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Citizen complaint of the day: Somebody keeps pouring used kitty litter down a storm drain in West Roxbury
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Comments
Isn't there a catch basin under that?
City might want to go clean it out and see what's in there? Probably kitty litter and kitty waste, but could be litter was used to clean up waste that someone doesn't want to pay to dispose of properly.
Maybe there's a homeless
Maybe there's a homeless kitty living down there, using the litter.
Kitty Litter Can Be Hazardous To People And Pets ...
... It costs money to buy and is harmful to the environment regardless of how you dispose of it. Most of all, nobody likes to clean the litter box.
The good news is that cats can be trained to use the toilet. Cats like to be clean, and they instinctively try to hide the odor of their waste. Once a cat learns that depositing it in the toilet water hides the odor better than kitty litter, they'll use the toilet without failure.
It's a wonderful gift to you and your cat. All you have to do is flush!
Also, Cats Like To Go Outdoors
I realize each situation is different, but a cat who goes out doesn't need kitty litter (not to mention it's pretty much the default for animals to roam outside of a house.)
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
My cat hated to use litter box
There had to be 6"+ inches of snow on the ground before she would choose to use the litter box inside. Pouring rain even, and she rather go outside.
BTW, cat litter is also a big part of a carbon footprint for a cat - mining, transporting, bagging, disposing etc of the stuff.
She died from thyroid disease/cancer, not being run over and enjoyed life being free-range.
I had a cat that died from
I had a cat that died from thyroid. It was a miserable experience. I heard that flame-retardant in furniture is thought to be a leading cause of cat thyroid. The foam in your sofa cushions and carpet padding breaks down into dust over time. The dust gets all over the cat sleeping on the sofa. The cat licks it off. After fifteen years of swallowing all that chemical-laced dust, the cat develops thyroid problems.
Now I wipe down the kitty twice a day with a damp paper towel followed by a combing. Hopefully it helps this cat live longer than the last one.
One of those public safety campaigns
People pretending to be do-good'ers are chemical companies making the toxic fire retardants proclaiming how many innocent children they were saving by treating their clothing, bedding, furnishing etc. with their crap in case some smoker fell asleep with a lit cigarette or other cause of house fire.
Cats are the canaries in the coal mine for this. I had to give her pills crushed up in her food every day to reduce the weight loss and high temperature. Trouble happened when I switched to the trans-dermal salve applied to her ears. Perhaps she got exposed to some poison outside and that got absorbed into her system. Dunno.
Not being run over... by a bicyclist
I presume you meant to say?
And the neighbors get to
And the neighbors get to clean up after your cat instead of you! Great idea!
Wrong
You know nothing about cats. Cats are fastidious. Unless a cat is somehow mentally lacking, it always cleans up after itself.
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
And you know nothing about gardens
...if you really believe that cats "always clean up after" themselves.
Unlike dogs, cats
instinctively try to bury their waste, even when they go outdoors. So when they leave a mess in the garden, it's not the cat being lazy, it's more likely the composition of the soil that makes it difficult for the cat to dig in.
And, while every cat I've ever owned (all indoor cats BTW) instinctively knew how to use a litter box, they would not use the box after a couple of days if I didn't clean it religiously. They also wouldn't use the box after several days if I was away on vacation, despite the fact my neighbor would come in daily to freshen the food and clean the litter box. I presume this was to show they were upset with my extended absense.
Whizzzzz....
I think you're missing the point. As a gardener, I don't want some cat burying its shit in my garden no matter how nicely it does it.
I used to have to "scoop" out
I used to have to "scoop" out the little ones sand box each morning before she and her friends could jump in it. Sometimes it looked like an oversized kitty litter box. The cats must've thought they hit pay dirt when they came across the sand box.
Wasn't too much of a big deal for me, animals do what animals do whether we like it or not.
In southie there are quite a
In southie there are quite a few neighborhood cats- I usually have to clean up cat vomit or poop once a week out of my back area (I know it was a cat because I have seen it hacking something up). Not to mention the damage they do digging up my garden / plants.
I really wish I can convince my neighbors to stop leaving food out as it attacks raccoons and other animals, but then again most do not clean up after themselves let alone their animals.
Assuming the neighborhood cats
are actually pets, and not feral, the best thing you could do is try to convince your neighbors to keep their cats indoors. They will live longer and healthier lives as a result.
Feral cats....
We have a neighbor (shared yard) who feeds a small group of feral cats. The urine stench is overwhelming at times in the yard, under the porch, back stairs, etc. Pretty nasty! And, as noted above, the food left out draws skunks and possum.
Trap, spay/neuter
I have a friend who does this (traps ferals, gets them spayed/neutered, finds foster homes and rehabs the ones that seem like they might be able to adapt to a home). It's hard work, but rewarding. I think there are organizations that help with this. Feeding feral cats is STUPID. Your neighbor must really hate birds.
Indoor cats might have longer
Indoor cats might have longer lives, but indoor+outdoor cats have better lives.
toilet training cats has been linked to sea otter deaths in CA
Toxoplasma oocysts generally survive sewage treatment and make their way into waterways and the ocean. It's not great for the fish, either.
Self-Clumping Kitty Litter?
It's hard to tell from the photo, but it looks like it might be self-clumping cat litter — which turns to a concrete-like substance when it gets wet. Accumulation of that in the storm drain could clog it up entirely. We had to replace a toilet after the vet told us to just flush it away.
Not quite
When it gets damp, it makes hard clumps (not concrete-hard, though). When it gets wet, it makes gray slime. Maybe if you fired it in a kiln, it would make a kind of rock. In normal conditions, no.
Catch basins ultimately drain
Catch basins ultimately drain into sources of water like the Charles or the Harbor. Pouring any foreign substance into them is bad for the environment and also a violation of state and city law. If someone sees this person doing this in the act, call the police and report it to the city and water and sewer.