Some friends in a elk camp once had a normal lawn chair (the webbed type). They cut a hole in the webbing, placed a bucket under the chair, and set a toilet seat on the chair. Worked...

The first time you have a 5-gallon bucket half-full or more with wet cat litter, you will rue the day you thought this was a good idea! And if you slip while carrying the said VERY HEAVY bucket of wet cat litter and happen to slip, and slop it on yourself, it will be the last time you do it!

Do yourself a favor and use sawdust instead.

Luggable Loos cost about $10 where sporting goods are found.

And only use newish, not-stored-in-sunlight buckets.

Sue

Don't forget the peat moss works well, can be mixed into compost bin. Look for an old hippy book "Humanure" for other ideas.

Last time I failed to clean Piewacket's litter tray he pooped in my boots. It takes talent to poop into 18" hi top Montana boots.But then Pie also stopped me from stepping out to certain death when an oaktree crashed onto my apt complex.So temper remarks about cats on a forum owned by a cat person and moderated by another. Those folks out in thee desert mining the stuff wouldn't be gainfully employed without them.

Double-plus important.

Thinking about this, and it is not using kitty litter, a long term solution for handling waste might be to compost it, as SHawk suggests. IIRC, the mixing of green and brown vegetation with manure helps, becaue you need to get the temperature of the rot up pretty high.

Mixing bacteria in with your pile helps. You can buy bacteria for composting, but I have no idea how well the bacteria meant for a compost pile with grass clippings would work with animal or human waste. Most composting guides I have read warn against using either, and especially warn against it for meat-eating animals.

Anyway, my thought was that bacteria produceded to handle human waste might be the right thing to use, and I know such things are used in municipal and marine waste treatment facilities. Something like this might be a good thing to use, not that I am about to go try it: http://www.americanbiosystems.com/products/accelobac.php. Not sure how long you can store such things for eiither and still have them work.

I say you have a very understanding and tolerant wife.

Dan, microbes are microbes -- they don't differentiate between the stuff they break down. You don't have to buy any, just add some decent soil or existing compost.

Joseph Jenkins, author of The Humanure Handbook [entire book available online at http://www.weblife.org/humanure/default.html ] calls the people who insist on disposing of human and animal waste by flushing it into the groundwater with drinking water 'fecophobes', an excellent term, IMHO. (Well, IMO...)

From the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, GA, regarding composting: "Complete pathogen destruction is guaranteed by arriving at a temperature of 62C (143.6F) for one hour, 50C (122F) for one day, 46C (114.8F) for one week or 43C (109.4F) for one month."

Sure, you have to pay attention to what you're doing. Jenkins says to add the humanure to the center of the compost pile, where the most biological activity and highest temperatures are found.

Many of the people who offer info to the public are looking to include the lowest common denominator, AND they are trying to protect all the people, all the time, from all possible problems, under all possible circumstances. It isn't possible, but they continue to do it. But in doing so, they tend to skip over a lot of information that people of average intelligence and education could use.

Sue

I think anything absorbent works. I've used hobbit trail (is that the brand?) wood shavings for gerbil/hamster cages, too.

As others have said, I've got a 5-gallon bucket with a commode seat and lid on it. I put a couple of trash-compacter plastic bags in it. Put a little litter or wood shavings in it, then add more after every use. My set up pretty much seals the unit when the lid is down, so odors are kept to a minimum. Solid waste only.

If you're out of water, when there is no water in your bathroom, line the commode with plastic bags (I think trash compacter bags are sturdier, and I prefer no breaks or leaks), and use that.

When you've filled up a bag, our local Red Cross volunteer suggests burying the bag in a shallow hole in your yard where you won't step on it, adding bags as weeks go by, till sanitation starts again, then asking your garbage company how they want to handle that particular pick-up.

In your experiment, what did you plan on doing with the bag o' droppings?

Was just looking to speed the process by adding more microbes. I kind of do both now, but only with vegetation. That is useful info though. Thanks.