>I have started a compost heap and wondered if I can put old litter in
>it.  I use the pine pellets for the cat (which dissolve into sawdust)
>and use newspaper for the fuzzies.  If I only use the compost on
>non-edible plants, is it okay to compost this material? ...
>Anne and the Mighty Poopers
 
If you are in an area with otters people in some areas are being asked to
NOT put litter of cats outdoors nor to allow cats to go to the bathroom
outdoors.  The reason is that otters are especially prone to having
serious and often fatal brain damage from toxoplasmosis.  In the Pacific
Northwest of the U.S.  this is especially being seen with coastal otters
because some of the mollusks are able to store it, so it makes it to the
waters in run-off and then is stored in the mollusks which are eaten by
the otters who sicken terribly and often perish.
 
So, to protect a pretty close cousin of ferrets people need to be careful
because way too many otters are dying horribly due to toxoplasmosis from
people not being careful about cat feces.
 
In general, for many plant needs the waste of carnivores is thought to
add too much nitrogen to compost, but that depends on proportion and
ingredients, of course, so some have done it effectively.
 
-- Sukie (not a vet, and not speaking for any of the below in my
private posts)
Recommended health resources to help ferrets and the people who love
them:
Ferret Health List
http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/ferrethealth
FHL Archives
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
AFIP Ferret Pathology
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
Miamiferrets
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/
International Ferret Congress Critical References
http://www.ferretcongress.org
[Posted in FML issue 5339]