Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock
Topics: Animals, Environment
Emily Brown
Any pet parent will know that animals are bound to have an accident in the house once in a while, but a vet has explained why flushing their poop down the toilet is not the best way to clean it up.
Since all human waste goes down the toilet, it's easy to assume that animal poo would be fine to send down the drain as well. After all, people have probably put much stranger things down there over the years with seemingly few consequences.
If you've ever used a toilet to get rid of a dead goldfish, I'm looking at you.
However, Dr Alice Judge warned in an article for Pet Impact that pet poop is one of the things you should avoid tossing in the toilet, basically because not all waste is made equal.
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Kicking things off with cat poo. While many felines do their business outside or in litter trays, there might come an occasion when you need to quickly get rid of some cat poop for whatever reason, and turn to the toilet.
However, Dr. Judge has explained that feline waste often contains a highly resistant parasite called Toxoplasma, which can infect both people and animals.
Many water treatment plants aren't equipped to kill this parasite, meaning it could pass into our waterways if flushed down the toilet, resulting in a risk to humans and wildlife.
If your cat is taking medication, this could also be present in their poop and become toxic to aquatic life if it passes into waterways.
It might be tempting to quickly dispose of your dog's accident down the toilet and get back to praising them for being the best creature on earth, but again the toilet is not the way to do so.
Dr. Judge has warned that dog poop can contain twice the amount of harmful bacteria than human waste, as well as unique parasites such as Toxocara, which is resistant to high temperatures.
Like parasites in cat poo, water treatment facilities often aren't prepared to deal with dog poo pathogens, so they could pass through and contaminate wider waterways.
Toxocara is not a parasite to take lightly, as it can cause blindness in children and infect animals.
And again, if your dog is taking medication, it could risk harming aquatic life.
While the potentially harmful aspects of dog and cat poop aren't likely to change, the American Kennel Club has noted that local governments may have different rules when it comes to flushing pet poop.
The site explains: "Whether this is suitable depends on if your wastewater goes through a sewage treatment plant. If it doesn’t, for example if you have a septic system, don’t flush dog poop as it can contaminate the water supply. Always check with your local government to see if flushing is an acceptable disposal method."