Is it possible to flush cat litter down the toilet: video instructions for making your own choice, features of silica gel and wood products, price, photo

In 95% of cases, sewerage in apartment buildings becomes clogged due to foreign objects falling into the drain. For example, many people are used to flushing cat litter down the toilet and not thinking about what this might lead to. Meanwhile, even granules from compressed sawdust can cause serious blockages.

Fillers and drainage

Types of fillers

The answer to the question whether wood filler can be flushed down the toilet directly depends on the material from which the filler is made. And although manufacturers of almost all varieties do not recommend using this disposal method, some substances still tolerate rinsing better than others.

Wood pellets in a tray

The most popular types of cat litter include:

Woody - made from pressed sawdust, sometimes flavoring impregnations are added to the composition. When moisture enters, the wood first delaminates and then begins to clump. Among the main advantages of this material are environmental friendliness, relatively low price, ease of disposal, and absence of toxins. At the same time, the material requires regular replacement, otherwise an unpleasant odor will appear within 4–5 days after fresh filling.

Note! Practice shows that varieties without aromatic impregnation absorb odors best. Pine and fruit tree shavings already smell pleasant, and when mixed with cat waste products, they do not form a nauseating “cocktail”, which often happens with citrus or fruit flavors.

Mineral - made on the basis of bentonite clay and other substances with high adsorption capacity (zeolite, vermiculite). It clumps quite well, which makes it easier to remove the used part of the material using a scoop. The main advantage of clay materials is that they can very quickly absorb large amounts of liquid, leaving virtually no odor.

Lump of bentonite granules

Silica gel is the most modern and practical, and has not displaced other varieties from the market only due to its high cost. Requires replacement every two to three weeks, almost completely binds all odors. However, it should not be used for kittens, since they often chew the granules, which can lead to unpleasant health consequences.

As we noted above, the instructions from the manufacturer of most of these materials recommend disposing of them along with solid household waste. All products of this type are non-toxic, therefore we are not talking about any serious environmental pollution.

Photo of silica gel filler

However, many of us try to save labor by flushing the waste contents of the cat litter down the drain. Let's figure it out, is it possible to do this?

Disposal methods

The material from which the filler is made determines its behavior when in contact with liquid. Accordingly, this directly determines whether the waste will pass through the pipe or get stuck in it, forming a plug.

Small lumps can be easily washed off

You will find the answers to this question in the table:

Type of filler	Possibility of flushing the toilet
Woody	Wood pellets made from pressed sawdust get soaked quite quickly when they get into water. In any case, this is true for most fillers of the middle and low price category, made with minimal addition of impregnations. This property allows you to safely flush small portions of granular sawdust down the toilet: if the wood does not have time to swell and crumple before it ends up in the sewer or septic tank, then there will be no problems. At the same time, trying to empty the entire tray at once and wash it off in one go is practically doomed to failure. A few liters of water from the tank is clearly not enough to remove a large volume of sawdust, and while the container is being filled again, the material will have time to form a fairly dense plug.
Mineral	The difference between mineral filler and wood filler is that it clumps almost instantly. On the one hand, this is an advantage when using the material for its intended purpose, but on the other hand, it becomes a frequent cause of blockages. This is why bentonite granules should only be thrown into the toilet in very small quantities. Actually, owners of frequency cats do just that: they picked out fresh lumps with a scoop, washed them down the drain, and added a new portion to the tray. If you pour the entire contents of the tray down the drain, then a blockage in the toilet is almost guaranteed. And even if you manage to quickly wash away the clay with a stream of water, somewhere below it will definitely find an elbow or a bend in the pipe and form a blockage, which will be very difficult to destroy.
Silica gel	Silica gel in trays is used in fairly small quantities: it absorbs liquids and odors quite well, so there is no need to add a lot of filler. At the same time, the discussion “If you use silica gel filler, is it possible to flush large volumes of it down the toilet?” are ongoing. This is due to the declared danger of the material for the environment. In fact, the substance that is used to adsorb cat waste is chemically inert. So the main danger is not the release of toxins into the water or soil, but the swelling of the granules. If you pour out a lot at once, a blockage will form not in the toilet, but in the pipes located below, and it will be almost impossible to remove it.

Soaked sawdust often forms a dense plug

Summarizing all of the above, it should be noted: you should not create problems for yourself by flushing substances not intended for this purpose down the drain. It is better to collect and throw away the contents of the cat litter, or (in the case of woody and mineral varieties) put it in a compost heap.

conclusions

So, based on the above, we can conclude what kind of cat litter can be flushed down the toilet?

The sewer can only “absorb” wood, paper and vegetable fillers, and it is not recommended to empty the entire tray at once - you need to wash it off in small batches.
Can clumping litter be flushed down the toilet? Mineral and silica gel are clumping types. Mineral - can be washed off, but only a small portion with feces. But silica gel - absolutely not, just throw it in the garbage chute.

Usually the packaging contains the manufacturer's recommendations for disposal of this product. If you follow these rules, you will not face any blockages.

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Methods for removing blockages

Mechanical pipe punching

If trouble does occur, and as a result of a large amount of filler getting into the sewer system, it is necessary to take action.

You can deal with blockages like this:

If the incident has just happened, and the bulk of the material is in the toilet itself, you need to remove it from there as quickly as possible. To do this, we put a rubber glove on our hand and scoop out everything we can reach.

Advice! If you don't have gloves, you can wrap your hand in a plastic bag.

After manually cleaning the toilet, you need to push the residue (there should be relatively little of it) into the pipe itself. To do this, install a plunger on the drain hole, press the rubber socket tightly to the surface and begin pumping, as during normal cleaning.

Using a plunger to remove a blockage

To make the work more efficient, it is advisable to add a small amount of water to the toilet. However, do not overdo it - if the cork is very dense, then you will have to remove the water by scooping it out.
When sawdust filler gets into the pipes, a plunger should be enough. But bentonite is capable of blocking the lumen “tightly”, so the plug will have to be destroyed mechanically.
To do this, we use a cable with a special attachment, which we screw into the jam and destroy it. Our goal is to punch a hole in the center of the pipe, and then the flow of water will gradually wash away the contamination.

The spiral tip of the cleaning cable should screw into the blockage relatively easily

Chemical methods

In some cases, the filler does not form a blockage, but simply accumulates in the drain and reduces the throughput of the sewer.

Here you can cope with the situation using chemicals:

This or a similar remedy may also help

We pour granular powder into the pipes in the most problematic area.
Add a small amount of water and leave for about 20-30 minutes to react.
After this, we thoroughly rinse the system, draining the water from the tank several times.
Acid products are considered the most effective, since they are good at destroying organic matter accumulated in the sewer.

Can sawdust from cat litter be used in the garden?

Prepare a container and fill it with filler, then fill it with water. By the way, if you have fertilizer or infusion, you can use it instead of water. ... Usually, from 10 liters of filler, about 30 liters of sawdust are obtained. This volume will be enough for a bed measuring 110 by 80.

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Best answers

I (and my cats) are satisfied with the wood clumping product Cats Best Eko Plus .zoomaz /products/1436 Of all the ones I’ve tried, this is the best. Very economical, you don’t have to change the tray for a long time, the lumps don’t fall apart, it holds the smell, you can THROW OUT INTO THE SEWER. I really don’t use the last advantage; I have trays in the hallway. I just scoop up the clumps and poop into lunch bags and throw them away. And everything is assembled normally with a scoop) ) As for the trays, I have separate ones. For peeing there is a large one with sides, for serious tasks there is a little tray, I don’t know how much the filter helps, it doesn’t seem to stink even without the door. Filler under the grate is not my option; my youngest is a big fan of burying things.

We have some kind of sawdust filler, you can throw it in the toilet, it is washed off

It’s better not to use filler at all, it will only cause more problems and fuss, use a regular patch with a grid, it’s simple and convenient to wash))

We have no filler at all.

if it goes on a tray with a grid, this is the best option, no filler is needed, you can rinse it right away, no problem. I use the regular one (Bars, Comfort), although I add very little of it, I just rinse it off immediately after using the toilet. I flush it directly into the toilet, the cat is 14 years old, no problems.

People who have a lot of cats gave me a piece of hair; apparently, it was trained to defecate on the newspaper. She commented on all the articles in my newspapers! But still, as much as I communicate with cats, they themselves choose: some toilet, some sink, and most like compressed sawdust. It's not expensive for me, and it can be flushed down the toilet.

I think you're worrying too much. Everything is set up for you, and the tray and litter are suitable for the cat, what don’t suit you? Where else can you throw cat poop? Naturally, into the garbage chute or trash can. You are inventing a problem for yourself. I use silica gel filler, there is no smell, I throw it in the trash.

Big cat matters can be thrown into the toilet, especially if you take it with a napkin, then the amount of filler that gets into the toilet is very small, nothing bad will happen)

Our tray is large, but ordinary, without bars or anything else. In my opinion, the house is some kind of nonsense, it just takes up space, although we didn’t have any, so maybe I just don’t know about its charms. We use Cat best wood filler, I think it’s called, for the entire time that we had cats, for our look is the most comfortable. It can be flushed down the toilet, it does not smell, does not spread throughout the apartment, and absorbs well. It’s not very cheap, really, but we buy it online in large packages, and it turns out fine.

The combination of convenience and economy is wood filler. You can use heating pellets, then it turns out very cheap - 3-6 rubles per kg.