The Issue of Excrement

Because, lets face it, excrement is an issue.  And one EVERY pet lover has to deal with in some way or another.  Whether you have a goldfish, a ferret, an iguana, or a dog - it poops.

For fish fans, poop really is a “no biggie”.  Especially if you have your system set up to run cyclically.  That is, you have a variety of life in your aquarium habitat.  Plants, clean-up crew (like snails, crabs, and shrimp), live rock, and fish combined create not only a beautiful and serene environment, but a well functioning one too.  Use your waste water to nourish any potted plants you have, and you are good to go.

Pocket pet people and herp-o-holics can have it just as easy, well, almost.  If your small animal or herp is a herbivore you’re in luck!  Especially if they are bedded on hemp, wood shavings, straw, or shredded paper.  If this describes you, just toss the whole mess into your compost!  Your veggie garden will LOVE all the nutrients from your veggie-lovin’ critters.  Ditto for bird buffs!

Now... here’s where things can get a little more creative. 

When dealing with “The Remains of the Day” from an animal who eats meat (feline fanatics and dog devotees this means you) you have a number of options. 

Option one is to flush.  At least with this choice you know the waste is being handled properly at a sewage treatment plant.  It is not sitting in a landfill creating dangerous run off whenever it rains.  Or creating methane gas in a plastic bag. 

Another option is to let it lay where it falls.  This is actually a reasonable option for raw fed dogs who only use their own yard.  Spray it with the water hose and it breaks right down (YAY for raw meaty bones). 

The third ecological option is composting.

Read almost any article on the web today and it will tell you that composting animal stool is great, but don’t spread it on your garden.  There is a lot of fear over pathogens, and in some cases, good reasons for fear.  That said...  it is entirely possible to create SAFE and useable compost from dog, cat, rodent, and herp droppings.  Even human waste can be composted if you really get into the “movement”.

The problem with creating safe food-grade compost from animal poop is heat.  You need to generate enough heat that it kills off the pathogens.  And it takes a bit of a commitment to ensure the safety of everyone involved in the project.  My advice?  If this is something you are really interested in, do some real research.  It is a very real option. 

If you’re concerned about pathogens, don’t feel confident in your research skills, but want to use your pet poo compost to grow food, consider creating a small worm farm.  Sickly ickies go in one end of a worm and glorious, wonderful, healthy garden-building casings come out the other (casings is the proper word for worm leavings).  In other words:  bad dung in, good dirt out. Yay for worms!

Obviously a great thing about regular composting is that you can do it outdoors.  But you do need to put in some time to research the issue of generating heat.  Your compost MUST be kept warm to kill the pathogens found in animal feces.  Which is where vermicomposting comes in.  Worms ingest the pathogens leaving nothing but healthy casings behind for your use...  however, in our climate, they need to be kept indoors.

If you aren’t worried about using your animal derived compost for food growing, then just follow the directions in any of the dozens of articles online about composting dog droppings.  And know that while the articles are ALWAYS specific to dogs, the directions work to compost any animal’s “special gifts”.

No matter what route you go, keep an open mind and dive right in.  For something that we ALL have to deal with, we all have a lot of options...  even if no-one really wants to talk about them.  ;)