Cat waste and worms

At the Common Ground Fair this year a number a people asked me about cat waste and vermicomposting.

An obvious concern with pet waste is pathogens and the potential for human contact (see related post: http://wormmainea.blogspot.com/2010/05/making-doggie-dumpster-pet-waste.html). This was a pretty common thread of the discussions. The cautions in that blog all apply to cat waste. And for pregnant women perhaps even more so.

Another visitor had tried this and found that non-clay litter works best. I think newspaper-based litter was preferred. Others mentioned  coconut- or  pine-based litter. I also found wheat-based litter, but none of my discussions touched on that. I suspect any of these would be suitable for a vermicomposting system.

Another friend wrote in with this article (http://www.amnh.org/nationalcenter/youngnaturalistawards/2005/Eric.htmlA) about a direct vermicomposting system.

All very interesting. I am very allergic to cats, so I must rely on others. Nevertheless, the discussions are interesting and provide an alternative to sending the organic waste to the landfill.

Cheers,

Mark