IM LOOKIN FOR A NO WASTE WATER FILTRITAION SYSTEM?

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Permalink Reply by Matt on April 3, 2008 at 2:48am

Purina has one called "Yesterday's News"

There is another one called "Feline Pine"

Basically you can use almost anything that is dry and biodegradable. Disposal? Matters on where you live, it's manure of a type and you can simply compost it with the rest of your compost pile, if you have one.

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Permalink Reply by barbie on April 3, 2008 at 2:53am

I use a biodegradable cat litter right now, the bag that it comes in is not recyclable. I have always read that you can not put cat feces in you compost.

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Permalink Reply by Matt on April 3, 2008 at 3:16am

You are correct, while you *can* use it as compost, it is not recommended that you use pet (dog or cat) feces in compost that will be used in a garden, as there are parasites that they carry that humans can also carry. If you are going to be using your compost on something other than your garden, then you're all good though. Just make sure to wash your hands after handling your compost (kind of a 'duh' item, if you think about it)

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Permalink Reply by Matt on April 3, 2008 at 5:23pm

If it weren't for the parasites that most animals have, it would probably be no different than the food that you eat that was grown in the earth, which has feces from all sorts of animals anyway. One thing to remember is that once it's composted, it's not feces any more, it's living earth, no more than that composted banana peel or newspaper. If you can tell what you made your compost out of, then it's not fully composted yet.

Now if you want to talk about gross... just about any grains or large-scale commercial growers use *raw* cow manure. I wouldn't mind something that was grown in almost any animal's feces if it was composted, but raw cow manure? Ugh.

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Permalink Reply by Uti on April 3, 2008 at 8:19am

Chicken feed, I'm assuming you mean the processed pellet stuff. That is not a good idea to me. First it's food for chickens. Second cheap commercial processed pellet feed may contain ingredients from other animal slaughterhouse waste (called offal) and even parts from slaughtered chickens. Yes, that means feeding chickens to chickens who are not designed by nature to be carnivores.

When I had my last indoor cat I used a litter product made from corn cobs. I had a special compost pile just for the cat litter. As others mentioned, do not mix cat compost with compost used on food crops.

If you do not have a composting space, then you probably will have to dispose of your biodegradeable litter in your trash. pickup.

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Permalink Reply by Uti on April 3, 2008 at 8:22am

What do you mean by non-replaceable filtration system? Please clarify.

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Permalink Reply by barbie on April 3, 2008 at 2:23pm

you dont have to change a filter thus filling the landfill with waste

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Permalink Reply by Uti on April 3, 2008 at 11:51pm

I'm assuming you mean those little filter pads in cat box covers. They are made of a mesh that is coated with activated carbon which absorbs odors from the cat's waste. Once the carbon is saturated they're no longer functional. I gave up on them, they were a waste of money. The only way I can think of to make a homemade filter is to sew up some sort of fine mesh flat bag and buy some carbon/ charcoal granules.to fill the bags with. You would have to find a source for the carbon/charcoal but I'm certain it exists. You'd still have to dump the carbon when it got saturated.

What I did for odor control was put my indoor old Siamese buddy on a raw food diet and he had the best years at the end of his 17 year life . His poop lost the bad smell and his urine became much milder. I still scooped his box daily for feces and big wet spots, but it made living with him in a small space more pleasant. I made peace with myself for having to handle meat again and made it a sacred act of love. I had a prep area away from our kitchen Took about an hour to make the food. I would make 2 weeks of food at a time, freeze part of it and refrigerate the rest in daily portions in small glass canning jars. We had an old fridge on the back porch for our produce overflow and I outfitted it with sealed boxes for the meat products. The raw vegans in my house were happy with routine and didn't feel like their space was invaded with meat energy.

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Permalink Reply by Uti on April 4, 2008 at 1:43am

buddhababy,
Don't use red meats like beef, lamb or pork. Cats in the wild eat whole rodents or small mammals, birds, and small reptiles. They are not normally fish eaters and don't digest certain fishes well, as most domestic breeds come from stock that evolved in arid conditions. Of course they spread out over the planet to occupy many ecological niches, just like their human companions.

I used ground turkey, white and thigh meat, but was considering for a more natural meat source, finding a butcher who would take the whole friggin' turkey and grind it, skin, bones, giblets and all and freezer package it for me in the correct portions for my cat's recipe. Some people take whole plucked quail and grind them up. Rodents I couldn't figure out unless I wanted to buy an expensive grinder and kill captured or bought live animals. I grew up hunting and fishing so I have personally taken the life of animals that I ate. I needed no training. However, that was just not who I am now, so the thought passed quickly.

I have been told and read raw cat food experts who say that you cannot feed a cat a meatless diet, they are carivores by Nature's design and any attempt to impose your beliefs about veganism on Nature will eventually cause your cat harm. That's cruelty. You just can't change millions of years of evolution for an animal.

That being said, a lot of new information is probably out there since I explored this years ago. Do some research to get current.

The Meat Vibe. My yogi told me a story about, after he had been vegan for years and was extremely sensitive to dead flesh energy, he traveled back to his hometown to visit his aging mother. He grew up in a Jewish ghetto of a large eastern US city where all the neighborhood folks went to the butcher shop to get their meat, bring it home and cut it to suit their recipes. His mother couldn't do this for herself any more and was clearly distressed. What my yogi did was take her by the arm and walked her to her favorite butcher where she pick out all her favorite meats and poultry. My yogi then went back to her apartment, cut and prepped and cooked all her old favorite recipes for the remainder of his visit.

What he told me was that the energy "vibe" of the dead flesh so normally abhorrent to him never touched his being, because he performed the service as an act of surrender to God, in total sacred love for his mother and himself. It enhanced his life beyond measure.

The yogi told me this story when I told him I was having a hard time getting back to handling dead flesh. After that, my making a little raw cat food became nothing. I simply was impervious to my mind's preference around veganism and my peace was never disturbed. I would often say to Mother, "Thank you for the opportunity to serve my friend."

I know what you mean about the smell of the meat markets in the stores. A co-op I belong to did a big million dollar remodel a few years ago. Where the hell did they build the meat and fish sections? Right at the end of the produce section. Across from the meat were the gourmet smelly cheese coolers. On the wrong days when the air is moving towards the produce I simply would walk out and go shop somewhere else. An this was done in a progressive Northern California university town with a fairly high vegan consciousness. When they built the sister co-op a couple of years ago the meat and dairy are on the opposite side of the store from the produce to my relief.

Too bad about the restroom experience you experienced. In the future, to unload the "meat section" vibe from your being, go outside and snort a bit of water through your nasal passages and blow your nose gently. Buy and learn to use a netti pot for your home routine any time you want to clear dust, pollen, lingering odors and pollutants from your nasal/ sinus passages. If anyone you know does advanced yoga ask them to show you how to do "energy baskets". This is a way to move energy from the earth up through your body and send it to the heavens. Helps clear the stuck energies in your body from anger, confrontations and other emotions and gets you centered again.
I'll try to write how to do it and you can play with it.
All breathing is done through the nose only. Eyes open the whole time.
Stand with your feet parallel, spread hip distance apart and begin a slow inhale while going into a half squat and scooping your hands together in a basket between your feet.
Continue to inhale deeply while bringing the energy you just cupped in your hands up the front of your body through your heart. Rotate the hands outwards and begin to exhale deeply while sending the energy heavenwards straightening the arms, reaching and stretching. Repeat the cycle by swinging the arms down to cup some more energy . Even 6 rounds will do wonders and get you centered, ready to continue your day.

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Permalink Reply by barbie on April 4, 2008 at 3:00am

Im talkin about the water filter

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Permalink Reply by Uti on April 4, 2008 at 3:22am

There are some cleanable ceramic cartridges for backpacking type water filters, but they do not remove chemicals.
Reverse osmosis water filters require the least amount of throw away components, but have to use wasted water to operate. In other words, for every unit of filtered R/O water produced, a certain number of units of water are discarded down the drain. The ratio varies from brand to brand. However, that water could be captured for irrigation and other uses with simple modifications.

R/O filters used to be really expensive, but I noticed recently the prices have dropped with increased marketplace competition and cheaper overseas manufacturing.

I am on a rural country water system supplied by a spring fed creek up on a mountain. We use a two stage filter that removes both chemicals and biologicals from our drinking and food prep water, I have to change our filters 3 to 4 times a year, but we accept the reality of our safety means a certain amount of waste.

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Permalink Reply by barbie on April 4, 2008 at 3:34am

i know there has to be something out there with no waste of a filter. Hopefully someone out there knows. i cant except throwing stuff in the landfill. no matter how little it may be

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