A quote from the bulletin, above:
"The most effective way for pet owners to limit their pet’s contribution to source water
contamination is to simply clean up and dispose of pet waste. As long as the droppings are not
mixed with other materials, pet waste should be flushed down the toilet. This allows waste to
be properly treated by a community sewage plant or septic system … "

Also, a subsequent study of the sea otter toxo problem found the problem was not concentrated at areas where urban sewage plant runoffs entered the ocean, but in areas where storm water runoff, streams, etc., entered the ocean. There are more feral cats in the the U.S. than domestic ones (some estimates say 78 million compared to 73 million). None of them are using the toilet. They're also far more likely to be infected with toxo since they catch and eat live game. (In fact, some naturalists estimate as many as 60 per cent of all wild animals have, or have had, toxo.)

Certainly no one wants to see sea otters disappear. But blaming house cats for their problems seems a bit of oversimplification. There's a heck of a lot of crap in the oceans, all of it our fault. Hopefully research will continue.

But at this point, keeping your cat indoors and using the toilet would seem to be the best bet for the environment. As well as giving small wildlife and birds — especially birds, which are under siege by domestic cats across the continent — a much-needed break, it also means you're not adding to the local landfill and your cat is prevented from eating the raw game that's the source of Toxo in the first place. (And then leaving droppings outdoors that will definitely enter the watershed, and be completely untreated when they do so.)

As for the water used to flush the toilet, why do so? It's a pretty tiny bit of urine, after all. I think it can wait! (That's got nothing to do with the cat, anyway; I believe that very few actually flush.)

As for this parasite being the cause of otter population decimation, I would think it would be more logical / probable, that if it were something coming from the sewage treatment, it would be from the chemicals / cleaning products that people flush down their drains. Since most of those things can be filtered out at water treatment facilities, it would follow, that so would toxoplasma gondii.

Cats have been around for abotu as long as otters i'm sure, and have this organism in their excrement almost as long. Otters have come into contact with it in the past too I would imagine.

If my waste can be treated and deemed 'safe', my cat's going into the treatment facility can be as well.

If the otter population is not growing as well as previously, maybe it has more to do with warming ocean waters, food supply problems, or contaminated food supply. Otters eat a lot of clams and such, and these creatures need fairly cold waters in which to thrive.

Nothing like California to jump the gun and not have all the facts. I'm glad that there is concern for the health of wildlife, but come on folks, let's think a bit logically here, so we can find the REAL culprit.

While I flush my kitty litter, it's made from corn and not clay. Never flush clay based litters, as they will solidify in water, and become glue=like and potetially cause major plumbing issus.

So, indoor-kept cats who have no rodent contact are not going to be shedding oocytes and their owners can happily keep flushing. I know I will be – I'd much prefer that to adding plastic to landfills!

(And this is one more reason to keep your cats indoors, safe, and not harming wildlife or being harmed by it.)

Why no response to Dr. Lap and my comments?

Thank You

G. Marantz

1. Over 93% of all cat litter is clumping and you CANNOT flush it down the drain. The research group in the program also tested the outflow of the sewage treatment plant by hanging mussels and found NO TOXO.
2. Cats can only get toxo and pass eggs in their feces for the most part ONCE in a lifetime. Feral cats are EVERYWHERE in the Morro Bay area and breed like crazy
3. The Feral cats and outdoor cats are most susceptible to toxo and, also, poop outside (guess where it goes after a rain…into storm drains and into the bay).
4. Most cats (especially rescued kittens from feral colonies) have already had toxo and by the time many are adopted have passed their toxo eggs (oocycsts) and will most likely NEVER pass them again.

With all due respect Mr. Rogers the method recommended by you and UC Davis is wrong the part of the law about flushing is wrong and irresponsible. Here is why:

1. Indoor cats using a cat box are almost no risk. The odds of them passing oocycsts are slim to none. They either have done so already or if being fed regular cat food will not get infected.
2. If they get toxo when you put the litter, in the landfill, in your bag guess what happens at landfills. Huge tractors with studded steel wheels drive over it and break open the bags (this is done on purpose). Well what is in landfills? Feral Cats and rodents, the perfect team to continue the process.
3. As I said, clay litter is 93% of the litter used and that is not good for a landfill is strip-mined and can cause many other problems in landfills that get that toxo back into the environment.
4. Finally, the real problem for otters is not and would not be flushing. It is Feral Cats, Wild Cats, chemicals and dirty storm drains. The leaders in toxo research will tell you point blank, the otters will have to adapt because there is no way to get rid of toxo.