such attitudes in 2008 is exceedingly curious. Decades ago, I suppose, when America was only a sleepy country, perhaps we had that idea about dogs as well. Dogs went where they wanted to, did what they wanted to and nobody much cared. But those days are gone forever. Even the most casual dog owner will admit that he should keep his dog under control for its own safety as well as his neighbors' peace of mind. Yet not so with cats. Somehow the prevailing attitude is that cats should roam, they are somehow "street smart" and to interfere with their "freedom" is somehow to violate the rules of the universe.

People with that attitude should see what we see and are not acting GREEN. Cats that are allowed to roam free are free alright. They are free to be hit and killed by cars, their remains ground into the pavement so badly it is often impossible to distinguish breed or gender. And moving cars are not the only hazard. Consider the "free" cat who, on a cold winter day seeks warmth, so it climbs under the hood of a car and nestles next to the warm engine. The car suddenly starts, entangling the cat in the fan belt assembly, ripping flesh and breaking bones.

The "free" cat is also freely exposed to the ravages of fatal diseases, such as feline leukemia, feline infectious peritonitis, feline rhino tracheitis, feline AIDS, feline panleukopenia, etc., all of which can cause horrible suffering before a lingering death.

Cats that are free to roam are also free to bother the owner's neighbors, to defecate in their flower beds, spray their cars, kill birds and other wild animals that help our environment etc. This natural innocent behavior on the part of the cat often results in poisonings, beatings, or the trapping and relocating of the cat, often in ways which guarantee that the cat will never be seen again by anyone--owner or neighbor.

Cats which roam free are also free to be attacked by other roaming dogs and cats. At worst, the "free" cat will be killed outright or left with lingering disabilities, abscesses, etc. The list of tragic ends and injuries for the cat allowed to be free goes on and on.

The simple truth is this: No matter how strangely aloof or how inherently intelligent the household cat seems to be, he/she is no match for the complexity of modern society. They are domesticated animals and as such rely upon human beings for protection. My recommendation? Keep your beloved feline at home. Yes, at home!!!!!!

In the house. Cats adjust quite well to living inside so long as they have a clean litter box (and with the new clumping litter now available, this is much easier than it once was) and ample access to food and water. They will be quite content indoors if provided with some cat toys, a scratching post and lots of human affection. Obviously, for a house cat--or any cat, for that matter--to remain happy and healthy, they must also be sterilized. For those who insist on letting their animals outside, we recommend building an outdoor cattery, attached to the house so that the cat(s) can come and go as they please but, when outside, remain safely contained.

There are more than 90 million pet cats in the U.S., the majority of which roam outside at least part of the time. In addition, millions of stray and feral cats roam our cities, suburbs, and rural areas. Scientists estimate that free-roaming cats kill hundreds of millions of birds, small mammals, reptiles and amphibians each year. Cat predation is an added stress to wildlife populations already struggling to survive habitat loss, pollution, pesticides, and other human impacts. THE GREEN THING TO DO IS KEEP KITTY INDOORS!!!!!!!!!

The AMerican BIrd Conservatory is currently holding a Green campaign to kepp cats from harming our environment!!!!!!!!

http://www.abcbirds.org/abcprograms/policy/cats/materials/brochure.pdf

We adopted both dogs and they have both been neutered. We've also found that our dogs feel best when we feed them dog food with no additives, preservatives or dyes. Our dogs deserve healthy food too.

We adopted our dog from a rescue group. He had been abused for many years, so it took some time before he would act like a normal dog, but it was worth it!
One of our cats had been abandoned, and the other we got from a friend who had a stray have kittens near her house.
All of our animals are neutered!

#1 & #2 - I insist on adopting mature animals from the shelters, since they tend to be the last ones chosen they are "no longer as cute"...."not playful enough"...which are such BOGUS excuses IMHO. [Would you apply that to your child when he\she hits adolescence? I adopted 1 @ approx 18 months of age (now ~12) as a companion to the kitty I kept from ending up abandoned when she was 9 mos old (now approaching 13).

Spaying is required by most rescues & shelters and I ensured my first kitty got spayed as soon as I adopted her. No more s pare parts!!!!

#3 Wow - never thought about composting their output!

Oops - submitted before I soould muse about how to compost if you live in a condo with no personal property to set up a 'pile' or 'pit".

Since I have a nearly endless supply of litter buckets....I wonder how I could adapt one of those.....hmmmmm.

And I am transitioning to the more biodegradable litters now that there are affordable options and ones that the 'girls' actually accept!! THEY are the ones that influence that choice

I only get my local TV channels so I can't watch yours.
I am a "Green" person as much as possible.
All of my animals came from people who were giving them up. I saved them from going into a shelter.

I am BIG into composting, recycling, making critter food from scratch (when I can), reusing things until they just can't be used anymore - LOL
I even make the soap that I use on my fur-babies.

I only get the males "fixed" as all of my animals stay indoors unless I am outside with them. It is easier and much less invasive to take care of the boys.

I even helped a neighbor get 2 of the stray cats outside "fixed".

I think she got a little something from her boss (a vet) and put in the bait that was in the cage because they were very calm and almost sleepy when she took them in to the clinic. She also got them shots.
They are way too wild to be pets so they had to be released back outside, but at least they are not adding to the problem.

Organically yours,

Diana

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Hey, wow! We actually do all three of those things! Two of our cats came from a shelter. The other two were found roaming the streets or fields, starved and dirty. Our dog, too, was found this way. All of our pets have been spayed or neutered, the exception being our rabbits, who I'm unsure yet about whether you can actually get rabbits fixed. I plan on looking into it actually. We also compost our rabbits waste material. We use it in our garden, and I've also used it to fill in holes and shallow places on our property. It fills those places in and then grass grows very quickly (and very green!) over it. I hadn't actually thought about using our dog's and cats' wastes but might have to start doing that. Something simple I do that might be considered "green" is that when I buy cat litter I buy the ones in the big buckets. Those buckets are awesome to keep and re-use (over and over and over). They work well in the garden, carrying things, whatever. We have a ton of them and use them daily. I also use the large bags that the dog and cat food comes in as a garbage bag, instead of simply just throwing them in another garbage bag.

Also take a look at your animal's toys.

Consider buying (or making) toys from biodegradable products. Tug ropes from hemp rope rather than nylon, in example.

Many of the toys available in stores are made from plastics. If they are, when they are no longer usable, recycle them with other plastics.

We are big supporters of shelters. My daughter used to run a huge yard sale every year to donate funds to them.

I have a cat that I adopted that was "dumped out" on the roadside a few years ago. The first thing I did was to go and have her fixed. I keep her indoors away from the males, but still didn't want to take a chance on her sneaking out.

I do have one question about the composting of the cat poop. Since she is an indoor cat and uses a litter box, will the litter break down. I use the clumping kind.

I also live in a small duplex and am not sure that the landlord would appreciate my help if I cannot compost this type of litter.

I always

I recently adopted a cat from a shelter and she is spayed. I don't believe I could compost her poop, though. I live in an urban environment with a small garden and there are rules here about what you can and can't put into compost piles. I also assume I couldn't get it far enough away from houses to not stink up the place. I also live in an area that is a watershed to the Chesapeake Bay, so I'm kind of assuming for that reason it wouldn't be quite so green, too.

my two cents is it would be great to give the shelters and rescues a makeover. I was denied by several rescues in my area after filling out their long questionnaires, some cited my lack of a fence, others cited my young children. this was all done via email, they never met me or my kids.

I ended up buying a chihuahua/rat terrier mix dog from someone privately for $100 LESS than I would have rescued one. I would have preferred a slightly older dog, 3+ years that was housetrained, etc... they tried to get me to get a big dog which I absolutely don't want!

My GREEN Tip:
Puppies chew through harnesses and collars, buying new ones is no fun. There is a brand, sold through pet stores that you can trade in your harness and collars for new ones for any reason, chewing, outgrown etc... they re-use parts to make new ones. That saves you a LOT of green!!

I adopt my animals from shelters. The rule there is, you MUST agree to have the animal spayed or neutered. If I composted my cat poo, (no composting allowed in this subdivision) I would have every dog in the neighborhood digging it up to eat it.

Here's what I want to know...
I lost two cats this year, 12 and 13 to illness. Fixed cats that never go outside, have their shots, eat good dry food. I don't even spray my home with pestisides. Yet I have a feeling these deaths were envirmentally caused. This was a new home 13 years ago. It would take me two pages to list the poisons used in new home construction, not to mention what the builders dumped around our foundaitions before they back filled. Being one of the first homes built and moved into here, I watched some amazingly disgusting things go on. One workman dumped his old worn carpeting into the foundation area, just before it was back filled.

Human beings tend to sicken me!

All of our pets were adopted from the local Animal Shelter. All males have been neutered, and our little female kitten was just spayed, and doing great. We've never composted though. I make their toys out of knotted lenghths of hemp rope.(for the dogs). They also love white cotton socks rolled into a ball inside another sock and then tied or sewn at the top. I put catnip in the sock balls for the cats, and have tons of fun playing with them. We recently installed new carpeting in our home, and had the leftover scraps cut down to size to use for scratching posts and stations.

All my pets are adopted and everyone is fixed.
I always buy big bags of food when I buy my pet food (and it is organic. . . all meat no junk) because the price is better, and there is less waste going into the trash from the smaller bags.

great discussion

No pets for me - the property owner forbids it - not even fish in an aquarium or birds.

Tip #3 looks good to me, provided that you're the property owner. However, it would seem to me that one might want to occasionally shovel some fresh dirt over the excrement once in a while, to keep the odor more under control.

Incidentally, when I was a kid, my family would dissolve it in water in the backyard.

The answer is reforestation and terraforming. Green plantings on rooftops, trees and shrubs everywhere there is space for them. China has made a GREEN WALL 2800 miles long and perhaps 1/2 mile wide, it's holding back the Gobi Desert. It's been so successful, plans are underway to hold back the Saraha.

Oh yea, part 2, all that green and trees makes for environment for other life forms. I have a pair of Blue-tailed Skinks that come every spring to cuddle on my back patio, because they enjoy the ferns. I know it's the same pair = She is quite fat and he is thin, this spring she had lost her tail and he was very protective of her.

Our standard poodle, Gigi, is neutered. I didn't know about the fecal compost idea, but am concerned about it for sanitary reasons. I'll need to research that some more before I try it. But it's a good idea if recommended.

Heather had a good idea about using those twenty pound empty food bags as garbage bags. I plan to do that now. thx Heather.

My tip: Buy high-quality pet food because the pet will use more of it, producing less waste and whether composting or not, less is a good thing.

I love this conversation! I have an almost 22 year old rescue cat and there has been some thought of a companion (canine) and although I am a devotee of the Westminster Dog Show, I always come back to adoption. The only dog I have had was an adopted mixed breed who was a gorgeous, well tempered loving animal. Spaying and neutering is so important and is the greenest most humane thing for our beloved animal population. I have a friend who once convinced her homeowner association to use part of their funds to spay and neuter the feral cat population-she captured the cats and got a certificate from the local animal shelter and the homeowner association reimbursed her for the cost. It worked to cut down on the number of stray cats around the development.
Cleaning up after your pet is also the most green thing to do-animal feces laying around is unsightly and unsanitary-we need to be better about that even if it isn't your own yard.

All of our furry friends were adopted from the humane society. At the time of adoption we were required to have them spayed/neutered, never declaw, and always keep indoors. These girls are my children, and I care a great deal about their health and happiness. When we started making green choices for ourselves, one of the first stumbling blocks we hit was how to make our cats green. We started by choosing an all natural food (I have definitely seen a difference in their coats... they are healthier!), and started hunting for a green litter option. With a previous cat (also adopted, etc), I had great success with pine litter, but my girls now weren't so receptive (they had been on clay litter for a long time and one developed an allergy to the pine litter). Now we are using a wheat litter and have had pretty good success with it. I'm not in love with it but I definitely prefer it over clay (scooping is easier, it seems to last longer, and the tracking problem is minimized). Luckily I have a huge yard and a compost pile. I hadn't thought about composting their waste. In fact, I had heard that it could pollute the ground water. But I'm definitely curious so I'll have to look into it. Great thread, guys!

I adopted my two cats and would always adopt from a shelter.. always. I always believe people should adopt homeless pets rather than buy. It's important for them to have a home and be loved too.
All my animals are spayed/neutered. I wouldn't have it any other way. It makes me sad when people don't take care of their animals like they should. There is always help in this area.. and I've taken advantage of that. I'm glad to have PAPets.. :) With PAPets, there's no reason not to spay/neuter your pets!

Other green ideas I've had are to make your own dog treats. It's a great way to know what you're dogs are eating and you know just what's in the food. Also buying holistic pet foods is a great way to help a little.

I've also tried natural/home made flea remedies. I used a combo of lemon and rosemary (with water) to help fight fleas.

There are just so many things you can do!

my cats are always rescued from the vets office or are street animals. my latest kitty was wondering down the center of a busy highway he was maybe 6 weeks old when i rescued him. Hes going to be strictly and indoor kitty and even though he will be an indoor kitty he will be neutered. Some people think since we are keeping the cat as an indoor pet we don't have to neuter/spay Once feral cats(which most rescues are) are a bit harder to keep as indoor pets and some will break free from time to time. so no matter what spay and neuter them it only takes one escape to create more kitties


we had to have a tree cut down due to storm damage which took away a lot of space that birds used, instead of sending the limbs to a land fill we piled them back at the end of our property, it makes a great habitat. we have a lot of birds that use this pile to hide and just hang out. it also brought new birds to our property like the Carolina wren, white caped sparrow and house finches.

Composting animal waste isn't convenient for everyone, especially for those who live in a city. You can also consider getting biodegradable doggy bags.

Thank you all for your great input.

The winner of the green prize pack is Valerie M.!

Hooray!!!!!!!!! Thank you sooooooo much :)

This is a great article! Thanks for clarifying that we shouldn't use animal poop as compost for food crops:-)

Congratulations Valerie!

This announcement & article is featured in today's Community DateBook™

Get rid of your home lawn, plant groundcover and plant alot trees so you have your own private forest.. No lawn mower gas and exhaust, lots of room for the animals ot play

I think pets contribute more to global warming than people...

There are way too many ferrel animals in the streets that are doing nothing good for anything..

I flush my dog's poops down the toilet with a flushable dog poop bag. Most eco-friendly way to get ride of poops.

The company is called Flush Doggy.

There are flushable dog poop bags. The best answer probably because dog poop can get treated just as your poop is.

FlushDoggy, is a fully biodegradable, flushable(water soluble) dog poop bag that is very eco-friendly. Dog poops are best to be flushed down the toilet and degrade naturally , just as our own poops. Stop destroying our earth and start educating the public, one poop at a time. Be a responsible owner and go green for our pets.


Flushable Dog Poop Bags and get a FREE SAMPLE TO TRY !

All of our dogs have been rescues. I refuse to pay for a pooch, too many in shelters!!!