Everything in America is the biggest. I has to be because they are the biggest people. Their fridges are awesome. You could live inside one of their washing machines quite comfortably.
Seriously though, America does have some seriously large household machinery and personally I love it. I love the America devices. Ours seem quite puny by comparison. The American machines can be a bit clunky but they are very functional.
I am guessing to a certain extent, but I am going to presume that on average the American toilet has a stronger flush and a bigger outlet pipe that European loos (English for toilet). Don’t take that the wrong way, please..! That can create problems, although in general it makes life easier. One problem relates to cats – at last I have got to the subject of cats. I will also dangerously presume that more cat owners in America than in other countries flush their cat litter down the toilet. It is highly convenient to do that.
Some cat litter is designed to be flushable but…is it really as good as the sales blurb says it is? And in any case a lot people in America have such superb toilets with vacuum flush systems and oversize piping and gallons of water etc. that they can successfully flush down clay clumping litter or almost anything else for a long time without apparent plumbing problems.
So I have concluded that Americans like to flush used cat litter down the toilet because the toilet and the plumbing and the drain can take it and because it is extremely convenient. It also helps the garbage people because it removes cat litter from other household waste.
Lucky Americans. Not so lucky, though, if you are a sea otter or some other marine wildlife living near the outlet for processed waste because sewage processing plants cannot at present (I am informed) remove the protozoan that causes toxoplasmosis and which can be in the feces of the domestic cat.
There is, therefore, an environmental issue here. Also I will guess that the average decent American plumber would advise against chucking used cat litter down the toilet.
As for me, it never crossed my mind. I wonder why? It just seems unnatural to do it. Also it seems like a disaster waiting to happen on the plumbing front. Clumping litter is clay. Clay and water = cement. I am almost certain that very few people in Europe flush cat litter down the toilet.
What do you do? Are you a litter flusher? If so how do you justify it?
Photo on Flickr. The Singapura is a rare cat breed and the smallest purebred cat.
Michael,
If water treatment plants aren’t set up to handle toxoplasmosis then it isn’t just flushing used litter that’s the issue. The cat’s feces would be carrying the protozoan in question. So the cat pooping on the toilet is not a good idea.
Thanks, Rudolph for the interesting information! I don’t get to travel much, so it’s fun to converse with people from other parts of the world.
The United States of America is starting to have the same types of issues of a great disparity in wealth. I think it’s been like that for awhile. We, like India, also have very poor people and better off and very wealthy all living within a few miles of each other, but segregated from each other. I live ten minutes from the ghetto, but you’d never know it looking around my neighborhood. We are supposed to have a classless society, but more and more it is becoming a situation where it is very difficult to move between classes. The progressive tax code makes it hard because as soon as you start to earn a little bit more money the government takes a lot more in taxes. The higher tax doesn’t hurt those already wealthy, but it prevents middle class people from becoming wealthy. If I work four days a week instead of the usual two or three I may as well not have bothered. The fourth day’s wages pretty much go entirely to taxes, because the higher income bumps me up into the next tax bracket. But my husband and I are doing well in a bad economy, so I guess I can’t complain too much.
The first time I experienced going into the poorer areas of the city I was very upset by it. Twenty some years ago I used to give a friend a ride home from work sometimes and at first I only saw his neighborhood at night. One day I gave him a ride in to work and saw the reality in the bright light of day and it was just terrible– so run down, trash strewn all over, unkempt properties which were falling apart, no lawns, just tall weeds everywhere and a feeling of hopelessness. I asked another friend why anyone would live there and she said because that’s where he could afford the rent. Also, there is a lot of racism and if minorities try to live anywhere but in certain neighborhoods they often face outright hatred. Twice in my twenties I invited black friends from work or college to come to my aunt and uncle’s house on the south side with me and they said no, because they were afraid to go into a white south side neighborhood. My second cousin Justin’s mom is white, but his dad is black. When Justin was a little boy (cute as button) handing out Halloween candy on my aunt’s front porch a woman came by with her daughter and gave Justin such a look of hatred that I just couldn’t comprehend it. How could anyone hate a cute little boy?
I’d never seen blatant racism like that before and it shocked and frightened me. Justin went on to work as an actor and I still see reruns of him on this Saturday morning kid’s show he used to be on. That little boy that woman hated comes right into her living room via the t.v. Does she hate him when he’s on t.v. teaching her children about the outdoors? Or just when he’s in “her” neighborhood? I just don’t get it.
So America is a land of plenty and opportunity, but it isn’t equally available to everyone. If you attended an inner city school you will need two more years of remedial schooling just to take college level courses, which you really need to get a good job. If you’re born in a certain neighborhood and non-white, there are hurdles in your way that require exceptional courage and stamina to be overcome. And government assistance is easier to get than a job and pays more, so many people choose not to work– not because they are lazy, but because they are sensible! But not having work to do is bad for the human spirit and contributes to the feeling of hopelessness and a suspicion that they and any contributions they might make to American society are just not wanted.
And as Ruth states, it’s not equal for pets in the US either. Some are loved, like my Monty, but we put millions to death in “shelters” and even those cats lucky enough to have a home may end up declawed– their toe ends sacrificed to our god of materialism. Even poor people can decide their humble furnishings are more important than the health and well being of the animals in their care.
Hello Ruth.India is a complicated Country to explain to a foreigner, especially Westerners.Your School India has a climatic variation ranging from Desert land to some of the coldest regions in the World.i am from Mumbai city, the financial capital and one of the World’s most densely populated city’s and also having the highest number of Indian billionaires.The World’s costliest private Apartment is owned by an Indian in Mumbai,Industrialist Mukesh.Ambani while simultaneously ,one of the World’s largest slums Dharavi is also in Mumbai!Most people would wonder, how can the World’s wealthiest and poorest co-exist in the same city? Thats India for you, a Country difficult to describe but has to be experienced to understand.Same applies for “Pet Ownership” and “Pet Care” with some of the costliest pets on show and the best of veterinary care availableincluding cats and exotic birds.
Rudolph, thanks for writing about India! It’s interesting to hear what life is like there. One of my favorite professors at school was from India. He said when he first came to Wisconsin he had to wear his coat, hat and mittens even when he was teaching, because he was so cold all the time in the winter. It must be very hot in India! Do you have air conditioning? How do your animals cope with the heat?
I think a litter box or using the outside for a toilet is better for a cat, since this is more natural. But using the human toilet is probably more sanitary, since waste is flushed away and the human never has to scoop the litter box. It’s really important to wash hands with soap and water after scooping or cleaning a cat’s litter box. Here in America we can buy this waterless hand sanitizing gel, which is alcohol based, but this does not kill all germs and people should not rely in it after doing things in the bathroom or after scooping litter boxes. I know it doesn’t kill C-Diff, a nasty bacteria that causes lots of problems in hospitals and nursing homes.
After hearing about the small homes in India I feel like my boy, Monty, is especially lucky! He’s lucky in any case since he was feral when I caught him. We have a duplex, with my sister in the upstairs apartment, so our living space is probably somewhat small compared to many in America, since we have half a house, essentially. But Monty also enjoys a large (by urban standards) fenced yard and he explores in our basement, which is semi-finished. It has one area with furnishings, but much of it is filled with dark corners filled with cobwebs, especially under the stairs where it’s very hard to access that area with the vacuum cleaner. My sister’s cat Kobe sometimes goes in the basement– we time it so the cats don’t meet– and he plays on an upper outdoor porch outside her apartment. We tried him in the backyard before we had Monty, but it frightened him. Sometimes he sits up on his porch and watches Monty play in the backyard. Monty will go potty outside in autumn when there are leaves on the ground. He likes to bury it in leaves– or if we let the grass get too long back there, then he will go in the long grass and kind of cover it up with the long grass. Mostly he prefers his litter box and will request to come in and use it.