can you compost cat poop?
No — cats are the only animal that sheds Toxoplasma gondii oocysts, and those survive composting, freezing, and months in garden soil.
which bins can take it?
- hot pile no
- cold pile no
- worm bin no
- bokashi no
- tumbler no
- curbside no
why?
An infected cat can shed hundreds of millions of oocysts during a single one-to-three-week stretch, and each one becomes infective after a day or two of air exposure. The shells are protein-and-lipid armored: they tolerate temperature swings that flatten ordinary bacteria and remain viable in moist soil for a year or more. Cat stool also carries Toxocara cati roundworm, which infects people the same way dog roundworm does.
how to prep it
- Scoop into a bag and knot it before it dries out
- Cover any garden bed cats treat as a litter box with netting or coarse mulch
watch out for
- Toxoplasmosis is the specific reason for the warning — it can cause serious harm during pregnancy and in people with weakened immune systems.
- Compost that got cat waste in it should be used nowhere near food, because you cannot verify a home pile ever hit a killing temperature.
what to do instead
Bag cat stool and put it in the trash; that's the disposal route extension services and the EPA both point to. Flushing is worse than it sounds — treatment plants don't destroy oocysts, and the parasite has been documented moving from sewage outflow into coastal wildlife.
often confused with
- Rabbit droppings — Small dry pellets from a herbivore pet look similar in the bin but are safe to compost fresh.
quick answers
What if my cat lives indoors and never hunts?
Indoor cats on commercial food rarely encounter the parasite, so their risk is low — but low isn't zero, testing isn't practical, and the roundworm question remains. Extension guidance stays the same for every cat.
Can I bury cat waste in the yard instead?
Burying it deep in an ornamental corner, at least a foot down and far from vegetable beds and water lines, is a step better than nothing. It is not composting, and the soil there should be treated as off-limits for growing food.