As a Houston plumber, one of the surprising but common plumbing issues we see is from flushing kitty litter. While your plumbing can handle human waste, you should never flush kitty litter or cat feces down your toilet. This includes so-called “flushable” kitty litter and biodegradable options. If you do, you may find yourself having to call your Houston plumber for clog removal or major repairs. Instead, be sure you’re disposing of kitty litter the right way – not putting it down your toilet or your drains.
If you’re facing a plumbing problem in your home, big or small, our team at Santhoff Plumbing is here to help. We’re available 24 hours a day with fast, professional, and expert plumbing repair service throughout Houston.
Kitty Litter and Houston Plumbing Systems Don’t Mix
If you own a cat, you may have wondered at some point if you can just flush their waste down the toilet and save yourself some extra cleanup work. We know that cleaning the litter box may be unpleasant, but it’s important to get rid of used kitty litter by throwing it in the trash, not into your toilet.
Kitty litter contains materials that can quickly cause a plumbing emergency. Most kitty litter is made of bentonite clay. Clay is solid yet moldable while it’s wet and then hardens completely when dry. Flushing kitty litter down your toilet means you’re introducing bentonite clay into your plumbing. The moisture from your pipes may cause it to expand and create a blockage in your drains. It can also harden inside the pipes and require expensive plumbing repair to chip out—sometimes your Houston plumber may even need to replace the entire pipe to resolve the issue. If you’ve ever forgotten to clean out the litter box, you know how hard those clumps can be. Now imagine that inside your plumbing.
When you flush kitty litter, it can basically become the consistency of cement inside your home’s plumbing system. When you attempt to flush a toilet that has that cement-like buildup inside, your pipes can break or burst from the pressure of the clog. You could end up with water damage and very extensive plumbing repairs. Worst case scenario, it can even lead to messy and harmful sewage backups in your home.
Prevent these scenarios in the first place—dispose of kitty litter properly and avoid these plumbing issues.
Even “Flushable” Kitty Litter Can Cause a Plumbing Stoppage
You may have seen kitty litter that’s advertised as being flushable. However, as your Houston plumber, we know items labelled as “flushable” generally aren’t. These products are often made of things like shredded newspaper, sawdust, pine pellets, and whole kernel corn. Would you flush any of these things down your toilet normally? Probably not. That’s why we still strongly recommend that you dispose of this kitty litter in a trash bag rather than down your toilet.
Flushable kitty litter can clog your plumbing. While many of the ingredients used to make flushable kitty litter are biodegradable, they don’t break down quickly like toilet paper. This can quickly cause issues with your toilets and pipes as they can get stuck in the waste water pipes from your toilet and cause the same problems that clay kitty litter might.
Kitty Litter Damages Your Septic System
If your home uses a septic system, flushing kitty litter can cause major problems. For example, many flushable kitty litters recommend only flushing one or two clumps at a time. If you need to clean out the litter box, you’ll likely need to flush the toilet multiple times to follow this rule. This can overwhelm your septic system with water, which can cause your system to fail.
Even if kitty litter makes it all the way to your septic tank, it won’t break down properly. This can create problems for your plumbing. In most cases, the kitty litter will sit just underneath the inlet pipe. Even biodegradable options take a long time to break down, putting unnecessary stress on your septic system. It can also clog inlets into your tank, which may lead to sewage backups.
Flushing Cat Feces Could Contaminate the Water Supply
Aside from the hassle and cost of repairing and replacing your plumbing, there’s yet another reason you shouldn’t flush cat feces down your toilet. Cats are carriers of a parasite named Toxoplasma gondii. When you flush kitty litter and cat excrement down the toilet, you could be introducing this parasite into the water supply. Toxoplasma gondii can cause major health issues and is also the reason why doctors advise pregnant women not to clean litter boxes. In pregnant women, this parasite can cause eye and brain damage to fetuses.
Call Your Houston Plumber for Kitty Litter Clogs
If it’s already too late and you’re reading this because you’ve already flushed kitty litter down your toilet, you’ll likely need to call your Houston plumber. While you may be able to take care of some types of clogs by yourself, kitty litter toilet clogs will likely require specialized equipment.
Remember, don’t ever use chemical drain cleaners on kitty litter clogs. Most drain cleaners will not be able to break up the clog, as they’re meant to handle different types of materials. Pouring a drain cleaner down a drain stopped with kitty litter can cause several issues. For example, drain cleaners use a chemical reaction to heat up clogs, but if they’re unable to break up the stoppage, then they sit in the same place. The heat could damage your pipes.
If you’re determined to try to break up the clog on your own before calling your Houston plumber, a plunger is your best bet. However, in most cases, you’ll need your plumbing specialists to snake the toilet or even manually remove the clog.
At Santhoff Plumbing, we are a local, veteran-owned Houston plumbing company. We’ve built our reputation on high-quality, thorough plumbing services for homes and businesses of all sizes. Our staff provides you the same level of service we expect in our own homes. Contact us today to schedule our fast and professional service.