Did you know you’re really, really not supposed to flush your pet’s poo down the toilet? Ben the Vet on TikTok shared the news with followers to their explicable surprise – one user even responding “I had no clue about this?”
Reading from the Anglian Water website, Ben shared the following with his followers: “You cannot flush any type of animal faeces down the toilet,” he says.
Why, you ask?
Well, “the sewer network is not suitable for this kind of waste because of the presence of Toxocariasis (also known as roundworm) in animal faeces,” Anglian Water states.
NHS also explains that Toxocariasis is caused by parasite worms found in some dog, cat, and fox poo. Animals that have these worms in their digestive system can pass out the worm eggs in their faeces, which can unfortunately be caught by humans.
Sorry to say, but the parasite worms won’t die when you flush them either, since they’re “tolerant of the relatively high temperatures and harsh conditions found in the final digestive stage in processing the used water that comes through to the treatment works from sinks and toilets.”
Toxocariasis isn’t the only thing you have to worry about though
Zoom Drain states that one of the biggest problems with flushing your cat’s stool could be due to the inclusion of the harmful parasite Toxoplasmosis. While usually harmless, it can cause problems for those pregnant women such as miscarriage or problems with your eyes, brain, heart or lungs go those with a weaker immune system.
“Water systems are not equipped to handle toxoplasmosis and are unable to destroy the parasite before it’s sent back into the environment, potentially jeopardising the health of local area wildlife, specifically marine life.”
So… how do I dispose of my pet’s poo properly?
If you’re taking your dog out for a walk and they do their business, it’s usually the norm to scoop it up from the ground, pop it in a compostable doggy bag and dispose of it in a designated bin.
If you’ve got a cat, Get Set Pet mentions the best advice from the Environment Agency is to scoop out the waste from your cat’s litter tray and place it in a compostable poo bag, then chuck it in your normal household waste bin.
When it comes to fully emptying the tray to wash it and refill with fresh litter, you “should wrap the old litter in newspaper and also put that in your normal household waste bin”.
Flushing your cat’s litter down the toilet could potentially leave you with a hefty bill from a plumber, as it’s likely to cause blockages in your pipework. Most cat litters are designed to expand up to 15 times their original size when wet, so between me and you, it’s really not worth the risk.