pet & animal

Animal-related waste is the category where composting advice gets serious, because the stakes are different: dog and cat waste can carry pathogens that survive a lukewarm pile and end up on food crops. That's why the verdicts here draw a hard line between herbivore manures — chicken, horse, cow, and rabbit, all prized pile activators — and carnivore or omnivore waste, which needs a dedicated hot system or the trash. Bedding, feathers, and fur are gentler calls with their own quirks. Every page in this category states the food-garden rule explicitly, because it's the one composting safety warning that genuinely matters. When in doubt with pet waste, keep it out.

compost it (15)

Fine in an ordinary pile.

chicken manure yes cow manure yes feathers yes horse manure yes pet hair yes rabbit manure yes aquarium plants yes bird nests yes bird seed hulls yes chicken bedding yes fish tank water yes guinea pig bedding yes hamster bedding yes snake shed skin yes worm castings yes

compost it, with care (5)

Read the catch first.

dog poop careful bird cage liners careful dead fish careful dry pet food careful pine cat litter careful

keep it out (5)

Every page says what to do instead.

cat litter no cat poop no clumping cat litter no dog poop bags no dead animals no